Tag: Horror Game

Until Dawn is a Horror Survival Game with a difference. It plays similar to Heavy Rain, by which I mean your choices determine the outcome of the game. The butterfly effect system means that certain things that you do or choices that you make can hugely change your game, making everyone’s first play-through unique to them-self. I have to advise you that these games are best played without doing any googling or reading and just using your instincts and seeing where that takes you. Once you finish the game you can play again or go back chapter by chapter to see what you missed. I found it hilarious looking back and seeing what awful decisions I made!

The game starts in a lodge in a secluded snowy mountain. Eight friends are having a vacation when a tragic event occurs.This is the tutorial level that allows you to get a feel for the game and sets up the story nicely. The game then skips forward to the year anniversary of the accident. The group are continuing their tradition and returning to the lodge spend the night.

The game is played from eight different characters point of view. The goal is to see who can survive Until Dawn. As the night progresses we learn more about the threats that the characters face and how they link to the past. Each chapter brings us an hour closer to dawn and there are 10 in total.

I wasn’t quite as attached to the characters as I was in Heavy Rain. I guess when there are so many characters they don’t get as much development and/or you don’t spend as long playing that character. Having said that, they were also a different age group in a totally different situation so it was never going to be the same. It just didn’t punch me in the feels quite as hard as Heavy Rain did. Nearly, but not quite. The characters themselves were quite cliche, from the jock guy to the geeky guy to the mean girls, but some of them changed as the game went on. I grew really fond of some of them that I hated in the beginning and was genuinely gutted when I lost a certain few of them.

Quite honestly.. if you aren’t a horror fan than this game probably isn’t for you. I adored Heavy Rain and was excited by the concept of this game. It turns out that I am a massive wimp and needed to recruit my Dad to help me play the scary parts. I got as far as Chapter 5 on my own before I couldn’t take it anymore. We do make a good team, he does the slow exploration parts where there are likely to be jump scares and then I take over for the fast parts as I am better at the QTE’s. I also make all of the decisions, which it turns out that I’m not great at doing – due to 1. being indecisive and 2. shockingly bad judgment.

I didn’t know what to expect from the horror side of things. When I started the game I thought it was a slasher game, from the things I’d heard and the tone of the game, but it turned out to be a bit of everything. Think of most horror movies you’ve seen. A bit of each of them has probably been incorporated one way or another. The atmosphere is very spooky and there are frights around every corner. If you are a hardened horror fan then you will be fine to play it alone in the dark. I screamed at parts and my Dad didn’t even flinch, it just depends on the individual. Overall though, even if it doesn’t scare you (which it probably will), you’ve got to be impressed by the variety they have managed to fit into one story. I had read in other reviews that the first half is best and that it got more silly as time went on so I was expecting to be disappointed, but in the end I really enjoyed how it all came together. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen and I thought it all fit together really well!

I can’t comment on the sound because I have the volume turned right down but I did notice while walking through the snow, the snow under your shoes sounds just like real life, I literally could have been walking out in real snow for all I knew. The only other part of the sound that I can comment on is that it gets loud when it makes you jump. The score must have been doing a good enough job to create the atmosphere though for me to need to turn it down in the first place. The ‘O Death’ song is great too.

It’s not the longest game to play through but it definitely has replay value, even if it is just to make all of the opposite choices and see what you end up with. I would recommend going for the Platinum trophy on this one. It’s a good way to see the majority of what there is to see and still enjoy it. Do your first play-through on your own then if you look up the trophies, you will only have to do two more play-throughs at the most to get platinum and they will both be different to your original one. I haven’t got mine yet – wimp – but I’ve got it planned, I only had to go back two chapters the first time, then I will have to do one more play-through from near the beginning. If you are doing this make sure to just use chapter select to restart your game instead of starting a whole new game.

I still can’t decide whether I liked the addition of the totems or not. Totems are collectible items that you find on the ground and they give you a small glimpse into a possible outcome. There are 5 different colours which equate to five different categories – Danger, Loss, Death, Guidance and Fortune. I did think it was a really clever idea, however at the same time it did influence some of my decisions, I would obsess when one of my characters was near fire because I had seen an explosion. I know that’s what they were there for but it makes me wonder whether the game would have been better without having these little clues.

Overall, it’s one to play, without a doubt. Fans of interactive movie games and fans of the horror genre are guaranteed to enjoy this game and it would be a great entry game for anyone who has never played before. Even if you are a wimp like me, keep the lights on, turn the volume down and have some friends over. Of course, if you want to play it how it’s supposed to be played I salute you. Dark, loud and shit-stained pants. Don’t go in expecting a masterpiece but do expect to have some fun.

SPOILERS AHEAD – DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE GAME