Until Dawn – CtrlAltNoob

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

Reminder – If you are a PS Plus member, remember to add the games to your library each month, you don’t HAVE to download them. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever play it, it is worth having in your library just in case. You never know what is going to take you by surprise!

On my quest to play all sorts of different games, I have decided it would be fun to go back and play through my library of PS Plus games that I have never even looked at. I am (eventually) going to go through each month, from most to least recent, trying out these games and having my say about each one. I do hope this can be helpful to someone but if not, at least I’m finally trying these games!

P.S. I am only going to go through the PS4 games for now. Between my huge backlog and my slow old console, I’ve decided that will be best. Since I am not yet playing the PS3 titles, I am going to write a quick summary from the info I find from my friend Google, just for my own future benefit/anyone curious about the full months line-up!

PS4 – Until Dawn

Until Dawn is a Survival Horror, interactive movie style game, developed by Supermassive Games. I already own this game, in fact I got it for Christmas at the same time as my PS4. It probably would have been my first PS4 game but it took a long time to download. I wrote a full review of it on this website if you are interested, so I will just write a brief summary here.

If you are a fan of horror movies then I suggest playing this game, even if you are not a gamer. The best way to go into it is first – blind – and second – not too seriously. It is like a love letter to campy horror films. It is full of clichéd characters and clichéd moments, and yet somehow it works. The graphics are wonderful and the atmosphere is haunting. I personally cannot deal with horror but I love choose your own adventure type games. I managed to get exactly half way through before I needed help. If you are like me, it helps to turn the volume down, play during the day and have someone else in the room with you. Just whatever you do, don’t google what’s going to happen because that will spoil it. If you are not like me, please, play in the pitch black in the dead of night and absorb that atmosphere. Or, get together a group of friends, assign characters to each other and pass the controllers around. Girls vs boys works well for this as I would say they get an equal amount of play time. You might be surprised at how much fun you have. I really think everyone should give this game a go, in which ever way it works for you. It is definitely one of a kind!

PS4 – Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is another interactive movie type of game but this one is of the episodic nature and was developed by Telltale Games. I, again, already own this game, except this time, I purposely haven’t played it. I haven’t seen any of the TV series yet but it is on my watch list. I read that this game spoils up to Season 3 of the show so if you are in the same boat as me, I suggest sitting on this one. I can, however, pass some information on that I have read. Telltale have a lot of great games but this, for whatever reason, isn’t classed as one of them.

Edit – I have since watched the whole show and played this game, and all I want to say is please do not sleep on it. I completely disagree with the reviews and would probably rank it as my second favourite Telltale Game after Tales from the Borderlands. What an experience I had.

PS4 – That’s You

That’s You is a PlayLink party game developed by Wish Studios and is actually free on PS Plus until October. What PlayLink means is that you can use your smartphones or tablets as controllers, making the game more accessible as a family game. You have to download the app and everything else is really straight forward and painless.

First Impressions – after a game with my Mam, we laughed a lot, but it was very short. The aim of the game (at least with two players) is to match your answers and prove you know each other well. It makes great use of the phone cameras and the drawing function is fun, and the best thing is that it is really easy to use. My Mam is a bit of a technophobe and she had no trouble. I don’t think I have had full experience yet as it is aimed at more players, but as a family that has played a lot of Buzz and Scene It in the past, the new PlayLink system seems really promising for these fun party games in the future. To sum up, I can’t say I’d be happy if I had paid for it but it is a fun little game for a free laugh.

PS4/Vita – Don’t die, Mr. Robot!

Don’t die, Mr. Robot! Is an indie arcade game developed by Infinite State Games. The aim of the game is in the title. Try to survive by avoiding the many different enemy robots wandering onto the screen and collect fruit to get rid of robots/gain points. When you touch a robot you die. There are 50 different levels with different goals e.g. survive for XX seconds, collect XX fruit, then there are other modes. Arcade mode is like endless mode to see how long you can survive on your one life. There are also two other modes. Time attack mode is where you have a set 2 minutes and 30 seconds to score as highly as possible. The robots seem to be moving double speed, but when you die you come back after 10 seconds. Lastly there is Chill Out mode. Again, an endless mode, but this time everything seems to be moving at half speed. My favourite would have been Time Attack mode but 10 seconds feels like a really long time when you are waiting for your replacement robot.

I appreciate the details in the game, for example there are a lot of customisation options for your little robot, and overall it’s a nice little time killer on the vita, but I don’t really find it too fun as a console game.

Vita – Element4l

Element4l is an indie platformer developed by I-illusions. Since I don’t have a Vita I won’t get to try this one but from looking at screenshots, it looks the most similar to Type:Rider, which is a game I found fun at first, but I became increasingly angry with it. It seems to have average to above average reviews. I’m not too sad to be missing out on this one.

PS3 – Tokyo Jungle

Tokyo Jungle is an action/survival game developed by Crispy’s! It is set in Tokyo, after… the apocalypse I guess. Humans are no more but wild animals roam the streets. You can play as lots of different animals as you try to survive. I actually read about this game recently and fancied trying it out so I am stoked that it is free. No doubt this will be one of the first PS3 games I download when I eventually get around to it. Whether the game is as good as it sounds however is yet for me to discover.

PS3 – Darkstalkers Resurrection

Darkstalkers Resurrection is a 2D fighting game developed by Iron Galaxy Studios. It is the latest in the Darkstalkers series and it plays in the same vein as the Tekken and Street Fighter games. It has some pretty good reviews so if you are a fan of the genre then definitely check it out.

Summary – In a similar thought to April ‘17, I feel like That’s You – like Drawn to Death – shouldn’t be advertised in the monthly line ups and instead should go in the free game section of the PS Store. Other than that, I actually think this is a very solid month. I would be raving about it if I didn’t already own half the games. A particularly solid month for people that enjoy story based games, and the people that skipped Until Dawn, not because they didn’t want to play it but because they didn’t want to buy it. As it seems, people appear to have really embraced it so I do hope this is the beginning of the expansion of the genre.

Did you enjoy July’s games?

Tag: Until Dawn

Review – Until Dawn – PS4

PS Plus – July 2017