10 Things PC Gamers Are Missing Out On in Until Dawn
Ever wonder if you have what it takes to survive a night as a character in a horror movie? While vacationing on Blackwood Mountain with friends, twins Hannah and Beth disappear without a trace. Exactly one year after the tragedy, eight of their friends return to the lodge. All they want to do is put the past behind them, but something sinister is stalking them on the mountain. When a psychopath begins to terrorize the group they must make the right choices in order to survive until dawn.
This PS4 exclusive received favorable reviews across the board since its release in the summer of 2015. Here are just a few of the reasons we wish Until Dawn was also available for PC:
1. The Cinematic Experience
Could you survive as a character in a horror movie?
Until Dawn is, above all else, an interactive story-telling experience. Traditional mechanics such as running and shooting are downplayed in this game. The player’s participation in the game is simplified down to a series of quick time events and dialogue choices. The game’s ending and who survives the night depends on the choices made by the player, and the clues they are able to find in the short linear environments.
This game focuses on the environment and the experience of the characters as they navigate their way through an impossible situation. There are no complicated controls or inventory systems because these kids are not soldiers. They are teenagers, and more often than not their best chance of survival is to hide and avoid fighting altogether. This might be a deal breaker for some gamers, but Until Dawn does not lack for excitement. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep players hooked from the first drop of blood to the last.
Here are a few of Until Dawn's beautifully animated cut scenes.
2. A Nod to Classic Horror
Enter one psychopath to ruin everyone’s fun…
For lovers of the macabre and classic horror movie cliché Until Dawn is a must-play. This game has all the campy machete wielding maniacs and unsupervised teens that an 80’s horror fan could ask for. Until Dawn features elements borrowed from across all sub-genres of horror. The writers of the game pulled no punches when it came to trying to include every element of horror they could find. This can leave the story feeling a little cluttered in the beginning, but if the player is vigilant about seeking out clues the pieces will slowly fall into place.
Fans of gory slasher films will be sure to get a kick out the references to Friday the 13th and Saw. There are event hints of something supernatural occurring on the mountain and it is all somehow tangled up in the abandoned mines. The group quickly realizes that the machete wielding psychopath is not the only thing they should be worrying about. As if dealing with a murderous maniac wasn’t bad enough!
Sam's encounter with the game's psychotic killer.
3. Your Choices Determine Who Lives and Who Dies
Until Dawn is ruled by the Butterfly Effect.
The core mechanic of Until Dawn revolves around choice. Until Dawn is a choose-your-own-adventure horror story, so the survival of each character depends on the actions of the player. At each crossroads or character interaction the player must decide what to say and what actions to take. While is sometime easy to spot the good and bad speech options there are times when a path could be considered morally grey. Is it better to protect your friend’s feelings? Or, is it better to let them know the truth, even if it is something they might not want to hear?
Obviously, some actions have consequences. Consistently choosing aggressive speech options will result in squabbles among the group. Causing chaos can also have much more subtle effects on the story later in the game. Figuratively speaking, stepping on butterflies early on in the game can have lasting effects which make survival tougher down the road. It is wise to take careful note of the surroundings, and above all heed the warnings of the totems. It is also important to note that sometimes doing nothing is the right course of action.
Every choice you make is recorded and determine how your story will end.
4. Think Fast and Stay Alive
Run or hide? Which choice will help Sam survive the night?
Sometimes in real life we have only a few precious seconds in which to react or make an important choice. The staple game mechanic for Until Dawn is the quick time event. In order to do certain tasks, such as climbing an obstacle, a series of button prompts will appear on screen. Some of these buttons have a short timer, and missing them can have disastrous consequences. Missing a quick time button during an intense chase scene can cause the character to trip or miss an opportunity for escape. A missed prompt can mean life or death for one of the unfortunate teens.
Players be warned, the use of quick time events is part of the reason it pays to be vigilant during lengthy cut scenes. There will be opportunities for optional player interaction, and sometimes the game will throw in something completely unexpected and catch you by surprise.
Gameplay showing quicktime events which help your characters run for their lives.
5. Sexy Scenes
Sexy teens are a slasher movie must-have.
A slasher movie would not be complete if the unsupervised teens did not fool around. In Until Dawn’s opening we see the group play a cruel prank on one of the twins because she has a crush on Mike. Her heartbreak starts the chain of events which lead to the twins’ disappearance.
One year later the friend group returns to the cabin, and a few things have changed. There have been a few break-ups, and a couple new relationships have blossomed. They are all eager to put the tragedy of the past year behind them and move on to … more entertaining activities.
Depending on the player’s choices, there is potential for drama, new love, and some sexier moments. For instance, Mike is in a new relationship with Jessica. If the player manages to strengthen the affection between this couple Mike may manage to seduce Jessica. The consequence of this action is that Jessica will then be walking around in her bra and panties for the rest of the game. Ok, maybe some players do not thing of a pretty girl in her underwear as a “consequence”.
Here are a few of the sexier scenes in Until Dawn.
6. Our Teen Cast: Four Gorgeous Girls and Four Hansom Boys
Meet Until Dawn’s eight super pretty cast members.
Throughout the game the player will switch between seven separate characters as they attempt to survive the night. Until Dawn features an all-star cast playing all the teenagers we know from high school. We have Mike the class president, Emily the valedictorian, Chris the class clown, and so on. This is all pretty standard for a game that is a homage to horror movies.
Each character has a set of stats which outlines their personality and level of affinity with the other characters at the lodge. Each character has their own motives, likes and dislikes. Dialogue choices made by the player throughout the game will either unite, divide them, or result in the pretty girl running around in her underwear for the second half of the game.
Until Dawn's cast and their voice actors.
7. Animated Characters So Realistic That They Are the Spitting Image of their Voice Actors
Each character is an almost perfect digital counterpart to their voice actor.
New generation consoles are upping the ante when it comes to animation and game design. Each actor is fitted with motion capture sensors while they are performing their lines, and that information is used by the artist to animate the game. As a result each actor lends not only their voice to the game, but their likeness as well. The animators certainly deserve praise for the high level of detail not only during scripted cut scenes, but during player controlled game play as well.
The scenes later in the game are where the animating team took their moment to shine. As the night progresses the group must travel deeper into the mountain and a new threat is introduced. We will try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but the imagery gets quite disturbing.
Clips of the actors performing their lines using motion capture technology.
8. Blackwood Mountain: Where All the Magic Happens
Anyone else having Friday the 13th flashbacks here?
Fictional resort, Blackwood Pines Lodge, is located in the mountains of western Canada. The lodge is where the majority of the game takes place, but it by far not the only interesting tourist destination in the area. As the story unfolds characters will explore the old abandoned sanatorium, and the network of abandoned mine shafts which were the site of a tragic collapse decades prior. The mountain has enough of a story that it could almost be classified as its own character.
9. Never Ending Thrills and Suspense
Death can come for you at any time.
Watching a horror movie and playing a horror movie are two very different experiences. While watching a movie you are a fly on the wall during a character’s worst moments. You have no bearing on the outcome of a bad situation.
While playing Until Dawn you must be the one to make the choices. You know something bad is going to happen, but you don’t know why or when. After playing a chapter or two of the game, you begin to question every choice that you make. You know that if you make the wrong choice your punishment will come in the form of a gruesome death scene. It is nerve-wracking when you see the silhouette of the stranger in the background, but each of your characters remains completely oblivious to the obvious danger.
Until Dawn does a masterful job of building suspense. The atmosphere and the subtle foreshadowing sets up each and every scare flawlessly. What makes it all the more intense is that the player is never allowed to relax. It is important to watch for those unforgiving quick time events during the cut scenes. Being so deeply invested in the moment makes the jump scares even more intense.
Some of Until Dawn's more frightening moments.
10. Doctor Hill Help You Discover What You Fear Most
Never miss an appointment with Doctor Hill. He is only here to help you “play your game”.
Until Dawn is divided into ten episodes, and each episode covers one in-game hour. At the end of each hour is a scheduled appointment with Doctor Hill. Peter Stormare voices the good doctor, a man who appears to be providing therapy sessions to the “player”. He will be your conscience as you play your game.
These appointments start out relatively normal despite Doctor Hill’s off-putting behavior. He takes the player through a series of tests in order to determine the root of their fear. The results of these tests may or may not have an influence later in the game. With each passing chapter it quickly becomes apparent that something is terribly wrong, and the conversations begin take a darker turn. This leaves the player to wonder, who is really receiving the therapy sessions?
Clips of the creepy Doctor Hill.
11. Until Dawn's Replay Value
Could you do better with a second chance?
It is possible to save all eight characters. Going through the game without killing a single person is tricky, and there is no option to replay a chapter to fix a mistake. A missed quick time, an overlooked clue, or even an incorrect dialogue choice can result in the death of a teen. Some characters are difficult to save due to the most seemingly mundane reasons. It’s tough to complete the first play through without a single mishap. It is worth playing the game through at least a couple of times in order to go back, correct mistakes, and find out what would have happened if you’d separated from the group to check what was behind that trap door…
Possible endings for Until Dawn.
Until Dawn is one of the best horror games made in recent years. It lets us choose our own path through an impossible situation. It keeps us invested in the action, and rewards or punishes us with satisfying scares. Until Dawn is a game that will keep your heart pounding from the beginning to the end.
It is unfortunate for those of us who love PC gaming that Until Dawn is a PS4 exclusive. For those of us who do not want to drop the money for an expensive new console, we are missing out on a great horror experience. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed and hope that Until Dawn will be ported to PC sometime soon.
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