As a longtime fan of horror movies and survival horror games, Supermassive Games’ debut, Until Dawn, was one of my most anticipated releases of the year 2015. I eagerly looked forward to it, beat it twice in one week and cemented it as my ‘Game of the Year’ on another site I used to write for. However, I hadn’t played it since despite planning more runs through its dark mountain locale.
Needless to say, I was happy to hear the announcement of an Until Dawn Remake for PlayStation 5. I looked forward to returning to one of my favourite games, nine years later, and got mad at myself for letting it get that long in-between. Now that I’ve played through Ballistic Moon’s redone version of this classic, I can share my thoughts with you all.
Set in a mountainous part of Alberta, Canada, Until Dawn centres upon a group of ten friends who are vacationing at a massive chalet. After a stupid prank goes wrong, two of the teenage attendees go missing and are never found. However, despite this unnecessary tragedy, their brother invites his seven friends back up for another party a year later. This is the setting for the majority of the game.
Despite the grim happening of the year before, the group plans to have a good time in honour of the lost girls, even if the idea is a bit morose. However, little goes right and it becomes apparent that something is off. Thus begins a campaign of survival, which mixes more than a couple horror sub-genres together. The end result, though, is a title that plays out like an interactive movie, where one must make decisions, complete quicktime events and also remain incredibly still. Making the wrong decision, moving the controller too much, pressing the wrong button or not being fast enough can lead to death. We aren’t talking about game over, though, as fans of Supermassive’s later efforts (The Dark Pictures Anthology’s four games, The Quarry and the recently released The Casting of Frank Stone) can attest to. No, each of these characters can either live or die depending on how you play, and the game adjusts to their absences.
It’s really difficult to keep all 8 playable characters alive, so don’t get too mad at yourself when some perish. You can always go back and change your choices (after completing the campaign), or start a new play through. That’s part of the fun of this game, because each run can be different.
In-between each of Until Dawn’s 10 chapters, a mysterious individual is interviewed by a psychiatrist, who’s played by actor Peter Stormare. He has you answer questions pertaining to your likes and dislikes, fears and thoughts on different pictures, among other things. It gets progressively more hardcore as you go through the different chapters. These sections remind me of the really good game, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, which used a similar tactic and did it well.
Before we go on, it’s important to mention that this movie-like game features a Hollywood cast. Its main players include incredibly accurate representations of Hayden Panettiere (Heroes, Scream 4), Galadriel Stineman (The Middle), Nichole Sakura (Superstore), Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Mr. Robot’s incredibly talented star, Rami Malek. They combine to provide acting performances that are better than what’s found in your average horror movie, although Ms. Sakura’s Emily is a weak point. Rami Malek puts forth the best and most memorable performance; especially as the game draws to a close.
As you play, you’ll find newspaper clippings, letters, pictures and talismans that provide glimpses into the future. Some show you potential danger, or a potential character death, while others provide helpful hints. One, for instance, showed me that climbing an embankment would be a successful shortcut. These talismans are usually off the beaten path, and must be rotated to find the vision. All of these collectibles help flesh out the game’s story, background and setting.
It was nice to be able to return to Until Dawn through this remake. I had a good time with it, and beat it in two sittings. While it filled me with nostalgia for a better time, it also reminded me why this remains the best of this type of game. I will definitely play through it again, with that being my fourth time.
Ballistic Moon was tasked with updating this gem for current generation consoles and, whether you think it was necessary or not. They’ve done so using the Unreal 5 engine, and have introduced new (interactive) collectibles, and adjusted some scenes. They’ve also had to incorporate some new music, which I thought fit well.
Until Dawn (2024) has the odd minor hitch and hiccup on PlayStation 5, but nothing noteworthy or bothersome. I only had one texture load improperly, and it was a collectible. Meanwhile, there were only a couple of frame rate hiccups. I’ve heard about crashes, but experienced none. I found that this remake looked really good, and also sounded pretty great. It’s more detailed, sharper and pops more. That said, I did turn the film grain feature off about 3/5 of the way through, as I found that it was flickering too much.
If this is your first time playing Until Dawn, you’re in for a treat. Meanwhile, this remake is a love letter to us returning fans. It’s really well done.
This review is based on the PlayStation 5 version of the game, which we were provided.