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Preview: Until Dawn

Horror games are hard to pull off. Long gone are the glory days of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, games that knew how to employ pace and atmosphere. These days, mainstream horror titles just don’t live up to those lofty standards, instead favouring action too much and atmosphere too little. The most memorable games of late have been indie titles such as Amnesia or even Five Nights at Freddy’s. Horror games have been in this state for some time now, but maybe that’s about to change. Enter Until Dawn.

I think it’s fair to call Until Dawn a cinematic horror game in terms of both its control scheme and its obvious influences. Until Dawn sees you take control of various teenagers who are holidaying in a lodge up in the wilderness. A decidedly remote lodge. Sound familiar?

I’ve lost count of how many horror movies use the “cabin in the woods” trope and this game, in it’s own way, pays homage to many of them. It’s often subtle but the dialogue choices and interactions with the sinister “Analyst” seem to point to a game aware and proud of its heritage. It’s here that Until Dawn kicked its first goal for me. I loved the movie Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon’s recent take on the tropes of horror, and Until Dawn’s self awareness reminds me of it.

until dawn promo 1

Gameplay is made up of a series of dialogue choices linked by sections where you’ve direct control of a character. These dialogue decisions have far reaching consequences story-wise, with subtle choices made early having potentially much larger ramifications later on in the game. Every character has a “status” with every other character that influences what options you have for interaction later on in the game and potentially means life or death for some characters.

It is here that the sometimes heavy-handed butterfly effect theme begins to emerge. Every choice you make in the game, no matter how small, will affect how your game plays out. Some are subtle, like whether or not the love interest of one character gets her kit off. Some are much more obvious like the death of a character. Major consequences like these are often foreshadowed by totems found lying on the ground which, when picked up, give premonitions allowing you to potentially avoid a grisly end.

Something that struck me very early in my two hours with the game was the sheer depth of choice available for players. From the very start you get a sense that every decision, every interaction with other characters matters. I never wanted to make the “bad” choice because I wanted to save as many characters as I could.

until dawn promo 2

Each character falls quite neatly into the stereotypical youth cast in most horror movies but that serves the game; it’s made use of those stereotypes well. Dialogue is sometimes cringe-inducing but that plays even more into the classic horror movie theme. The writers of this game should be commended for their ability to switch from cheesey “teen” to well characterized dialogue on a whim.

Until Dawn isn’t perfect though. In my two hours with the game I experienced an incredibly choppy frame rate on multiple occasions which, given how linear this game really is, is unacceptable. There were some visual bugs on occasion too, with fabric glitching out and stretching oddly. The tutorial section deserves a mention here as well. I’m not sure who’s idea it was to cover one third of the screen with a tutorial window but it really, really doesn’t work. Finally, and perhaps worst of all, the game totally locked up and froze with about 15 minutes of my play time remaining. Now there is still time for these bugs to be squashed before the game releases on 26 August, but I have to review what I saw.

Until Dawn makes me hopeful. I want the next eight hours to be as good as the first two were. It’s a mainstream title that does horror right and I can only hope that come release day it my lofty expectations.


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About the author

Hamish Lindsay

Avid reader and general geek, justifying the time I spend playing games by writing about them. I try not to discriminate by genre, but I remember story more than gameplay. I’ve been playing League for longer than Akali and I’m still Silver. Fallout 3 and MGS3 may be the pinnacle of gaming.