Until Dawn

Until Dawn
Developer(s) Supermassive Games
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s) Will Byles
Designer(s) Nik Bowen
Artist(s) Brandon Kosinski
Writer(s)
Composer(s) Jason Graves[1]
Engine Decima
Platform(s) PlayStation 4
Release
  • NA: 25 August 2015
  • PAL: 26 August 2015
  • UK: 28 August 2015
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Until Dawn is a horror adventure video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 4.[2] It was originally scheduled to be released for PlayStation 3 and feature PlayStation Move support, but in August 2014 the game was re-introduced as a PlayStation 4 title,[3] and was released worldwide in August 2015.[4]

Set in Western Canada, Until Dawn centres around a group of eight teenagers who decide to have a holiday for a night in a cabin on the fictional Blackwood Mountain, exactly one year after the disappearance of two girls, the twin sisters of a member of their group. Shortly after arriving, the gang find themselves under attack by a madman and must attempt to survive until sunrise. Throughout the adventure, players alternate between all eight characters, making critical decisions as the story advances which drastically affects the game's outcome, leading to hundreds of different scenarios.[5]

Until Dawn was met with a positive critical response upon release, with praise directed at the visuals, 'choice' mechanic, horror elements, music, characters, voice acting, and gameplay design. Towards the second half of the story, there was criticism drawn to the camera angles, movement of characters and the partially linear plot. A prequel, The Inpatient, was announced in June 2017 and released in January 2018.

Gameplay

Until Dawn is designed to be played multiple times, as players cannot see all content with a single playthrough.[6] Each playthrough lasts about nine hours in length[5] and the game mechanics utilise an in-game system called the "butterfly effect" in which any choice of action made by the player may cause unforeseen consequences later on.[7] For example, locating a weapon in an earlier chapter may allow the player to pick it up down the line when a chase scene leads back to the same room. Throughout the game, players will make difficult decisions during ethical or moral dilemmas, such as sacrificing one character to save another.[8] The game also includes a flashback and flashforward mechanic where if a certain event has, or is about to, unfold, or if something important is realised by a character, the game will show a flashback through the eyes of a character that witnessed an event that caused the upcoming encounters, or it will show a choice the player made that resulted in the event. Flashbacks and flashforwards are normally not a good sign and are an indicator that something bad has or will happen. The Butterfly Effect system blurs the line between right and wrong decisions, and it is possible for players to keep all eight characters alive as well as having all eight of them die, allowing for many different paths and scenarios as well as offering several different endings for each character.[9] Until Dawn has a strict auto-save system to prevent players from reloading a previous save file to an earlier point in the game if they regret an in-game decision they have made. The only way to change the player's choice is to restart the game from the beginning or continue to the end and start a new game.[10] The developer has stated that Until Dawn has "hundreds of endings" but that should not be taken literally. Different endings have different variations depending on the combination of characters alive at the end of the game.[11][12]

The gameplay is focused on exploration, quick-time events and discovering clues as well as making decisions.[13] There is an in-game system that will keep track of all of the clues and secrets players have discovered in total, even if there are multiple playthroughs; these clues will allow the player to piece together the mysteries of Blackwood.[14] In terms of the gameplay mechanics and theme, Until Dawn has been noted to be similar to Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.[15][16]

Plot

On 2 February 2014, Josh Washington (Rami Malek), his two sisters, Beth and Hannah (Ella Lentini), and their friends Sam (Hayden Panettiere), Mike Munroe (Brett Dalton), Chris (Noah Fleiss), Ashley (Galadriel Stineman), Emily (Nichole Bloom), Matt (Jordan Fisher), and Jessica (Meaghan Martin) have a party in the Washington Lodge on Blackwood Mountain for their annual winter getaway. Mike, Emily, Jessica, Matt, and Ashley play a mean-spirited prank on Hannah, causing her to run away from the lodge into the woods, and Beth to chase after her. They are pursued by a fire-spewing individual who corners them on a cliff, which they both fall off.

On the one year anniversary of his sisters' disappearance, Josh invites the group back to the lodge again. Once there, the group quickly splits, as couples Mike and Jessica walk to the guest lodge, Matt and Emily return to the cable car station to retrieve one of Emily's forgotten bags, and Sam goes upstairs to have a bath. After Mike and Jessica arrive at the cabin, Jessica is dragged away by an unknown creature with Mike pursuing them into a mine. He follows a Stranger into an abandoned sanatorium and learns about an incident in 1952 where 30 workers were trapped in a cave-in. Chris gets knocked out and wakes to find Ashley and Josh chained to a giant saw blade deathtrap by a masked man, which results in Josh being bisected. After learning about Josh's fate, Emily and Matt try to leave the mountain via the cable car, only to find it locked. They climb a radio tower and are able to contact a park ranger who says help won't arrive until dawn, before the tower is pulled down, and they fall into a mine shaft and are separated. Sam is stalked by the Psycho and is either knocked unconscious, or escapes into a workshop.

As Chris, Ashley, Sam, and Mike congregate underground, the masked psycho reveals himself to be Josh, who was pranking the group in retaliation for his sisters' disappearance. He confesses to rigging the lodge to appear haunted but denies killing Jessica; Mike and Chris tie him up and leave him in the shed. In the mine, Emily finds Beth's head and Hannah's personal effects, realizing that Hannah survived the initial fall and that she had eaten Beth's flesh in order to try and survive, turning her into a Wendigo. She encounters the Stranger, who helps her escape from the unknown creatures and return to the lodge. The Stranger (Larry Fessenden) confronts the group and reveals the mountain is inhabited by Wendigos, who were humans that were possessed by evil spirits after engaging in cannibalism. Chris and the Stranger go to retrieve Josh, only to find him missing, before the Stranger is killed.

Mike and Sam go to the sanatorium to find Josh and the cable car key, but are pursued by the miner-turned-Wendigos, forcing them to destroy the building. They find Josh in the mines, hallucinating badly, and watch as he is either killed or spared by the Hannah Wendigo. Matt and Jessica find each other in the mine and escape the Wendigos on the way to the surface. Mike and Sam return to the lodge to meet with the other survivors, only to find it overrun with fighting Wendigos. The creatures cause a gas leak, which the group then sets alight with an electrical spark, destroying the lodge and killing all of the creatures. The survivors sit outside the burning building as rescue helicopters arrive at dawn to take the group away.

Ending

As the credits roll, those who did not survive have their death scenes replayed, while the living friends give interviews about the incident to the police and warn them of creatures in the mines. If Josh survived, he is shown as having transformed into a Wendigo and eating the Stranger's head. If at least one other friend survived, Josh is discovered by the police and he attacks them. If nobody else survived, Josh looks at the player.

It is also possible for all of the friends (except for Josh) to get out alive in the game.

Development

Until Dawn was announced for the PlayStation 3 at Gamescom 2012 and was originally set to use the PlayStation Move controller.[17] It was announced as a first-person video game, and the players were expected to use the PlayStation Move controller to control the flashlight and torch, as well as to switch between the game's eight different playable characters.[17] It was developed by Supermassive Games, who had previously worked on other PlayStation Move games including 2010's Start the Party!.[18] A trailer and gameplay footage was shown to the public.[19]

The game was originally set to be released in 2013. However, no more details about the game were provided, and the game had not been released as of late 2013. Until Dawn was reportedly cancelled, but Supermassive later clarified that the game was still in development.[20]

Until Dawn was re-introduced at Gamescom 2014. The title now served as a PlayStation 4 exclusive and would shift to a third-person perspective.[21] The PlayStation Move feature was replaced by the DualShock 4's motion sensor. In addition, the torch feature was scrapped in favour of a more traditional level approach, with the characters becoming playable at different parts of the game.[22] In addition to the trailer, a gameplay demo was released.[23] According to Supermassive, the game's transition from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 has led the developer to rebuild the game and to rewrite its story, so as to create a more cinematic experience, and to make the game to feel "darker and fundamentally more terrifying". It was also revealed that Until Dawn would utilise the Decima engine that originated from Killzone Shadow Fall.[24]

On 26 May 2015, Sony announced that the game would be released on 25 August 2015.[25] Players who pre-ordered the game would receive a bonus mission featuring Matt and Emily. Besides the game's standard edition, there are also an extended edition and a steelbook edition that is available for players to purchase.[26] On 31 July 2015, Sony confirmed that the game had been declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release.[27]

As Until Dawn features graphic violence, all death scenes were censored in the Japanese version of the game.[28][29]

Reception

Critical response

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic79/100[30]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid7/10[31]
EGM8/10[32]
Game Informer9/10[33]
Game Revolution[34]
GameSpot8/10[35]
GamesRadar+[36]
GameTrailers8.5/10[37]
IGN7.5/10[38]
Polygon6.5/10[39]
VideoGamer.com8/10[40]

Until Dawn received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 79 on Metacritic based on 103 reviews.[30] In 2017, GamesRadar ranked the game 13 in their list of "the 20 best horror games of all time".[41]

Lucy O'Brien of IGN gave the game a generally positive review, giving it a 7.5 out of 10. She praised the "creepy" environments, "tongue-in-cheek" tone, and the choices the player is forced to make. She did, however, dislike certain characters, particularly 'Doctor Hill', and the second half of the game, mostly the story's focus, calling it "silly" and "derailing". She thought that the game was flawed but enjoyable and felt that the story dragged down the game's overall quality.[38]

Game Informer's Jeff Marchiafava gave the game a positive review, with a score of 9/10. He praised the player decision-making mechanic, which he felt dynamically changed the game's experience and story. He also praised the game's score, which he called "superb", the voice acting, the story, which was thought of as "intriguing and exciting", and the visuals. He called the gameplay "simple yet effective" and thought it was "engaging", but he criticized the game's animation, which he described as "awkward". Marchiafava stated that the game is a "remarkable experience that horror fans shouldn't miss".[33]

In her mostly positive review for GameSpot, Alexa Ray Corriea scored the game an 8/10, saying that she was surprised by the game. She particularly complimented the narrative because she considered its branching paths have significantly altered the game's story, saying "choices matter in big ways and affect the rest of the game". She also liked the actors' performances, calling them "incredibly good", and the overall replayability. Negative comments were concerning the story, mostly towards the end, and the "unflattering" camera angles. She also said "the visuals can be wonky at times".[35]

VideoGamer.com's Tom Orry gave the game a positive review. He scored it an 8/10, citing the horror elements, acting, "lovely" visuals, and the player choice mechanic as positives, even though he had some minor criticisms. Orry felt that the game had exceeded his expectations and added that the simple gameplay, alongside the story, successfully gives players a thrilling and malleable experience.[40]

Destructoid's Chris Carter gave the game a 7 out of 10. He praised the game's environments, collectibles, and premise. However, he criticised the game's story, which he thought was predictable, and the exaggerated acting. In addition, Carter felt that the game lacked meaningful choices.[31]

GamesRadar's Louise Blain gave the game a 3.5 out of 5, calling it a "beautiful" "bloodstained love letter to every horror movie you’ve ever seen". She enjoyed the jump-scares, pace, visuals, and overall tone, but criticised the game for being "painfully" short. She disliked the decision-making mechanic as she thought that the system was diminished due to several set plot points.[36]

Giving a mixed review for Polygon, Philip Kollar scored the game a 6.5/10. He found the game "generic", even though he thought it had offered him a unique experience. He did not consider it a great game, but he thought that the game was good enough to keep him engaged. He added that the narrative structure of the game could serve as an example for future narrative-driven video games.[39]

Sales

The game was the sixth best selling weekly software in Japan, selling 17,472 copies. The release of this as well as Dragon's Dogma Online provided a slight boost in PlayStation 4 sales.[42] In the United Kingdom, Until Dawn was the second best-selling software for the week of 29 August 2015, debuting at No. 2 in the UK retail software sales chart, behind only Gears of War: Ultimate Edition.[43] According to the NPD Group, Until Dawn was the seventh best selling game in the United States in August 2015.[44] Supermassive Games stated that the sales of the game far exceeded their expectations.[45]

Accolades

DateCeremonyCategoryRecipient(s) and nominee(s)ResultRef.
2015 Golden Joystick Awards PlayStation Game of the Year Until Dawn Nominated [46]
Global Game Awards Best Horror Game Won [47]
Best Original Game Third
The Game Awards Best Narrative Nominated [48]
2016 New Statesmen's Top 10 Video Games of 2015 Best Game Seventh [49]
Hardcore Gamer's Best of 2015 Best Adventure Game Runner-Up [50]
PlayStation Blog's Best of 2015 Best PS4 Game Nominated [51][52]
Best Story Runner-Up
SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Technical Achievement Nominated [53][54]
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Performance in a Drama Supporting Brett Dalton as Mike Nominated [55]
Use of Sound, New IP Until Dawn Nominated
British Academy Games Awards British Game Nominated [56]
Game Innovation Nominated
Original Property Won
Story Nominated

Spin-off and prequel

In an interview with PlayStation LifeStyle, executive producer Pete Samuels stated that Supermassive Games is exploring the possibility of continuing Until Dawn.[45] A non-canonical spin-off, titled Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, was announced by Sony at Paris Games Week 2015; described as an arcade shooter, the game's development began in the middle of Until Dawn's development. It was released on the PlayStation VR on 13 October 2016.[57] In June 2017, The Inpatient was announced as a prequel to Until Dawn, set sixty years prior within the Blackwood Sanatorium.[58]

References

  1. ↑ Greening, Chris. "Jason Graves creates a cinematic horror score for Until Dawn". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Until Dawn, The Unfinished Swan, and Journey Confirmed for PS4". IGN.com. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Gamescom 2014: Until Dawn is Now a PS4 Exclusive, Uses the Killzone: Shadow Fall Engine (Updated)". playstationlifestyle.net. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Samuels, Pete (26 May 2015). "Until Dawn Launches on PS4 August 25th". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 Scammell, David (14 August 2015). "Until Dawn 'around 9 hours long', 'has hundreds of endings'". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. ↑ O'Connell, Jason (17 July 2015). "Until Dawn Will Redefine the Interactive Genre". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  7. ↑ North, Dale (14 August 2015). "Until Dawn has hundreds of endings and thousands of branches". Destructoid. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Takakashi, Dean (26 August 2015). "10 tips for surviving the night in Until Dawn". VentureBeat. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Save (Or Kill) Everyone in Until Dawn With These Choices". The Escapist. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Kollar, Philip (17 August 2015). "Until Dawn: The Surprising Ambition And Curious Fear of Supermassive Games". Polygon. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Until Dawn Unveiled Official Website for PS4". Supermassive Games. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Co, Alex (15 August 2014). "Until Dawn "Around Nine Hours" Long, Will Have "Hundreds of Endings"". Playstation Lifestyle. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Prahl, Kyle (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review: Choice and grisly consequence". PlayStation Universe. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Hillier, Brenna (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn is Telltale with unlimited time, funds and jump scares". VG247. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Morgan, Thomas (25 August 2014). "Until Dawn may be the horror-themed Heavy Rain you've been waiting for". Eurogamer. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Kaszor, Daniel (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review: A full-fledged horror movie in a surprisingly slick interactive format". The Financial Post. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  17. 1 2 Byles, Will (14 August 2014). "Until Dawn: New PS Move Horror Game Announced for PS3". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  18. ↑ J. Seppala, Timothy (24 August 2015). "The real horror of 'Until Dawn' is that Sony sent it to die". Engadget. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Until Dawn Gamescom Trailer [HD]". Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  20. ↑ Scammell, David (13 December 2013). "Has Until Dawn been cancelled?". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Walton, Mark (14 August 2014). "Until Dawn's Hollywood-Infused PS4 Reboot is Absolutely Terrifying". GameSpot. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  22. ↑ Liebi, Lance (12 August 2014). "gamescom 2014: Until Dawn is "a horror game unlike any other, anyone can survive, anyone can die."". GameZone. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  23. ↑ "Until Dawn rebooted for PS4 and it's terrifying". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  24. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (12 August 2014). "Until Dawn has been "refocused, rewritten, rebuilt" for PS4 and DualShock 4". VG247. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  25. ↑ Phillips, Tom (26 May 2015). "PS4 exclusive Until Dawn finally has a release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  26. ↑ "Until Dawn release date confirmed new trailer debuts". Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  27. ↑ Moser, Cassidee (31 July 2015). "Until Dawn On PlayStation 4 Has Gone Gold". IGN. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  28. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (27 August 2015). "See How PS4's Until Dawn Is Censored in Japan". GameSpot. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  29. ↑ Phillips, Tom (27 August 2015). "Until Dawn death scene censored in Japan". Eurogamer. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  30. 1 2 "Until Dawn for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  31. 1 2 Carter, Chris (24 August 2015). "Review: Until Dawn". Destructoid. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  32. ↑ L. Patterson, Mollie (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  33. 1 2 Marchiafava, Jeff (24 August 2015). "A New Dawn For Interactive Storytelling - Until Dawn - PlayStation 4". Game Informer. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  34. ↑ Vazquez, Jessica (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  35. 1 2 Ray Corriea, Alexa (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  36. 1 2 Blain, Louise (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review: a dark night rises". GamesRadar. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  37. ↑ Bloodworth, Daniel (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  38. 1 2 O'Brien, Lucy (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". IGN. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  39. 1 2 Kollar, Philip (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn review: a cabin in the woods". Polygon. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  40. 1 2 Orry, Tom (24 August 2015). "Until Dawn Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  41. ↑ GamesRadar Staff (27 March 2017). "The 20 best horror games of all time". GamesRadar. Future plc.
  42. ↑ Ramsey, Robert (2 September 2015). "Japanese Sales Charts: Until Dawn and Dragon's Dogma Online Give Us Something to Write About". Push Square. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  43. ↑ Orry, James (1 September 2015). "UK Video Game Chart is a real chart for real men". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  44. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (10 September 2015). "August 2015 NPD: Madden Is King And Until Dawn Has A Solid Showing". Game Informer. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  45. 1 2 "Supermassive Games: Until Dawn 2 Being Discussed, Sales "Surpassed Expectations"". PlayStation LifeStyle. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  46. ↑ Reynolds, Matthew. (2 September 2015). "Golden Joystick Awards 2015 voting now open to the public". Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  47. ↑ "Until Dawn". Game Debate. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  48. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (4 December 2015). "The Game Awards 2015 – Game of the Year goes to The Witcher 3". VG247. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  49. ↑ Ahmed, Emad (31 December 2015). "The top ten best videogames of 2015". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  50. ↑ "Best of 2015 – Day Four: Adventure, Platformer, DLC/Expansion, Mobile". Hardcore Gamer. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  51. ↑ Massongill, Justin (18 December 2015). "Vote Now: PS.Blog Game of the Year 2015 Awards". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  52. ↑ Massongill, Justin (12 January 2016). "Winners: PlayStation.Blog 2015 Game of the Year Awards". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  53. ↑ "SXSW Gaming Awards". South by Southwest. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  54. ↑ Aviles, Estevan (19 March 2016). "2016 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Announced!". South by Southwest. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  55. ↑ "Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  56. ↑ "British Academy Games Awards Nominees in 2016". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  57. ↑ Martin, Matt (27 October 2015). "Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a "fast-paced arcade shooter" for PlayStation VR". VG247. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  58. ↑ Bowen, Nik (12 June 2017). "The Inpatient Announced for PS VR, Set 60 Years Before Until Dawn". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
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