Originally developed by Supermassive Games, Until Dawn was one of Sony’s big releases for the PlayStation 4 back in 2015, an atmospheric horror game where the promise was that your choices had broad consequences, with production values that helped sport excellent character models and an enviable cast of Hollywood talent.
Now, nearly 10 years later, Sony has chosen to re-release it in the form of a remaster on current gen, that is, PS5 and PC, with updated visuals, a handful of gameplay tweaks, and some new content for those who want to see more behind its curtain. The remaster is the work of Ballistic Moon, formed by some of the founders of Supermassive Games and it’s the first product to come out since its inception.
While definitely a much better looking game than the original, those who’ve thoroughly explored it the first time around might find themselves without much reason to shell out a full game’s price for this one, as the added material isn’t nearly enough for a second go at Until Dawn, unless you have absolutely no recollection of it in any way, which is understandable, especially given the studio’s catalog if you’ve been keeping up with it as the games sort of gel together.
For a game that’s almost a decade old, the first release is definitely one of the highlights of the system it was released on, only rivaled by some of its later gen releases such as God of War and The Last of Us Part II. As one of the big success stories when it came down to facial capturing and modeling, it used names like Peter Stormare and Rami Malek as molds for some of its most notable characters, selling the illusion of life quite well at the time.
That’s perhaps this remaster’s most noteworthy assets, as all characters have a sharper look to them, while still retaining the original’s feel of uneasiness and uncanny valley effect. In fact, the latter is even more of an issue this time around, thanks to what seems to be unchanged animation from what was featured in 2015. Still, when not in wide motion, the models all look fantastic and way better than before.
In terms of gameplay, the new Until Dawn makes good use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and pressure-sensitive triggers, not to mention motion control as well, coming into play during the game’s many tense situations. Motion and haptics in particular play well together, as even if you are not affected by what’s going on on screen, the shaking makes keeping your controller still a bit of a challenge in moments when silence is golden.
As for the rest of what playing it boils down to, it’s similar to what you might have seen in The Quarry, that is plenty of quick time events (QTEs) where button presses are timed and influence the outcome of scenarios peppered throughout the game, changing how the story goes and so on. That in particular remains unchanged from the first run and it’s as divisive now as it was back then. Knowing how stiff Until Dawn plays outside of these, I see them as a good thing, otherwise there would be little to differentiate it from a visual novel.
Story-wise, there are some changes. While the basic premise of the game remains the same, where a group of 20-somethings have to survive through to dawn as they shack up a year after the tragic disappearance of the Washington sisters, owners of the lodge they came back to inhabit, there are new parts to the game that help develop its characters further. That’s the case of the opening, where you get to see more of what happened to their girls before the mystery begins, and of the closing moments, whatever it ends up being depending on your choices and who is still left standing, if any.
For what it is, this new run of Until Dawn is easily the ultimate way of playing the game. For those first dabbling into Supermassive Games’ first big hit, this is the ideal way of going as part of the original developers themselves have gone back and tweaked it for this remaster. On the other hand, if you are a fan of the original looking to have an entirely different time, you might be disappointed, even if the added bits do flesh out the cast’s personalities even more, not to mention its $60 price point as opposed to a $10 upgrade to previous owners.
