"Until Dawn" Review

     You know how when you're watching a horror movie and every single character is always making the worst decision they could possibly make? Well, Until Dawn leaves the horror movie decisions up to you. Sure you could inspect that noise you heard, or you could just say screw that and maybe save your life in the process. The story, although thin, is thick with horror clichés and stereotypes. Until Dawn takes place at a cabin in the woods. Yes, you heard that right. Ten friends go up to the cabin one night and some of them decide to play a prank on the other. Basically, the prank goes wrong and it leads to two sisters, Hannah and Beth's, death. A year later, Josh, Hannah and Beth's brother, returns to the cabin with the seven others to try to get closure from the night his sister's went missing.

     Things quickly get scary and it's up to you to keep the eight friends alive "until dawn." Early on, there are a lot of jump scares, but as the game progresses, things become psychological. The player will see a therapist multiple times during the story and reveal what scares them the most. What you say you are afraid of will affect the game, but unfortunately, not in as big of a way as you might think. The real changes come from the decisions you make with the eight friends, using the game's "Butterfly Effect" system. In other words, a burst of butterflies will briefly fill the screen whenever you make a decision that will affect something in the story later on. There are even character traits that will increase or decrease depending on your choices. Many of the decisions I had to make throughout the story drove me crazy because I loved and hated that these characters' lives were in my hands. I always felt uneasy while playing. The game's ominous soundtrack and wide camera angles continuously kept me on my toes as I fearfully looked around my environment, waiting for something to pop out and make me scream. Exploration is a big help in Until Dawn. "Totems," that reveal glimpses into characters' possible futures, can be found throughout the environment. Weapons can also be found through exploration.

     Although your decisions determine the fate of the characters, maybe it's best to not make any decision at all sometimes. (Example: Two characters are surrounded on the edge of a cliff by a swarm of deer. Do I obey a button prompt and hit one of the deer with an axe? Or, do I ignore the prompt and calmly walk past them, hoping for the best)? It's all up to you. Graphically speaking, Until Dawn is superb, but it's high graphical fidelity comes at the cost of

some performance issues. The game seems to just barely run at 30 fps and texture pop-in is also prevalent. Character models have been motion-captured amazingly (Some odd facial and movement animations here and there) and you'll surely recognize some of the very talented cast. Some include Hayden Panettiere (I Love You Beth Cooper (2009)), Rami Malek (Mr. Robot (2015)) and Brett Dalton (Agents of Shield (2013)).
     Until Dawn is pretty light on gameplay mechanics. Aside from being able to walk, the game uses quick-time events and the analog sticks for actions. In most cases, I despise quick-time events, but here, they felt good. The reason being that the game is about the story and making the decisions that affect it, so it shouldn't be heavy on gameplay mechanics. Almost all of the QTE's in Until Dawn require split-second thinking. They actually immersed me into the game's world because of how quickly I needed to react in order to keep the characters alive. The game also makes use of the Dualshock 4's motion sensors with "Don't Move" prompts. If you move the controller during one of these prompts, it's likely that you will die by some means.
     Even if you aren't a fan of horror, you should definitely give Until Dawn a try and see how you like it. Usually, I'm not a fan of horror games, but I loved what developer, Supermassive Games, accomplished with this title. Until Dawn may be a cheese-fest of a game filled with clichés and stereotypes from horror movies, but it pays homage to those types of movies in excellent ways and lets YOU determine the game's outcome through your choices and your choices only.