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Until Dawn
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Graphics & Sound:
I have a very specific problem with games that try too hard to be like films. That hasn't prevented me from enjoying games that have such aspirations, but the fact remains. To me, the modern video game is a storytelling medium that emphasizes player agency above everything else. If that agency is withheld or tampered with to a large enough degree, it fails as a game and is simply rendered an interactive movie. Perhaps the best examples of these failures is the work of David Cage, the self-styled auteur behind interesting but decidedly not fun titles such as Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, and Beyond: Two Souls. His work, while technically impressive and (usually) entertaining in its own right, strips the player of nearly all involvement, resulting in a fundamentally unsatisfying "gaming" experience.
Forgive the soapbox, but these opinions should cast some light on my evaluation of Supermassive Games' Until Dawn, an ambitious experiment in branching storytelling. This is a title that insists on several playthroughs and actually manages to justify that demand. I'm not sure it works as a game, but if you approach it with the right mindset, you'll have a hell of a time anyway.
Until Dawn looks mostly decent, from both a technical and artistic perspective. It leverages the engine used in the stunning PlayStation 4 launch title Killzone: Shadow Fall to create a dark, ambient world. On top of that, it features motion capture and voice performances from C-list talent such as Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D), and Rami Malek (The Pacific). Special mention goes to Peter Stormare (Fargo), who portrays the insanely creepy psychiatrist Dr. Hill, whose interview with an unseen presence peppers the proceedings with delightful intrigue. That being said, there's something noticeably... off about the facial animations. I don't know what planet these young people are from, but when they're forced to contort their faces to fit the proper emotion, it comes across as kind of creepy. Compound that with a series of awesomely over-the-top and gratuitously gory death scenes, and it's a mixed bag that ultimately leans towards the good.
Thankfully, that's saved by the voice performances, which are universally fantastic and perfectly encapsulate each character as their personality/relationship screen indicates. Additionally, composer Jason Graves (Dead Space) shows off his well-established horror chops and comes up with a thoroughly unsettling score. All told, Until Dawn's audio design outclasses its visuals. |
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Gameplay:
It's a yearly tradition: a winter trip to the Blackwood Mountain Ski Lodge. A group of ten good friends has made it a point to make it happen every year. In 2013, however, a prank went wrong, ultimately resulting in two deaths. A year has passed, and the brother of the dead twins has invited everyone back up to the Blackwood Mountains not only to remember his sisters, but to try and move on. And so they do, only to quickly find out that they are being hunted by a serial killer...
Until Dawn is an interactive version of what the late, great Roger Ebert used to call a "Dead Teenager movie." You've got an attractive cast of characters, nearly all of whom are driven solely by their libidos, a creepy locale, and a murderer. You'll get to play as each of the remaining eight over the course of the experience, and you'll have your chance to essentially sculpt their fate through interactions with the environment and with their friends.
Usually, the game is in control; you don't get to switch between characters whenever you want. The game decides all of that for you. When you're in control, you're only in control of how the story pans out. And that's usually by making a series of binary decisions -- whether you're escaping from some unseen menace or deciding whether or not to keep a certain secret from someone else. There's some light exploration elements involved, but aside from those, Until Dawn is essentially a high-tech choose-your-own-adventure game. |
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Difficulty:
Similarly to Telltale games, Until Dawn isn't a game you can fail at. There are choices and consequences, none of which lead to a game over screen. If something horrible happens to your characters (and rest assured, they almost assuredly will), the story simply takes the events into account and moves on accordingly.
The number of ways in which Until Dawn's story can unfold is impressive. So impressive, in fact, that the real challenge comes from determining in advance where each major turning point lies. The game does its best to help you out, though: a visual cue always lets you know when the story's path has crossed a major fork in the road.
Apart from that, Until Dawn is one of those titles that simply asks you to sit tight and savor the suspense. If you're trying, you're simply doing it wrong. In fact, the game is so intent on having you commit to each and every choice that you are forbidden from reloading earlier saves. |
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Game Mechanics:
Interactivity isn't really Until Dawn's strong suit, and as you'd expect, most of it is reserved for contextual actions and quick time events. It works well enough, and your level of involvement is a good step up from, say, a Telltale game, but there's only so much control you can be allowed before this type of game just plain stops working. Until Dawn does a very good job of finding that line and sticking to it.
The quick time event has degenerated into one of the most tired trope in all of modern video gaming, though their inclusion in these kinds of interactive movies is almost a given in each one. Until Dawn tries to shake it up a bit with some different input methods, but they're no more involving than they are in Heavy Rain. It tries to show off the DualShock 4's motion sensing capabilities by forcing you to keep still when the killer is around, but as it so often is with motion controls, the mechanic falls flat on its intangible face; it just doesn't work well.
Until Dawn introduces a clever way to help you influence the future of each character. As you progress through the story, making decisions and fundamentally shaping the story, you'll start coming across totems. These totems, based on Native American mythology, depict one of a few colors of butterfly. Depending on the color, the totem can bear a number of omens, and as you'd expect, most of them are not good. If the butterfly is white, you can expect some fortuitous event to be sprung upon whoever you're playing. If it's yellow, its intention is one of helpful guidance. If it's brown, that means loss; one or more of your friends are in danger. If it's red, danger is in your future. And black... well, you can make a fairly educated guess as to what that portends.
I give credit where it's due: Until Dawn is a very impressive interactive adventure that raises the bar in terms of branching paths and multiple outcomes. You will want to play Until Dawn multiple times, and though I wouldn't call it a marathon game by any means, it remains a captivating exercise in schlock and awe. |
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-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos |
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