Until Dawn Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features for PS5, PC Remake

Sony

Until Dawn from developer Ballistic Moon is a remake of an out-of-nowhere Supermassive Games classic from 2015.

The original, with its Hollywood-style, campy horror tropes and loads of star power backing the horror experience, also pushed boundaries for its choices and consequences system and the stunning way the story reacted to those choices.

But follow-up games like The Quarry and others in the budding genre never did match the heights of the original Until Dawn, which pumps up expectations for the remake even more.

Given the droves of remakes to hit the video gaming sphere in recent years, Until Dawn has the chance to filter into one of two groups—alongside fantastic remake efforts such as Dead Rising and Silent Hill 2… or the forgettable rest.

Graphics and Gameplay

Overhauled in Unreal Engine 5, Until Dawn is a stunner.

The remake is littered with fresh, immersive graphical enhancements like lighting and shadow upgrades, plus little baked-in details like snow that crunches underfoot and notable reflections.

Best of all, though, are the enhancements to the facial expressions and lifelike qualities of the characters across the board, which is a key, must-have component for a game like this.

Until Dawn also retains a strong sound design for those great jump scares and tense moments littered with ambient noise. A new musical score feels modern, yet might be polarizing with fans of the original. Hayden Panettiere and Peter Stormare, among others, still deliver amazing performances, as expected.

Elsewhere, though, the marriage of presentation and gameplay gets muddy.

Until Dawn makes the surprising decision to remove the fixed-camera perspective of the original. Instead, it gives players a third-person view from over a character’s shoulder, permitting full camera control.

On paper, this sounds great. Player agency, as a rule, is usually a good thing. And the game is gorgeous, especially for those who remember the original.

But Until Dawn hits a major hiccup here—the fixed camera played a role in that movie-like experience. Yanking it out, combined with a lack of gameplay upgrades, feels like it ruins much of the charm that had the original setting the bar for interactive movie games. This approach works in something like the recently released Silent Hill 2 remake, but not here.

And that note about the gameplay not receiving upgrades is another issue.

In some ways, this remake is actually slower, as the ability to jog around the environments found in the original is now gone. Perhaps the idea was to encourage enjoyment of the souped-up visuals and some indeed new locales not present in the original, but a remake slowing things down is an odd choice. And again, Silent Hill 2 just came out and did the opposite.

Fresh on the gameplay front, at least, is the Don’t Move mechanic replaced by a Stay Calm mechanic for players on platforms such as PC or who don’t want to use gyroscope controls.

Otherwise, the choices system, exploration and quick-time events (QTEs) remain largely the same and, if nothing else, are all awesomely enhanced by Sony’s haptic feedback built into the controllers.

Story and More

At its most basic, Until Dawn is a campy teen horror flick that takes place atop the snow-savaged Blackwood Mountain.

Most people can imagine where it goes from there, especially if they’ve ever walked into that sort of movie with a bucket of popcorn.

Cliches abound (in a good way!), both in story beats and in character archetypes, and the cabin and overarching world is immersive and a character in its own right.

While juggling relationships and decisions, players investigate clues and even find Native American artifacts that can provide glimpses into future decisions. Those have had their locations changed from the original though, with a slight twist of a gameplay puzzle mixup to make them feel fresh.

The game’s characters and narrative constantly react to the player’s decisions. This is still as good as it was almost a decade ago, though for veteran players, the fact choices, QTEs and character fates all seem to remain the same might register as disappointing.

High in the plusses column is an expanded suite of accessibility options and general options that let player tweak the experience to their liking.

Way in the other direction, though, are some downright rough performances, even in mundane-feeling scenes and even cutscenes. Stutters and problems could be patched out at a later date, but the upon-launch performance could vary greatly by player.

Conclusion

When it originally launched in 2015, Until Dawn was a cheesy, fun horror experience that matched the energy of going to something similar in a movie theatre.

The remake’s story retains that vibe. But a critical misstep for remakes is tweaking the original enough to spoil its spirit, and for some players, that camera change will be the culprit.

It should go without saying that this remake is the best version of the classic. But mileage will vary by player on whether enough was changed here and if something like the camera overhaul is actually worth the investment.

Still, Until Dawn is an upgrade, though it almost feels like a director’s cut with a twist compared to what players have come to expect from remakes.