Beating the Backlog: ‘Until Dawn’

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

The Details

Game: Until Dawn
Platform: PlayStation 4
HowLongToBeat: 8 Hours
 
Likes: choose your own adventure stories and beating some of my unplayed games.
Dislikes: being subjected to jump scares. Choosing Until Dawn as the first game from my backlog to play for my new series, then, put me in a tricky spot. But all of the jump scares were worth it for what was an enthralling, clever, and immersive experience that made for the perfect backdrop to Halloween. 

The Journey

Until Dawn is a 2015 survival horror game released exclusively on the PS4. I’ve managed to avoid playing it for this long mainly because of the aforementioned jump scares, something I now regret doing because of how enjoyable it was. The game has captured my attention since its release because of its butterfly effect system, where the choices you make as a player impact the playthrough and outcome of the story. It just took some bravery to get to that aspect of it.
 
Joining the group of characters at a party in a mountain cabin, you’re hooked before the opening credits even roll as you’re faced with the illusion of choice in the survival of two of the characters during the prologue. Those two characters fall off of a cliff after being pursued by a mysterious individual, setting the stage for a tense tale ahead. 
 
The narrative is a fantastic bit of cheesy horror movie trope goodness. A year after the incident, the group of young adults (bad idea) decides to go back to the remote mountain lodge (don’t) where their friends disappeared (why?). The group plays with a Ouija board (idiots), breaks off into smaller groups to explore the property (did Scooby Doo teach you nothing?), and does all the other silly things horror movie characters do. Also, the mountain property is the ancestral home of a displaced Native American tribe (nope), sits near a haunted mine where a tragic accident took place (no thanks), and includes an abandoned sanatorium (I’m out). The use of these various settings and situations add variety to the game. 
 
The game makes use of camera angles and controls in a way that makes every decision feel intense and spooky. It uses a mix of low- and high-angle shots that create unique, eerie perspectives. The character movement with these vantage points can sometimes feel clunky. For instance, you may be walking away from the camera one moment, then walking towards it the next as the camera angle suddenly changes, requiring you to shift your direction and sometimes causing your character to backtrack a little. That being said, the occasional lack of smoothness is typically worth it, as it generates the feeling that a scare is just around every corner. The use of the “Don’t Move” quick-time event - where you have to hold the controller perfectly still to escape a threat - is a nerve-wracking touch to the game, too. 
 
Another fun aspect is the extremely talented crew of actors and actresses contributing voice and motion-capture for the game. Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere play Josh and Sam, just one pair of notable pieces from the game’s fantastic voice-acting ensemble. Panettiere was pretty well established by the time Until Dawn released, but it’s a treat to go back and see Malek prior to his breakout roles in Mr. Robot and Bohemian Rhapsody.
 
My initial playthrough taught me a lot about how I would behave in a horror movie. All the years spent yelling at TV screens have apparently prepared me to be extremely cautious in navigating horror situations. When given the option to take a safe path or a quick but risky shortcut, I take the former (much to the dismay of the character I was trying to rescue, who I was too slow to save. My apologies. R.I.P.). When faced with doing something individually heroic or cautious as part of a duo, I choose the latter. But one of the great things about Until Dawn is that it makes you feel like you’re both inside of a scary movie and like you’re watching it in the theater; you can guide the protagonists away from bad decisions and protect them, but only so much. Even when you make the safest of decisions, horror and consequences are still imminent. 
 
Beginning my “Beating the Backlog” series with Until Dawn was a perfect fit for a few reasons. First, the game pays wonderful homage to movies like Scream, Saw, The Descent, The Shining, Friday the 13th, and more, so it pairs well with the horror movie watching that goes on in the month of October. Second, it’s a quick game with a re-playable story, which makes me reflect on all the un-played games that I’ve put off for a variety of reasons and how easy they would be to move off of my list in reality. Finally, the butterfly effect style gameplay has me motivated to play similar games in my collection, like The Last of Us: Remastered and Detroit: Become Human. One game down and many to go, but my attempt to dig into my backlog of games is off to a promising start!

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