Whackin' The Media: September 2015

After a brief discussion, the team has decided that Until Dawn is arguably the best game ever. But is it? Let's talk more on that.

Until Dawn is an interactive drama survival horror video game which is developed by Supermassive Games. published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It was originally scheduled to be released on the PlayStation 3 and feature PlayStation Move support, but in August 2014, the game was reintroduced as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. It was released worldwide in August 2015.

Until Dawn was met with a positive critical response upon release, with praise directed at the visuals, choice mechanic, horror elements, music, voice acting and gameplay design. Most of the criticism on the game drew was concerning the story, mostly the second half, camera angles, character movements and partially linear plot.

Why is this the best game ever?

Until Dawn is designed to be played multiple times as the player will not be able to see the entire content a single play through. Other than that, the game mechanics utilizes an in-game feature called the “Butterfly Effect”, where every decision made will lead the an unforeseen event. Throughout the game, the player will be tested through a series of ethical or moral dilemmas whereby the player will be forced to choose an action which will decide the fate of a character whether the player wants the characters to survive or meet their fate until dawn arrives. The gameplay of this game is also focused on quick-time events and explorations to discover clues and guides towards the story.

What they did right to make this an awesome game:

Until Dawn utilizes the similar game engine that ran on the latest Killzone game, Killzone Shadow Fall,Cubic Motion and 3Lateral Technology. This made the experience of walking around the snowy woods at the middle of the night feel terrifyingly seamless from the peak of the mountain down to the deep underground mine.

The graphics of the game are outstanding as the graphics were able to capture almost every detail of the characters’ look. The face of the characters were based on real life actors. Since Until Dawn is a horror game, it was important for the developers to capture the facial expressions of the characters and put it into the game to give the players a unique experience while playing the game.

The sound effects are not to be forgotten. The soundtrack of the game was able to constantly trick the player to have the benefit of the doubt that a sudden jump scare would not happen sooner rather than later.( But of course, the player still gets spooked every now and then).

Players have the freedom to explore the mountain which allows them to find clues which ties to the mystery that took place in the mountain.

What they should improve:

Even though we like this game a lot, there is some parts of this game that needs to be improved.

The character dialogue feels very cheesy and repetitive. Often times, the dialogue of the game makes the game feel like a normal American horror film. The game consists of the regular group of teenagers, a dark, old cabin in the woods, a psychotic serial killer and a creature which has ties to an old native myth.

The jump scares by the "Wendingo" in the game which is also the main antagonist of the game appears to be less scary than Josh's jump scare. I find this to be quite disappointing as the Wendingo seems to be fiercest foe in the game but Josh's prank seems to give more of a scare compared to the Wendingo.

Virtual Reality Compatibility should also be introduced to the game. (Who wouldn't want to see a Wendingo creep up on you from the corner of your eyes while you're struggling to keep the controller steady?)

The characters' movement in the game feels really limited. For instance, you can't run when there's an Wendingo chasing you.

Here's our insight on the video game, Until Dawn. Do share with us your thoughts on the game.
I'll leave you with the Wendingo. :D