Until Dawn (Remake) Review: A PS4 Horror Classic Reanimated, but at What Cost?

DA Gadgets October 25, 2024 gaming

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In
any
medium,
a
remake
is
a
complicated
undertaking.
A
conscious
endeavour
to
produce
a
piece
of
art
that
already
exists
always
inspires
the
question,

why?
It’s
generally
accepted
that
the
decision
to
remake
a
film
or
a
video
game
comes
from
a
place
of
reverence
for
the
original
work.
But
is
that
admitted
reverence
masking
an
unsaid
regret,
an
urge
to
improve
the
style
or
substance
or
both
of
said
work?
To
create
is
to
give
life;
to
recreate
is
to
think
about
that
life,
perhaps
in
a
new
light.
And
so,
the
best
remakes
reimagine
the
source
material
rather
than
reproducing
it
purely
from
a
place
of
high
regard.
They
find
kernels
of
truth
in
the
original
work
and
try
and
expand
on
it,
often
taking
it
to
places
unexplored
the
first
time
around.

Until
Dawn
is
not
such
a
remake.
The
recently
released
survival-horror
interactive
video
game
doesn’t
reinterpret
the

PS4
classic
from
2015.
It
doesn’t
expand
and
explore
the
setting
and
characters
beyond
the
scope
of
the
original.
And
consequently,
it
doesn’t
completely
justify
its
reasons
to
exist.
After
all,
a
perfectly
fine
version
already
exists,
playable
on
the

PS5
via
backwards
compatibility,
and
at
no
additional
cost
if
you
subscribe
to

PlayStation
Plus.
But
the

Until
Dawn
remake
is
also
not
a
mere
replica
of
Supermassive
Games’
sleeper
hit
horror
game.
Aside
from
the
considerable
visual
upgrade,
the
remake
comes
with
a
few
gameplay
tweaks
—
some
meaningful;
others,
not
so
much
—
character
and
story
alterations,
new
areas
and
items,
an
adjusted
camera
perspective,
and
a
new
sound
and
score.

The
value
of
these
changes,
however,
are
not
written
in
stone.
If
you’ve
played
and
enjoyed
Until
Dawn
before,
you’re
unlikely
to
find
something
here
that
will
unlock
a
radically
new
experience,
even
if
it
does
enhance
your
memory
of
the
original.
But
if
you’ve
never
played
the
definitive
interactive
horror
title
that
kicked
off
a
slew
of
games
in
the
same
genre,
then
perhaps
the
Until
Dawn
remake
presents
the
most
slick
and
cinematic
way
to
experience
the
interactive
slasher.
Regardless
of
where
you
stand,
the
game
remains
as
fun
as
it
was
almost
a
decade
ago,
especially
for
people
who
love
screaming
at
the
stupid
decisions
of
promiscuous
teens
in
a
horror
movie
—
“Why
did
you
split
up,
you
idiots!?!”
There
are
some
technical
frustrations
here
that
come
close
to
disrupting
the
experience,
but
I
was
able
to
look
past
the
bugs
and
enjoy
the
spooky
story,
that
still
holds
up
after
all
these
years.

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There’s
a
variety
of
smaller
alterations
that
make
the
Until
Dawn
remake
stand
out
from
the
original,
but
none
are
as
radical
as
its
visual
enhancements.
Ballistic
Moon
have
rebuilt
the
game
from
the
ground
up
in

Unreal
Engine
5,
overhauling
the
visuals
to
a
level
where
it
goes
beyond
a
mere
facelift.
The
most
obvious
change
is
in
the
tone
of
it
all.
The
original
game
came
with
a
frigid
visual
style
that
drenched
the
frame
in
a
bluish
hue.
The
remake
ditches
that
blue
filter
for
a
warmer,
more
cinematic
tone
that
favours
a
richer
palette.
This
is
a
controversial
choice.
I’m
sure
many
would
prefer
the
colder
look
of
the
original;
the
blue
tone
helped
sell
the
bleakness
of
the
setting
and
fittingly
drained
all
warmth
from
the
scene.
It
was
certainly
a
creative
choice
of
the
developer
and
dismantling
that
choice
for
a
new
look
will
displease
a
lot
of
fans.

But
I
do
feel
the
new
visual
style
grounds
the
game
in
realism.
It
also
brings
a
much
more
diverse
spectrum
of
colour
tones
to
the
different
environments
of
Until
Dawn.
Grimy
basements,
decaying
mines
and
magnificent
outdoors
—
all
look
and
feel
distinct
instead
being
painted
with
a
single
brush.
The
softer,
warmer
lighting
also
helps
lull
you
into
a
false
sense
of
winter
comfort
before
the
horrors
of
the
night
take
over.

Until
Dawn
remake
features
softer,
warmer
lighting
and
a
richer
colour
palette

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

Character
models
are
now
incredibly
detailed
without
messing
with
their
intended
look
in
the
2015
game.
Faces
are
much
more
expressive,
driving
home
the
terror
and
the
relief
they
feel
over
the
course
of
the
game.
This
means
the
story
relies
less
on
dialogue,
which
can
often
be
clunky,
to
communicate
what’s
going
on.
There
are
marked
improvements
to
textures
and
environments
and
a
thick
coat
of
extra
detail
now
clings
to
everything
in
the
game
—
from
tiny
table-top
clues
to
snow-covered
foliage.
Walking
around
in
the
night
in
knee-deep
snow
as
you
navigate
Blackwood
Mountain
is
an
immersive
experience.

The
Until
Dawn
remake
also
brings
a
third-person
camera
perspective
to
certain
sections
that
featured
a
fixed
camera
in
the
original
game.
This
new
addition
brings
players
closer
to
the
action,
but
in
a
game
that
leans
on
its
cinematic
presentation,
the
fixed
camera
helped
emphasize
creative
choices
for
the
cinematography
in
the
original
game.
With
the
third-person
camera,
you
lose
the
film
feel
and
are
pushed
towards
a
video
game
aesthetic.
For
a
game
that’s
practically
an
interactive
horror
movie,
that
choice
ends
up
harming
the
experience.

Character
faces
are
more
detailed
and
expressive
in
the
Until
Dawn
remake

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

Visual
upgrades
aside,
the
Until
Dawn
remake
is
still
telling
the
same
story
as
the
original
—
overlapping
narratives
focused
on
eight
young
adults,
all
of
them
friends,
stuck
in
a
snowed-in
mountain
lodge
as
an
unnatural
horror
unfolds
around
them
over
the
course
of
a
single
night.
It’s
a
pastiche
of
the
quintessential
teen
slasher,
with
each
character
a
stereotype
—
there
is
the
affable
jock,
the
sexy
blonde,
the
unlikeable
friend,
the
shy
nerd
and
the
righteous
heroine,
also
known
as
the
final
girl.
The
eight
friends
have
assembled
at
a
family
lodge
in
Blackwood
Mountain,
a
year
after
an
ill-conceived
prank
at
a
similar
gathering
at
the
same
place
turned
into
tragedy.
The
winter
winds
and
heavy
snowfall
have
left
the
howling,
frigid
mountain
cut
off
from
the
outside
world.
On
the
fateful
night,
the
Washington
Lodge
becomes
the
stage
on
which
the
interactive
drama
plays
out.

Until
Dawn
begins
with
a
prologue,
set
a
year
before
the
events
of
the
game
take
place.
Ten
friends
have
come
together
to
party
at
Hannah
Washington’s
lodge
in
Blackwood
Mountain.
After
an
insensitive
prank
leads
Hannah
to
leave
the
lodge
and
rush
into
the
woods
distraught,
her
twin
sister
Beth
follows
her.
The
two
stumble
upon
something
sinister
in
the
mountain
and
fall
off
a
cliff.
With
no
bodies
found
after
an
ensuing
search,
the
police
declare
them
missing,
presumably
dead.
In
the
remake,
this
prologue
has
been
reworked
to
provide
more
screentime
to
Hannah
and
Beth
and
add
more
context
to
the
cruel
prank
that
led
to
a
family
tragedy.

Until
Dawn
tells
the
story
of
eight
friends,
reuniting
at
a
secluded
mountain
lodge

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

A
year
later,
Hannah
and
Beth’s
brother
Josh
—
played
by
Rami
Malek,
still
struggling
to
come
to
terms
with
his
sisters’
disappearance,
invites
all
seven
friends
present
at
the
ill-fated
party
back
to
the
lodge.
The
guilt
and
grief
of
what
transpired
a
year
ago
weighs
on
everyone.
They
harbour
apprehensions
about
returning
to
the
lodge,
but
agree
to
show
up
to
support
Josh.
Perhaps
coming
together
will
help
the
group
move
past
the
tragedy
and
bury
the
ghost
of
the
past
in
the
mountain.
This
is
where
the
events
of
the
night
kick
off.
Over
ten
chapters,
every
member
of
the
group
experiences
their
own
personal
horror
—
from
a
deranged,
violent
killer
on
the
loose
and
Saw-style
elaborate
death
traps,
to
a
vicious
supernatural
threat
and
environmental
hazards
at
the
Blackwood
Mountain.

Each
character
comes
with
pre-defined
traits
and
a
stat
page
that
details
aspects
of
their
personality.
For
instance,
Mike,
the
handsome
jock,
is
charismatic
and
brave,
while
Chris,
the
awkward
and
shy
nerd
is
loyal
and
methodical.
A
character’s
stats
dictate
how
charitable,
brave,
romantic,
funny,
honest,
or
curious
they
are.
And
while
these
values
start
at
a
corresponding
default
for
each
character,
they
change
over
the
course
of
the
night
as
they
interact
with
others,
take
crucial,
life-altering
decisions,
and
navigate
their
circumstances
in
specific
ways.

Mike
is
portrayed
as
charasmatic
and
brave

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

The
friend
group
is
also
not
free
of
interpersonal
baggage.
For
instance,
Mike
and
Jessica,
the
feisty
blonde,
are
paired
up
as
a
romantic
couple,
but
the
former
still
has
an
unspoken
connection
with
Emily,
the
brash
extrovert
who
always
gets
her
way.
These
dynamics
create
friction
or
attraction,
depending
on
the
people,
and
a
character’s
relationship
with
other
people
in
the
group
could
improve
or
worsen
as
the
night
progresses.
But
the
Until
Dawn
remake
misses
a
trick
by
keeping
character
traits
and
relationships
as
sterile
as
they
were
in
the
original
game.
You
see
someone
become
braver
as
you
favour
bolder
choices,
or
you
see
a
character’s
honesty
stat
rise
as
you
chose
to
tell
the
truth,
but
these
changes
don’t
leave
any
material
impact
on
characters
or
their
actions.

A
few
finer
details
about
the
characters
and
their
individual
narrative
arcs
have
been
reworked
in
the
remake,
but
the
core
branching
storyline
that
connects
the
experiences
of
all
friends
stuck
in
their
own
perils
remains
the
same.
That
is
the
horror
hook
here.
Eight
friends,
one
deadly
night,
no
way
out.
Those
who
have
played
through
the
original
Until
Dawn
would
know
that
the
game
is
more
an
interactive
movie.
When
you
play
as
a
character,
you
dictate
their
movement,
but
your
control
over
their
actions
is
tied
to
contextual
prompts.
What
you
do
have
full
control
over
is
their
decision-making.
You
decide
what
they
do,
or
don’t
do;
you
decide
how
they
respond
to
people
and
situations;
and
thus,
essentially,
you
decide
whether
they
survive
the
night
or
are
lost
to
the
mountain.
Everyone’s
life
is
in
danger,
and
until
dawn,
you
are
effectively
God.
Based
on
your
choices
and
actions,
all
eight
friends
can
survive
the
night,
or
meet
their
violent
ends
before
day
breaks.

Everyone
can
survive
or
die
in
Until
Dawn

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

This
freedom
to
become
the
scriptwriter
of
your
own
private
slasher
movie
was
the
highlight
of
Until
Dawn
when
it
first
released
in
2014,
and
it
remains
the
hook
in
the
remake.
Don’t
like
a
particular
character?
Play
them
badly
and
watch
them
die
in
gruesome
fashion.
Rooting
for
someone?
Make
all
the
right
choices
and
exercise
caution
to
see
them
defy
all
the
death
traps
and
live
to
see
another
day.
The
Until
Dawn
remake
attempts
to
enhance
the
story
of
each
character
through
scattered
and
tiny
details
that
add
an
extra
dimension
to
their
night
on
Blackwood
Mountain.
Some
characters
have
possible
new
endings,
others
have
potential
new
choices
as
they
navigate
life-threatening
circumstances.

While
the
story
has
a
central
trunk,
its
branching
narratives
cover
three
separate
mysteries
—
the
disappearance
of
the
twins,
the
sinister
history
of
the
mountain
from
1952
and
the
present
threat
of
the
psychopathic
killer
hunting
the
friends
one
by
one.
Each
mystery
has
its
own
clue
line,
and
if
you’re
adventurous
and
thorough
enough,
you
can
comb
the
environment
and
discover
all
clues
that
eventually
paint
the
complete
picture
of
the
mountain
and
its
evil.
While
the
Washington
Lodge
is
the
central
stage,
you
can
also
explore
different
locations
on
the
mountain
while
controlling
specific
characters.
With
Mike,
you
comb
through
the
dilapidated
remains
of
a
sanatorium,
where
ghoulish
experiments
on
patients
in
the
past
birthed
evils
that
may
still
lurk
there.
While
controlling
Sam,
the
game’s
heroine,
played
by
bona
fide
scream
queen
Hayden
Panettiere,
you
explore
the
ruins
of
the
Blackwood
Pines
hotel
that
sit
beneath
the
lodge.
And
as
Emily,
you
go
deeper
into
the
heart
of
evil
as
you
uncover
the
secrets
of
an
abandoned
mine
in
mountain.

Hayden
Panettiere
plays
Sam,
the
game’s
righteous
heroine
and
final
girl

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

But
exploring
these
locations
is
never
quite
smooth.
The
remake
retains
some
of
the
clunkiness
of
the
original
and
adds
some
of
its
own.
Even
with
a
third-person
camera
view,
navigating
tight
spaces
can
feel
like
a
chore.
Character
movement
is
still
suffocatingly
stiff
and
limited
and
you
often
feel
like
you’re
controlling
mannequins.
And
it
doesn’t
help
that
every
character
moves
at
the
pace
of
a
snail,
trudging
along
the
snowy
outdoors
and
dark
indoor
areas
with
zero
urgency.
The
remake
could
have
done
well
to
add
the
ability
to
sprint
or
jog
and
move
things
along.
Instead,
it
bafflingly
slows
things
down
further
by
taking
away
the
ability
to
walk
faster
by
holding
down
the
L1
bumper
button
from
the
original
game.
In
certain
pressing
story
moments,
characters
do
break
into
a
jog
automatically,
but
these
sections
are
short-lived,
and
when
most
of
the
game
is
about
walking
around
and
looking
at
things,
not
having
the
option
to
do
that
faster
becomes
a
grating
omission.

But
this
time,
you
do
get
additional
collectibles
and
pockets
of
new
areas
to
explore
in
certain
locations.
Perhaps
the
most
important
collectible
in
the
game
are
Totems
—
indigenous
artefacts
that
foretell
events
that
may
transpire
if
you
walk
down
a
certain
path.
Exploration
is
rewarded
with
Totems
that
could
end
up
warning
you
of
impending
dangers
or
guiding
your
path
towards
fortuitous
outcomes.
The
remake
rejigs
the
location
of
some
of
the
existing
Totems
and
adds
a
whole
new
type
of
them
that
provide
context
to
events
that
transpired
in
the
year
since
the
disappearance
of
the
sisters.
For
obsessives
like
me,
Until
Dawn
provides
a
satisfying
collectathon
experience,
balancing
the
rigour
of
exploration
with
the
reward
of
meaningful
mysteries,
lore
discoveries
and
hints
that
help
you
survive
the
night.
Finding
items
that
tell
you
more
about
the
sordid
past
of
the
mountain
and
resolving
clue
lines
is
just
as
engaging
as
it
was
the
first
time
around.
And
utilising
the
crystal
ball
visions
from
a
Totem
to
avoid
a
gory
death
never
gets
old,
too.

Putting
in
the
time
to
explore
spaces
and
find
clues
is
rewarding

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

Your
choices
in
Until
Dawn,
however,
are
the
game’s
most
crucial
currency.
The
decisions
you
take
script
the
game
in
real
time,
stitching
and
ripping
the
fabric
of
the
story
to
your
whim.
The
game’s
Butterfly
Effect
feature
passively
registers
your
choices,
both
big
and
small,
and
dictates
the
chaos
of
repercussions
that
might
occur
several
chapters
later.
The
Until
Dawn
remake
brings
a
few
new
pathways
the
story
can
take,
most
notably
making
it
possible
to
the
change
the
fate
of
a
major
character
and
creating
a
new
resolution
for
their
arc
that
was
not
present
in
the
original
game.
The
remake
also
comes
with
a
new
secret
ending
that
throws
up
some
interesting
questions
and
perhaps
the
possibility
of
a
sequel
down
the
line.

When
I’d
played
the
original
Until
Dawn,
I
did
a
full
chaos
run,
making
the
worst
choices
and
consequently
letting
several
characters
meet
their
bloody
ends.
This
time
around
though,
I
decided
to
play
carefully,
making
wise
choices
along
the
way.
By
the
time
it
was
dawn
and
end
credits
rolled,
I
was
able
to
save
all
but
two
characters
and
get
one
of
the
new
secret
endings.
At
some
point,
I
might
dive
back
in
and
play
the
game
a
different
way
for
different
outcomes.
Your
choices
make
each
playthrough
different
and
that
brings
rewarding
replayability
to
Until
Dawn.

EA
Sports
FC
25
Review:
Minor
League
Upgrades

Until
Dawn’s
story
is
guided
by
your
choices

Photo
Credit:
Sony/
Screenshot
–
Manas
Mitul

Perhaps
the
most
important
question
then,
is
that
who
is
the
Until
Dawn
remake
for?
Is
it
for
fans
of
the
original
game?
If
so,
then
a
$60
price
tag
(Rs.
3,999
in
India)
with
no
upgrade
path
for
people
who
own
2015’s
Until
Dawn
on

PS4
is
a
very
prohibitive
pricing
choice
that
is
likely
to
keep
people
who
have
already
experienced
the
game
away.
The
visual
upgrades
and
additional
content,
especially
the
new
story
endings
and
character
resolution,
are
considerable.
But
for
a
decade-old
game
that
can
be
fully
experienced
in
around
seven
hours,
full
price
is
a
tall
ask.
The
graphical
advancements
come
with
an
altogether
different
cost,
too;
the
Until
Dawn
remake
is
not
free
of
bugs
and
visual
glitches.
And
performance
—
locked
to
30
fps
on
the
PS5
—
is
spotty
at
best.

The
remake,
however,
is
easier
to
recommend
on

PC,
where
it
can
take
advantage
of
high-end
hardware
and
find
players
who
have
never
experienced
the
game
before.
Despite
its
questionable
value,
the
Until
Dawn
remake
is
undeniably
fun.
Its
modernised
retelling
of
a
scary
story
I
enjoyed
long
ago
remains
just
as
engaging
and
visceral
as
it
was
the
first
time
around.
As
an
interactive
horror
movie,
Ballistic
Moon’s
Until
Dawn
takes
meaningful
strides
towards
storytelling
excellence.
But
as
a
remake
that
shies
away
from
mechanical
improvements,
it
stops
short
of
transforming
its
parts
that
are
all
video
game.