It must be admitted, this year 2024 is poor in exclusives on both the Xbox and Playstation sides. And what do you do when you don’t have much to sell? We are re-releasing old exclusives in the form of remasters or remakes. This October, it’s time for the remake of Until Dawn, a “classic” from the PS4 era.
Originally planned to see the light of day on PS3 and be played on PS Move, Until Dawn was one of the first games to see the light of day on PS4. Supermassive Games has revised its copy and transformed the title into a real interactive film. And at the time, the recipe was a hit. The game offers a unique experience: playing around ten different characters in a dark story where each decision of the player can lead to the death of a character. It’s a 100% narrative game of a new genre, which follows perfectly in the footsteps of a “Book in which you are the hero.”
It’s no surprise that Supermassive Games then releases identical games. With the Dark Pictures series first, then several stand-alone games including the very good The Quarry and then the less notable The Casting of Frank Stone. Over the years, the formula has improved. The games have gained in cinematography, the characters have gained in maturity and the gameplay has become a little refined as well. Because it must be admitted, if Until Dawn was a precursor for the genre, pad in hand, we were often quite bored… The few rare sequences where we could direct the characters were like long wanderings in snow, without any surprises, like in the poorest walking simulators. The formula remains generally the same as in other Supermassive productions: we look with curiosity at sometimes endless cut-scenes, interspersed with a few QTEs where you will have to be very quick, brief narrative choices and exploration sequences without great interest except to recover the famous totems which will guarantee you visions which will allow you to avoid atrocious deaths and to find the best possible choices…
Pad in hand, it still works quite well, but we must admit that it has aged despite the enormous remastering work of the studio in charge of this port to PS5. Many scenes drag on, the gameplay sequences are completely useless and the QTEs can be atrociously frustrating.
The story has also aged quite badly. Here we play 8 friends who met in a chalet in the mountains for a weekend with friends. The festivities go badly, however, with a first suspicious death in the group. The player then finds himself having to direct the different characters in settings that are certainly sumptuous, but which are sorely lacking in life. Until Dawn takes all the elements of the slasher with jump scares, ultra-stereotypical characters, “classic” sequences, gory scenes and enough mystery to keep you glued to your pad until the end of the story . 9 years ago, it was catchy and above all terribly refreshing entertainment. In 2024, we can point out the game’s many small flaws much more easily… Starting with its casting, which is nevertheless very attractive on paper, to which it is very difficult to get attached, quite simply because the presentations of the characters are never made. … Most of the characters are detestable, to the point that we take great pleasure in causing their premature deaths. On the narrative level, Until Dawn also makes the mistake of trying to expand with new sequences which were added to better explain the scenario, but which ultimately only further slow down the pace of a story which pulls a lot too long and which especially tends to go in all directions in its second half. To the point that a lot of players will undoubtedly give up halfway through, disappointed by the direction of the scenario.
On the choice side too, there is reason to be frustrated as certain characters seem destined to die whatever happens… The developers have a little too much tendency to impose their vision by facilitating the path of some and doing everything so that others die and it’s a shame because it’s really easy to miss a QTE in this game. So yes, it makes the replay interesting, but given the length of the story, not sure that many players will try it again…
Rest assured, however, Until Dawn remains a very pleasant narrative game to follow from start to finish. This remaster also pays homage to it nicely by modernizing a whole series of elements. Cut scenes, increased framerate (even if it tends to slow down quite often), new animations, rear camera view, reworked faces, revised lighting, there’s work behind all that! Perhaps not enough to justify the full price at which it is sold, but enough to justify going back to the checkout once again. For those who have finished the original, however, we will not hide it from you, this remaster has little interest. Especially since Sony is not offering a €9.99 upgrade as it did for the Horizon remaster.
Conclusion
Excellent idea from Sony to bring out a remaster of the very nice Until Dawn from Supermassive Games. Many things have been revised here: the 3D models of the characters are much prettier, the lighting has been revised, certain sequences have been added, the animations have been reworked, the view too. Result: we are treated to a narrative game nicely brought up to date. But at €69.99, we must admit that the bill is steep for a “remaster” – and not a complete remake. Especially since Until Dawn has aged quite a bit compared to other Supermassive Games productions. The workings are much cruder than in the more recent The Quarry for example. Not sure that those who had already finished the original will check out again. Still, while waiting for a potential sequel, this has the merit of getting us back into the swing of things a little…
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Until Dawn
We like:
A nice modernization of the original
Very classy cinematography
A deepening mystery
The soundtrack
We like less:
Some slowdowns
Sold at full price
A scenario that drags on and crumbles
All unsympathetic characters
Frustrating to play
