Sony once again decided that we needed a remake of a game. This time they gave us a remake of Until Dawn. For those new to this game, Until Dawn was critically acclaimed for its bold storytelling in the horror genre during the PS4 generation. It’s a game where you are faced with tough decisions and actions that will impact the game in a big way. The outcome of the game relies on the choices you make in the immediate or the past so you need to think carefully when you make choices.
Although it is a remake, there is nothing new added to the game apart from more interactable objects. No new game modes, and no new enhanced functionalities. Although they added a 360-view feature when your characters are exploring instead of the Resident Evil-esque camera angles. But because this is a remake, the game was overhauled from the ground up. This means they didn’t just copy the code from the original game and plastered some new visuals. They programmed the whole thing from scratch.
I can say the game looks beautiful on the PS5. They have enhanced the graphics to fit with the capabilities of the PS5. The atmosphere feels more eerie than ever and the cinematics are just beautiful.
They have also fully utilized the DualSense Controller allowing you to feel every footstep and every heartbeat during those tense moments. Controls are handling better than they were in the original game making for quicker decision making.
As I said before, they really didn’t make any major changes to the game other than a few things. The totem system is still there allowing you to be warned about what’s ahead. However, they added a new totem called Hunger, without spoiling too much what this is about, let’s just say these are visions pertaining to what the twins have gone through. The totems were also placed in new locations so if you think the old game guide will work here, think again. The butterfly effect allows you to see how your decisions pan out and how it affects the game as a whole. I feel like the targeted audience for this game are those who have not played the PS4 version and wanted to enjoy the power of the PS5. This means faster or nonexistent loading times and very responsive controls.
The Don’t Move mechanic from the original game is still here and boy that is still make you feel nervous and sweaty trying to ensure the controller doesn’t move at all. However, if you don’t feel like going through this tense moment, the Remake adds accessibility features allowing you to “Stay Calm” instead. They have also added other accessibility features like allowing you to auto aim the crosshair in sequences where you need to hit something. Or if you don’t appreciate all the gore, you can always turn this off in the setting. This actually garnered some controversy before where some of the videos were cut off in other countries because of how gory it became. But this feature will solve that now letting you choose how much gore you can take.
Even though I have already played the original, nothing could still have prepared me for the jump scares that this game brings. I still find myself jumping at the slight scare but maybe it’s all because of how the DualSense controller also lets you feel what is going on.
The audio is still very good and well placed during those jump scares. It definitely sets the mood and tone of the game. Some of the audio are even pushed towards the controller to help set the atmospheric tone of the game.
Overall, if you liked the original game and wanted to dive into it with enhanced graphics and new additions to the dialogue. Until Dawn Remake would be the perfect game to play this Halloween. However, I don’t necessarily believe that we need a Remake. The game was fine as it is and I would gladly play the old version rather than buy the Remake at a much higher price for these enhancements.
