Choice Cuts – Until Dawn Review

<p>I have been eagerly awaiting the release of <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> since it was first announced as a PlayStation Move title&period; I wasn’t too excited about the Move integration&comma; but the game itself looked intriguing&period; I didn’t hear anything about it for a couple of years though&comma; and then it made a triumphant return as a PS4 title &lpar;minus the PS Move&excl;&rpar;&period; It’s difficult for a game as anticipated as this one was too live up to expectations&comma; but I am happy to say that <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> was most definitely worth waiting for&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If you’ve ever seen the kinds of movies that <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> is based on then you’ll know exactly what to expect from the opening scene&period; All of the familiar tropes and characters are front and center&comma; and every second of the game reminded me of any number of 1980s teen horror movies&period; I say this as an unabashed compliment&period; I grew up with these kinds of movies and even though the game takes place in the modern era&comma; I was filled with an awesome sense of nostalgia the entire time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;90664" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-90664" style&equals;"width&colon; 863px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;choice-cuts-dawn-review&sol;until-dawn-screenshot-03-ps4-us-07aug14&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-90664"><img class&equals;" wp-image-90664" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;until-dawn-screenshot-03-ps4-us-07aug14-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"NOOOO&excl;&excl;&excl;&excl; Not the rocking horse&excl;" width&equals;"863" height&equals;"486" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-90664" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">NOOOO&excl;&excl;&excl;&excl; Not the rocking horse&excl; &lpar;Until Dawn&comma; Sony Computer Entertainment&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The game itself is more of an adventure game in the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;choose your own path” style&period; Most of the action takes place within the context of timed button presses and split second decision you have to make that play out with limited input from the player&comma; especially when compared to other action games in the survival-horror genre&period; Some might be put off by this&comma; but it plays out beautifully as the decisions are agonizingly fun and the cinematic nature of the game lends itself to the scary movie vibe&period; Every shot is framed with cinematic vision that hearkens back to the days of the original <em>Resident Evil<&sol;em> or <em>Silent Hill<&sol;em>&period; Of course&comma; <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> controls much better than any of those old titles&comma; but the framing of the shots adds a claustrophobic feeling to the dark hallways&comma; abandoned structures&comma; haunting woods&comma; and more&period; The game is a visual treat both graphically and cinematically&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Choice makes all of the difference in this game and I spent much of my time trying to figure out if I had made the right decision&period; I played some characters in a way that made me care about them more than others and I took great caution in trying to keep them alive&period; I hated it when I made a dumb decision that led to the death of one of my characters&comma; but it is a testament to the fantastic game design and characterization brought to life by the script and the actors&period; All of whom&comma; incidentally&comma; turned in an amazing performance&semi; there wasn’t a stinker in the bunch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;90665" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-90665" style&equals;"width&colon; 837px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;choice-cuts-dawn-review&sol;until-dawn-characters&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-90665"><img class&equals;" wp-image-90665" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;04182838&sol;Until-Dawn-characters-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"&quot&semi;We're good looking teens in a horror game&excl; No way we're gonna die&excl;&quot&semi;" width&equals;"837" height&equals;"471" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-90665" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&&num;8220&semi;We&&num;8217&semi;re good looking teens in a horror game&excl; No way we&&num;8217&semi;re gonna die&excl;&&num;8221&semi; &lpar;Until Dawn&comma; Sony Computer Entertainment&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>I had so much fun with <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> and was so invested in my time with the game that I&&num;8217&semi;m having a hard time trying to find something negative to say&period; Navigating is a bit tricky every once in a while due to the fixed camera angles&comma; but it was never anything that even remotely frustrated me&period; It’s certainly not a perfect game&comma; but it hit every chord that I hoped it would&period; It ended up being the exact kind of game I’ve always wanted to play since my high school days of marathoning the <em>Friday The 13<sup>th<&sol;sup><&sol;em> and the <em>Halloween<&sol;em> movies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This game perfectly puts the player into the shoes of all of those people you used to yell at on the screen&period; You know the people you would tell not to go into that dark room&quest; You get to be that person&period; You know the one that goes down to the cellar to investigate the weird noise&quest; You get to be that idiot&period; You know the one level headed member of the group who seems to be the only one who can figure anything out&quest; Yes&comma; you get to be that person and every minute of it is great&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Choice matters so much in this game that every decision you make reverberates through the remainder of your time with it&comma; and I spent the bulk of my time imagining how I was going to play through the story on my second playthrough&period; That&&num;8217&semi;s as high of a compliment as I can give a game&semi; every minute made me anxious to replay it as soon as I could&period;  There’s a mystery to solve here in this game and I have never enjoyed peeling back the layers like I have with <em>Until Dawn&period;<&sol;em> With its colorful characters&comma; creepy setting&comma; interesting story&comma; tons of collectibles&comma; and more&comma; <em>Until Dawn<&sol;em> is my front runner for game of the year&period; Here’s hoping we get a sequel&excl; Just think of the possibilities&colon; summer camp… college dorms… hospitals… the list is extensive and I hope we get to every one of them&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><b><i>A copy of Until Dawn was provided by Sony Computer Entertainment for the purpose of this review<&sol;i><&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;