Until Dawn - Part 1 (PS4)
Back again for another part one review. For anyone who didn't read the Quantum Break reviews, in these reviews that get broken up into two parts, the first part is a brief discussion on the story, the controls, and a quick insight to my initial reaction to the game to come. Part two will finish the review with in-depth talk of the gameplay and all the other areas I discuss in my reviews. So let's get this one rolling
One year later, the same friends are back at the cabin for the next party. Beth and Hannah's bodies were never found and were therefore put down as "mysterious disappearances". Sam, one of Hannah's best friends, arrives at the gate by bus and begins making her way to the cable car station and the rest of her friends, as a mysterious figure steps into the road, watching her go. Will any of the friends be able to survive the night until dawn?
The left joystick moves your character while the right joystick can swing the camera angle. All of the angles are semi-fixed, so the camera adjustment isn't in the traditional sense. It's more you can shift it left or right in the environment. X allows you to interact with different objects, and if they are able to be inspected closely, you can do so by picking it up with R2 and moving the right joystick to rotate the object and inspect all sides of it. While you're walking, L1 will speed up your pace. R1 brings you to your collectibles and items menu, and O pauses the game for you. There are also some controls that involve the touchpad to do various things like ignite lighters and turn book pages.
The whole of the button interface (X, O, △ and □) as well as the triggers are all used during quick-time events that drive a good portion of the gameplay. You will also reach forks in the path where you'll use the right joystick to choose which action you would like to do. There's even a Don't Move feature where you have to keep the controller as absolutely still as possible for a short time.
Until Dawn also offers a motion control option, utilizing the gyroscope of the PS4 controller. I haven't tried these out, but I will do so soon and discuss them in part two of the review.
Overall a very simple control scheme to use for this game. With the type of the game and the genre it's in, I applaud the simple controls. It leaves much more room for the player to become involved in the game and increase the potential effectiveness for the jump scares.
I see a lot of potential with this game and I hope it delivers. Stay tuned and follow along with me to see what happens.
The Story
The story begins in a cabin in the snowy mountains. A group of friends are having a party (one that's annual) filled with drinking, partying, and drunken jubilation. One of the characters, Mike (no relation) lures one of the girls, Hannah, into one of the cabin's bedrooms with a flirty note. Unbeknownst to her, she's being lured into a prank with everyone else hiding in the room to watch it unfold and record it on their phones. As she begins to undress, a couple of the girls giggle and the prank unfolds before Hannah's eyes. Out in the kitchen of the cabin, Beth, Hannah's sister, finds Mike's note on the counter and goes in search of everyone who's missing. By the time she finds them, Hannah has already stormed out in embarrassment off into the cold, dark woods. Beth goes after her, trying to protect her sister. Eventually she finds her, crouched down and crying in the middle of the path leading away from the cabin. She covers Hannah in her coat and they begin to walk together when they start hearing noises from the woods. Further down the path, a figure jumps out and begins chasing the sisters in the direction of a cliff edge. The girls slip over the edge and try hanging on for their lives but eventually their grip gives and they fall, landing on the rocks below and tumbling down the mountainside to their deaths.One year later, the same friends are back at the cabin for the next party. Beth and Hannah's bodies were never found and were therefore put down as "mysterious disappearances". Sam, one of Hannah's best friends, arrives at the gate by bus and begins making her way to the cable car station and the rest of her friends, as a mysterious figure steps into the road, watching her go. Will any of the friends be able to survive the night until dawn?
The Controls
The controls for Until Dawn are very simple. The game is more of a guided, interactive movie. If anybody ever played Heavy Rain, you'll know what I'm talking about.The left joystick moves your character while the right joystick can swing the camera angle. All of the angles are semi-fixed, so the camera adjustment isn't in the traditional sense. It's more you can shift it left or right in the environment. X allows you to interact with different objects, and if they are able to be inspected closely, you can do so by picking it up with R2 and moving the right joystick to rotate the object and inspect all sides of it. While you're walking, L1 will speed up your pace. R1 brings you to your collectibles and items menu, and O pauses the game for you. There are also some controls that involve the touchpad to do various things like ignite lighters and turn book pages.
The whole of the button interface (X, O, △ and □) as well as the triggers are all used during quick-time events that drive a good portion of the gameplay. You will also reach forks in the path where you'll use the right joystick to choose which action you would like to do. There's even a Don't Move feature where you have to keep the controller as absolutely still as possible for a short time.
Until Dawn also offers a motion control option, utilizing the gyroscope of the PS4 controller. I haven't tried these out, but I will do so soon and discuss them in part two of the review.
Overall a very simple control scheme to use for this game. With the type of the game and the genre it's in, I applaud the simple controls. It leaves much more room for the player to become involved in the game and increase the potential effectiveness for the jump scares.
My Initial Reaction
On my first sit down with this game, I played through the prologue and a bit of the first episode and I have to say I am very excited for this game. First off, I am a huge fan of anything horror related, which is what drew me to this game before it was even released. The semi-fixed camera angles are a great reminder of the original Resident Evil games, and the setting, out in the snowy woods in the mountains is perfect. At first I was put off by the guided gameplay since I wasn't a fan of it in Heavy Rain, but there's a lot more interactions with it in this game. In HR, it was all about utilizing the controller to perfectly mimic the charater movements, where Until Dawn throws a bunch of variety at you. The first chapter has Chris, the second character you meet, shooting a bunch of targets to impress Sam and the game adapts to a cliffnote version of shooter controls.I see a lot of potential with this game and I hope it delivers. Stay tuned and follow along with me to see what happens.
