A haunting night of deceit

Until Dawn is a story-based video game released in August, 2015. This game follows supernatural events, as well as moral dilemmas, with the concept of “the butterfly affect,” meaning that one choice can change the course of the entire gameplay.

This story is about a group of teenagers, reuniting for a night in the woods. But things start to get weird, and uneasy as they try to figure out how to escape the night before theme. This will contain spoilers so beware!

(There are different storylines, so a summary is not necessary)  

Main dislikes about this game:

Many choices matter less than you think they would, at least until the end. You end up doing quicktime events, things, and circumstances, but they all ultimately lead down the same path. Then there are certain choices that completely matter. I think “the butterfly effect” here is kind of rigged, and I think Detroit becoming human does a better job at it.

 Main likes about this game:

I love the supernatural aspect of this game. The incorporation of “The Wendigos” adds charm to the otherwise terrifying story.

My review

Music

Although this game has its flaws, I really enjoy the music of this game. I loved the opening song. The Gospel song O’ Death is perfect. The singer’s voice is beautiful and smooth, and it completely represents the terror that awaits. It’s an amazing song, with haunting vocals and piano. It completely fits the story, and introduction to the characters.

Graphics

I do enjoy the high-quality graphics of this game, including the environment of the woods, as well the cabins. The way the characters interact, you can see the chemistry through laughing and talking, which I will get into the dialogue later.

The entire game speaks to you loudly, through its visuals. Despite looking well, sometimes this game’s graphics get weird. Mouths move weirdly, moments are not natural, but it still looks well, you know.  

Dialogue

The dialogue seems pretty natural for teenagers. Unlike its disappointing sequel The Quarry, the dialogue is very natural. The use of phones, the tone of speaking, and the way each character talks are synonymous with their age and background.

Voice acting

This voice acting is mostly great. Like every next generation game, they sound very realistic and their voices are natural. They depict terror, horror, and death very well, during the series of events that happen during this horrible night.

I said mostly great because I do think the therapist sounds extremely weird. I do understand it’s supposed to be like this, but I think it’s kind of unfair that the one person who.

Frames per Second (Fps)/Bugs

This game has many bugs, and the frame rate drops when cutscenes happen, which is incredibly startling and annoying. At times characters mouths do not sync up, and the fps fluctuates, with some crazy frame drops. I think this game needs more optimization, but overall it’s not too bad.

Mechanics

One of the biggest things for me involving new video games that come out is mechanics. I enjoy when games have variety and different aspects, and aren’t just a plain old game. One of the few mechanics that I loved was the totems. These totems give hints into future scenarios and situations that can occur. Now, this game has many different endings, but these hints can help you see into the future. It also tells you what kind of “totem” it is: death, danger, fortune, etc. It helps you proceed within the game and be able to make more rational choices.