Until Dawn: Remake Review

Initial release date: October 4, 2024

Developer: Ballistic Moon

Engine: Unreal Engine 5

Genres: Adventure game, Adventure

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows

Publishers: Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Studios · See more

Series: Until Dawn

Back in October 2016, I was seeking for something to do with my PlayStation 4, which was accumulating dust in my graduate school apartment. I had just started graduate school, so I extended an open invitation to the whole of the College of Charleston Quidditch Team (yeah, I know) to visit me and test out a frightening little game called Until Dawn that I had read about on Reddit.

I say all of this to emphasize that the first time I played Supermassive Games’ brilliant debut, I did so in the best way possible: in a dark room, passing the controller between friends, making wrong choice after wrong decision late into the night, getting drunker by the hour. For me, Until Dawn has been tough to beat in terms of gaming experience over the last eight years. The 2024 remake leaves it undisturbed.

This new introduction was quite intriguing to watch, and it adds some meaning to the awful events.

It’s worth noting that Until Dawn is one of my favorite games of all time; I’ve played it five times over the years, each time with a different group of friends locally, in addition to watching several streamers and Let’s Play channels conduct blind playthroughs. I know all of the routes, which decisions do what, and how to make each character live and die. The fun part, of course, is playing it with folks who don’t know any of these things.

I was really pleased about Ballistic Moon Studios (made up of former Supermassive workers who created the original game) and Sony finally releasing this game to the PC audience and possibly increasing the PlayStation version’s framerate to 60 FPS. Better lighting, facial motion capture, and performance would all have been beneficial improvements. Until Dawn 2024 is a full remake, which means the whole game was rebuilt with Unreal Engine 5. To say I have mixed sentiments about the outcome is an understatement given my expectations.

Chapter 1 now takes place during the day, a significant alteration that I believe is for the better.

The Until Dawn remake has many great qualities, and it isn’t as bad as the Steam reviews suggest. The facial animations and motion capture have dramatically improved. While I’m not sure how I feel about the change in visual style for the faces, the animations are some of the best I’ve seen recently, and it made me feel a little more immersed. The new art style improves the appearance of the scenery, animals, and monsters, but I still like the human faces in the PlayStation 4 edition.

The lighting is a little weird, since it seems lot better in some places and considerably worse in others. It is much sharper, but whether or not sharp lighting contributes to the scene’s atmosphere is determined by a variety of elements. The original contains an ambient control feature, which, when combined with the fixed camera perspectives, creates a very directed experience. With a free camera for roughly 90% of the game, the Until Dawn remake has lost its intense, directed experience. However, this is not a terrible thing; by providing you full camera control, you now have a different kind of dread, the feeling that something is creeping up behind you regardless of where you look.

Being able to turn the camera behind you does not alleviate the sense of being followed.

I absolutely like the adjustments Ballistic Moon has made to the Prologue and Chapter 1. The Prologue includes a few new playable sequences and cutscenes before the notorious prank to provide more background, and Chapter 1 now takes place during the day. I was apprehensive about this at first, but it worked extremely effectively to give you a false sense of security before the kids arrived to the cabin. There have also been adjustments to how various decisions and quick time events (QTEs) affect the plot branches, making it more difficult for your adolescents to die, as well as a new main ending and secret ending that hints at a sequel. There are also new totems and trinkets to seek out. I am pleased with all of the story adjustments and consider them all to be an improvement.

The sound design has also been significantly enhanced, particularly with headphones on, however I must admit that the new soundtrack does not work for me. For unclear reasons, Jeff Grace and Jason Greaves’ original 2015 score was deleted from the game and replaced with a completely different score by Mark Korven (The Lighthouse, The VVItch). While it is still a perfectly serviceable score, I believe it accomplishes significantly less to draw the player into the scenario and establish the tone. It seems more like background music than scene-setting music. I’m not sure why the Until Dawn remake includes so many licensed pop tunes. They seem to subtract from the scenario every time they appear, completely taking me out of it.

If you recall Jerry missing the triangle button and killing Jess, you’re an OG.

The Until Dawn remake also has various accessibility options, which I have not completely investigated, the most significant of which being the ability to change the difficulty, timing, and presence of QTEs for players who are unable to finish them. On that topic, the famed “DON’T MOVE” moments in which the player must hold the controller completely still have made a significant comeback. On the PlayStation 4 version, I’ve cheated by just setting the controller on the floor. By instinct, I did it again in this remake and was astonished to discover that Ballistic Moon saw my BS coming a mile away. The new DualSense capabilities include haptics that cause the controller to “hop” around on flat surfaces during certain portions, registering the hops as movement to avoid cheating, but they are insufficient to detect movement of the controller when it is in your hands. This was a nice little addition, and congrats for outwitting me.

I’m also disappointed that the Until Dawn remake lacks internet multiplayer, as seen in every other Supermassive game, instead opting for couch co-op. The original Until Dawn did not have internet play, but since this had become such a popular group game over the years, I thought it was a no-brainer to include it with a friend pass. I broadcast the remake to a friend over Discord while driving with the controller, and we divided the characters so that each of us could make their own options. Not the best method to play because I had to do all of the QTEs, even for her characters (Mike’s QTEs rushing through the forest still caused me a heart attack), but we had a fantastic time nevertheless. However, Until Dawn primarily works with pals. It’s pretty much the only method to play, whether in person or through streaming.

This was my first run of the game where Mike didn’t have his fingers hacked off!

The Until Dawn remake performs substantially better than the original. My PC has an RTX 3080 and a Ryzen 7 3800x, and I played the game on high settings at 1440p 60 FPS. It went smoothly, with only a few stutters during the game and no bugs, glitches, or crashes to speak of. There were no obvious frame drops or clipping concerns.

I’ve avoided the greatest issue with this remake, which is that it costs $60 and offers no upgrade option for original game owners. I’m not sure I can truly suggest the Until Dawn remake because it’s such a minor enhancement, and the original PlayStation 4 game is often on sale for $15.

I’d like to play a small game, simply $59.99.

If you’re on PC and this is the only method to play it, I believe it’s well worth it. If you’re looking for a replay on PlayStation 5, I recommend waiting for the price to drop. If you own a PlayStation and have never played it before, the original Until Dawn is as good as it ever was, and I recommend playing it as soon as you are physically capable.

Whatever manner you play, I offer this challenge. If you’ve ever seen a B-horror film and thought, “These people are idiots.” I would be far smarter than them and survive,” then I beg you to enter the twisted mountain machinations of this cheesy home in the woods and demonstrate it. Make your move.

Review Overview

Gameplay: 88%

Controls: 85%

Aesthetics: 92%

Content: 86%

Accessibility: 84%

Value: 87%

Overall: 87%

TERRIFYINGLY GOOD!

Summary:

“Until Dawn: Remake” breathes new life into the original horror experience, with improved visuals and revised mechanics that intensify the thrills and chills. The gameplay keeps its essential choice-based framework, but the improved graphics and smoother controls heighten the tension and suspense. Aesthetic enhancements make the scary landscapes and character models more lifelike, adding to the immersive experience. While not every aspect has been reworked, aficionados of the original and newcomers alike will find this remake to be a hauntingly gratifying horror adventure.