Until Dawn (PS5)
In the decade since Until Dawn, Rami Malek has come a long way, with the Mr Robot star nabbing an Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody. But back in 2015 the bug-eyed Bond-botherer had his own Grim Fandango to deal with in the first - and best - fully-interactive horror film to grace a console.
Starring alongside Heroes poster-girl Hayden Panettiere and Fargo legend Peter Stormare, the virtual scenery was chewed in an interactive slasher that put developer Supermassive on the map. And with its movie adaptation having wrapped this week, Sony has returned to the Rockies with a remake of the cult classic that started it all.
A fully interactive horror movie has been the dream since 1992′s Night Trap, though fuzzy full-motion video and amateur night acting laid the genre to rest for over two decades. With Until Dawn, the technology (and a recognisable cast) could finally deliver the goods. We’re firmly in popcorn slasher country here, and when a gaggle of teens heavy with hot hormones become trapped in a remote ski lodge with a killer on the loose, the player’s decisions will determine who makes it out alive.
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Subverting horror tropes in the same gleeful way Wes Craven did with Scream, your choices will set the gears in a deadly game of Mouse Trap, with hundreds of possible story paths and endings for its gang of scream queens and horny jocks. Essentially a collection of quick-time events and moral crossroads, the game’s Butterfly Effect mechanic means every decision can have grave consequences, and given a slasher is made or broken on its kills, there are some doozies here.
Rebuilt using Unreal Engine 5, Until Dawn is given a gory glow-up that further blurs the line between movie and videogame. Its Hollywood roll-call looks even more realistic while the PS5′s fancy-pants controller introduces haptic feedback and vastly improves the game’s infamous ‘don’t move’ mechanic. All this razzle-dazzle comes at a cost, though, and a frame rate that struggles to hit its target 30 frames per second is galling when the 2015 original runs at a silky 60fps on PS5.
Read more: Games: Until Dawn prequel The Inpatient on PS4/VR
Yet while technically polished, remake developer Ballistic Moon has tinkered with the original in ways that would have even George Lucas scratching his head. Changing the fixed camera angles to a standard over-the-shoulder view may give more freedom to explore, but it shatters Until Dawn’s cinematic vibe, while Jason Graves’s nerve-shredding score has been replaced with a playlist of pop needle drops.
The first movie in a series is often considered hallowed ground, and noses may be bent out of shape with Until Dawn’s second wind on the PS5. As a full price release it’s a tall order for those who’ve already played the original, but for 10 hours of schlock that’s almost as fun to watch as it is to play, Sony’s Hollywood horror is still the perfect Halloween treat for newcomers.
