During Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 eras, the publisher and console manufacturer worked with development teams such as Quantic Dream and Supermassive Games to deliver some remarkable console-exclusive narrative-driven experiences for the time – with Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human, and the focus of this review, Until Dawn coming to mind. While their gameplay may not have been much more than moving around, QTE and making the odd dialogue decision – they made up for it with atmospheric, visual experiences that delivered multi-branching gripping narratives. Until Dawn, released in 2015, was a solid take on the teen-slasher horror, involving a group of older teenagers who, on the first anniversary of their friends passing on the very same mountain, return to the same hunting lodge and soon find themselves embroiled in a series of events that at first seem like a serial killer at work, but may very well be something more – as the eight protagonists strive to survive until dawn and they can get off the mountain.
The remake of Until Dawn remains largely faithful to the original, preserving the interactive slasher’s appeal while offering players a new layer of immersion with subtle adjustments. Set against the chilling backdrop of Blackwood Mountain, the narrative follows the eight protagonists as they navigate a harrowing night of horror, compounded by an eerie psychological dimension and the persistent threat of death at every turn. True to its genre roots, Until Dawn cleverly integrates familiar horror movie tropes—shocking twists, love triangles, and uncomfortable secrets—woven into an interactive experience where every choice shapes the narrative. One of the game’s core features, the “butterfly effect” mechanic, lends the story a rich sense of consequence, pushing players to weigh each decision carefully. With each choice affecting character relationships and survival, players truly hold the fate of each character—and the resolution of the story—in their hands.
Beyond classic horror elements, Until Dawn presents a compelling mystery that leaves players questioning if the threats are the result of human malice or supernatural forces. While the setup—a sinister mountain cabin and lurking death traps—leans into genre clichés, it’s executed with enough nuance to both pay homage to survival horror’s past and carve its distinct place within it. Although several scenes are fairly static and only one primary ending exists, the game includes enough branching events and player-driven outcomes to keep things tense, with cautious choices sometimes leading to unexpectedly dire consequences. Your mileage may vary between how many characters remain alive to the final chapter, and while the destination is the same, the experience can be more underwhelming if only three or four characters survive, than the whole group. That said, a less linear storyline and additional endings would have enhanced the sense of player agency, making each outcome feel even more personalised.
Each of the eight main characters is based on a recognizable teenage stereotype, from the jock to the loner, though most are given enough room to grow over the game’s runtime. While players may find some characters endearing and others grating, this range adds another dimension to the player’s choices, encouraging them to shape the fates of characters they care about most. However, some cast members, due to their plot roles, may not last long enough to experience much character growth, which can feel anticlimactic, particularly when their deaths occur early on due to minor player mistakes. Experiences may differ widely from player to player. Still, the story’s escalating tension and moral dilemmas offer substantial replay value, especially as the auto-save feature prevents revisiting specific choices without replaying entire sections.
The game’s themes of guilt, fear, and survival are reinforced by recurring interactions with an in-game psychologist, whose probing questions serve to personalize the horror experience further – although you could be forgiven not realising the impact it makes. Furthermore, this remake adds a few narrative expansions, such as a slightly extended prologue which was very much welcome, and a new post-credits scene, which hints at a potential future for the franchise but was otherwise pretty unremarkable.
Until Dawn was already an impressively designed game. Its use of lighting constantly challenges players and establishes a more harrowing tone throughout the experience. One of the big selling points of this remake is bringing it across to Unreal Engine 5, and for the sake of being a game for the PlayStation 5 (and PC, although not covered in this review), it looks pretty impressive. The environmental textures are crisp, and the atmospheric lighting is meticulously designed, whether it’s the dappled sunlight glinting through a window at dawn or the murky shadows lurking in a forgotten cabin. The switch to an over-the-shoulder camera offers a more immersive perspective, letting players get up close to the unsettling sights and sounds of the mountain—though this choice sacrifices some of the original’s film-like presentation. Furthermore, I’d argue the controls were somehow even worse this time around, being a constant fight between movement and camera.
The remake also showcases the power of its all-star cast, with the voices of the original actors including but not limited to Hayden Panettiere, Brett Dalton, Galadriel Stineman and Rami Malek being retained. The soundtrack, altered from the original, still leans into horror staples with unsettling melodies and tension-building cues. Whether it is as good as the original soundtrack is debatable, however.
The gameplay in the Until Dawn remake is largely identical to the original, focusing on exploration, decision-making, and quick-time events (QTEs) rather than traditional combat. The actual progression sees players control different members of the cast throughout various chapters, moving characters from point A to point B while managing the risks and choices that determine their survival. This structure keeps the game mostly linear, so players aren’t likely to get lost in the sprawling yet restrictive environments. Still, exploration is rewarded, as players can gather collectibles such as clues and “totems,” each adding layers to the story and offering helpful insights into potential future events.
Totems, one of the game’s most interesting collectibles, provide glimpses of possible outcomes—often depicting a character’s death or a scenario to avoid, offering guidance to sidestep these fates. However, the totem feature has been slightly altered in the remake, now requiring players to rotate and align the objects precisely to activate the vision. While intended as an added challenge, these do little more than slow down the pace of the exploration process, and kill the mood when you are in a more urgent sequence. The totems are particularly useful on subsequent playthroughs, as certain visions may only apply to specific paths, encouraging players to explore alternate routes and make different choices to see how their decisions play out.
Aside from collecting items, Until Dawn leans heavily on QTEs to drive action and decision-making, with sequences that range from simple button presses to complex, timed choices that require fast thinking. Some scenes introduce a basic aiming mechanic, typically used for actions involving a weapon, adding a layer of intensity and realism to survival encounters. Players can also opt to make no choice in some QTEs, which can lead to interesting variations in how the story unfolds. These moments build from a slow, suspenseful pace to rapid-fire sequences, making certain confrontations especially intense and heightening the stakes in action-heavy scenes. As the auto-save isn’t immediate, if something does go wrong, a quick reset is also a practical option after making a mistake.
I think the big issue, especially for those who are opting to play Until Dawn on the PlayStation 5 — is that the experience does little to reinvent the original’s formula. With the original release having been part of the PS Plus Collection when the PS5 first launched, many players would have already had ample opportunity to experience Supermassive’s horror experience, and opting to purchase a cheap copy of the PS4 release won’t take away much from the experience at all. However, as a remake, its improved graphical fidelity and few new features do still make it a worthwhile play for newcomers, especially with the game making its PC debut with it. At the very least, in 2024, Until Dawn remains a thrilling, choice-driven horror classic, blending the suspense of a slasher film with the interactive depth of a branching narrative—a nostalgic and terrifying journey for anyone eager to experience the horror of surviving the night, where every choice can mean the difference between life and death.
Final Score for Until Dawn (Remake)
A PlayStation 5 review code of Until Dawn (Remake) was provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia to facilitate this review.
Until Dawn (Remake) was developed by Ballistic Moon, based on the original work of Supermassive Games, and is now available on PlayStation 5 and PC.
