Who will survive in Until Dawn, Sony’s newest PS4-exclusive Survival Horror adventure that tackles the Slasher genre for the first time in videogame history. And no. Nothing before this game has come even close to mimicking what we see on film and know as “Slashers”. This game is groundbreaking in that respect. Until Dawn will be released on August 28th (two days from now, on Friday) in Europe & Australia and is available now in America & Canada.
Check out this Until Dawn “Choices” trailer.
From the developer:
I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but the choices you make in Until Dawn carry extreme and sometimes deadly consequences. You, the player, take on the role of eight teenagers and make snap decisions that will determine who survives.
As fans of the survival horror genre, we worked with MoFilm on a short series of live action films to illustrate the gravity of the decisions you’ll be forced to make in the game. In each of these films, equal attention was focused on the exact moment the characters are faced with a tough decision, as is on the potential outcomes they must weigh.
For better or worse, every action has a different consequence. The two films will explore scenarios inspired by Until Dawn.
Part 1 of 2 in our mini-series is called “Choices,” and what better way to tell this story than by having the film be interactive!
Without giving too much away, we set out to create a classic killer scenario that most of us have seen in other films with different outcomes. The main difference with ours is that your decision has a direct impact on the final outcome. Question is, what decisions will you make? And will you survive?
From the “Choices” director, Torben:
“We took our inspiration from the many choices presented in the game and from its cinematic style. We want to give the viewer a feeling of what it’s like being caught up with a killer on the loose — having to make life threatening decisions on the run. Most people can relate to watching a horror flick and disapproving of the decisions made by the main protagonists. Now you can actually have a say in them — and carry full responsibility if the protagonist gets away or is killed in a brutal way.”
Check out the second “The Road Not Taken” Until Dawn trailer, as described below.
The second film takes on a darker, ominous twist on Robert Frost’s classic poem — “The Road Not Taken.”
From the “The Road Not Taken”: director, Lloyd Choi:
“I’ve always been in love with games that you can’t play alone in the dark. The idea of creating an extended spin-off of the world around Until Dawn definitely excited me, and decided I wanted to try something a little different than the typical game trailer.
“Since Until Dawn is based around the concept of choice (and the tension around it), I immediately thought of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, which I thought would create an interesting tone and backdrop paired with visceral and frightening images. The poem is often misinterpreted, and is really more complex than people think.”
“It’s really about how no matter which direction you choose, that’s the choice you make, leading to a life lived regardless of this road or the other road. And in hindsight, that will be the only way you know and you’ll look back on that decision to take this road as meaningful and important.
“But all roads are really the same. It’s not really an empowering poem of choosing your unique destiny that others haven’t taken; it’s meaning is more bleak and bittersweet. And I found that perfect for Until Dawn.”
Finally, here is the Launch Trailer for Until Dawn.
Although I generally abhor the Slasher genre, I find the idea of a Slasher videogame to be very intriguing. Videogames are different, because they are interactive. Unlike a film, in a videogame, you make the choices and YOU can decide who lives & who dies.
It’s a wonder why no one has ever thought of this idea before. And no. Night Trap doesn’t count.
I know it’s been played around with before (obviously), but no one has done it to this extent with such high-quality, cinematic results like what we see in Until Dawn. This title is really on a whole new level.
But when you see Until Dawn, you realize that Slashers are literally a perfect fit for videogames.
While I despise film horror (unless it’s PG-13-rated), I absolutely adore horror videogames. So that makes Until Dawn quite the dilemma for me. Perhaps it will open my eyes more to the Slasher genre and giving them another shot (in film). To me the ultra violence is off-putting; but this game really puts into stark contrast the idea of survival. And that there are perhaps other themes at work more than glorifying the murder of another human being (often girls. Something that rubs me the wrong way),
It’ll be interesting to see if other developers build off what Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games has done with Until Dawn…
Are you planning on buying Until Dawn?