With Halloween fast approaching, many gamers are searching for the perfect horror video game to sink their teeth into, and Until Dawn is a great choice. The thrill of playing a good horror venture is a satisfying one, as facing one's fears head-on can be a shockingly fun experience. Games such as Outlast and Resident Evil 7 provide the genre with engaging first-person escapades, and these titles embrace their gritty tone to fully immerse the player into their horrific worlds. This approach to horror has been a common one throughout the years, and it has undoubtedly churned out some memorable and terrifying titles.
While these titles' approach to horror is certainly enjoyable, Until Dawn takes on an identity all its own. Until Dawn is content with reveling within its campiness and openly recognizing the genre clichés it so willingly embraces. This awareness gives the game its own unique element which sets it apart from any other horror title players can find this Halloween season. At the end of the day, Until Dawn captures the essence of what many horror games have failed to find: the fun and cheesy nature of the '80s and '90s slasher flicks.
Until Dawn's actual gameplay is very simple. The game has a "choose your own adventure" style to it, which innately gives the title limited gameplay options. However, the developers of Until Dawn make it a point to consistently force the player into genuinely difficult decisions. The very first cutscene in the game shows off a mechanic the game calls "The Butterfly Effect," in which a decision made earlier in the title could potentially affect the narrative at a later part. While this is a simple claim on paper, the game follows through quite well with this concept, as many small choices early on can hurt a player's chances of survival in believable ways. For example, where a character leaves a baseball bat in the basement can have a large effect on a character's ability to escape from a crazed killer later.
Why Until Dawn Is The Best Campy Horror Game
These small, yet intricate, ways in which The Butterfly Effect can alter a gameplay session make Until Dawn fantastic for repeat playthroughs. This rings especially true because every character in Until Dawn can die at seemingly any moment, even from the slightest mistake or incorrect button input. This provides Until Dawn with a real tangible sense of danger at all times, especially on an initial playthrough.
Following playthroughs of Until Dawn become even more intriguing due to the foresight that is gained from the first completion. Knowing when and how each character will die, and how exactly to evade death's embrace, is satisfying all on its own. Many of the deaths in Until Dawn are intensely gruesome and bloody, so dodging these traumatic experiences becomes the main goal of subsequent playthroughs (or, for those with darker goals, seeking out every death a player may have missed).
Overall, Until Dawn is aware of how campy it appears at first glance, and often it embraces this with open arms. Despite this, the game still manages to be a consistently scary horror video game title that plays nothing like any other. Until Dawn is strikingly unique and intriguing despite its reliance on genre tropes. It is absolutely a title everyone should check out this Halloween season.