14 DAY TRIAL // Until Dawn is a very impressive game when it comes to graphics quality and to the branching story that it offers, the kind of experience that will certainly appeal to completion-obsessed gamers who want to see how each of their choices plays out.
But one of the biggest problems with the title created by Supermassive Games and published by Sony is that it features an entirely unappealing mix of prologue and tutorial that will certainly lead to some players abandoning the title before it really gets going.
Two twin sisters end up dead after a sequence that involves a practical joke that feels cruel and out of place even in a universe populated by callous adolescents and a misguided trek through a blizzard that feels out of place even when seen through horror movie logic.
The developers also layer tutorial information here, which makes it hard to become involved with the events and the emotions that the various characters express.
Unfortunately, the first sequence of the actual game is equally lackluster, featuring dialogue that feels too slow between Sam and Chris and a shooting sequence that relies on the pad of the DualShock 4 to artificially increase the difficulty level.
A snowball fight saves the beginning of Until Dawn
The problem with these two scenes is that they might be enough to make gamers unable to enjoy one of the best video game moments I have experienced this year, the snowball fight between Mike and his girlfriend Jessica.
It's a moment that feels lighthearted and lacks any clear stakes, but for those who have seen more of the story, it teases some of the elements that will define the rest of Until Dawn.
Even the way Quick Time Events are used to dodge thrown snowballs and to then target the other character feels unintrussive.
Supermassive basically underwrites the scene and allows gamers to use their own ideas about relationships and morality to characterize Mike and Jessica, which will in turn affect the choices they will make for them later.
Unfortunately, these initial moments are dropped too soon to move towards more classic horror territory, which feels like a missed opportunity, but the snowball moment remains one of the best in the entire game.
We also have a full Softpedia review for Until Dawn.