Supermassive Games’ 2015 PS4 hit, Until Dawn, might not have been sitting near the top of everybody’s list of most desired gaming remake candidates, but I’m glad that we’ve arrived at this destination nine years later, for the most part – even if said remake/rebuild hasn’t been crafted by the same development studio responsible for the original (although the team does feature individuals with prior Supermassive experience). Ballistic Moon’s approach to enhancement here covers all the bases you’d expect from a project like this, with a few twists that, while not negatively impacting the overall experience in any significant way, are almost certainly going to rile up some fans.



If you’re unfamiliar with what exactly Until Dawn is all about, the core gameplay can perhaps be best likened to an interactive horror movie. Eight friends meet up at a lodge situated atop Blackwood Mountain (in the snow-covered Canadian Rockies) one year after their last visit, where a particularly nasty prank spiralled out of control – with fatal consequences for a member of the group’s two sisters.



As the night progresses, it becomes increasingly evident that someone (or something) has not taken too kindly to their presence, and your excellent decision-making skills (as well as the resulting outcomes), are the only things standing between either the survival or spectacularly gory death of each character. Obviously, there’s a lot more depth to the story and the relationship dynamics between each survivor, but I’ll say no more for the sake of any potential new players.

The most immediately obvious enhancement here is, of course, the Unreal Engins 5 powered visuals.

Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s move on to the actual features of this release. The most immediately obvious enhancement here is, of course, the Unreal Engins 5 powered visuals. Character model detail has been vastly improved, including both skin textures and clothing materials.



Environments have also received a massive injection in the looks and design department, with instances of increased natural density (like added vegetation), reworked layouts, moved totem collectibles (plus a new totem type), and a reliance on more realistic, natural lighting – sometimes completely altering the tone and visual warmth of a scene or area. A good example of this can be seen in the beginning of the game, as everybody meets up – where the transition from late evening to full-on nighttime is conveyed via a slowly setting sun’s golden rays covering the snowy landscape, eventually giving way to the darkness ahead.

Once you’ve taken in the shiny new visuals, the next glaring changes you’ll come face-to-face with are the new cutscene camera angles and cinematic direction, plus a noticeably lengthier, more fleshed-out prologue sequence, offering a bit more in the way of character development (especially for Hannah). Doing a side-by-side comparison of cutscenes from the original and the remake, it’s clear that there is no outright winner here when it comes to “better” or “more effective” direction – the differences are extremely obvious, however.



The moment-to-moment gameplay camera placement and behaviour has also been revamped, now a combination of classic fixed and over the shoulder perspectives – not unlike what you’d see in modern third-person action-adventure titles. Whether these alterations are your cup of tea or not is entirely subjective and, as already mentioned, they don’t really have any major downsides in the grand scheme of things. As you might expect, though, there a few real problems present.

The moment-to-moment gameplay camera placement and behaviour has also been revamped, now a combination of classic fixed and over the shoulder perspectives.

Far and away, the biggest issue with this Until Dawn rebuild, in my books, lies in its technical performance. I know this game’s general pacing doesn’t exactly warrant a flawlessly smooth frame rate, but the apparent 30fps target (I saw no “performance mode” toggle) sometimes drops even lower than that, albeit very briefly – usually during an abrupt camera transition, or during bursts of on-screen activity.



General animation and gameplay bugginess also rear their heads on rare occasions - some examples I encountered include a lever moving out of sync with the hand pulling it, Chris repeatedly walking into my character model immediately following a cutscene, and at least one interactable object refusing to work until I walked away and approached it from a specific angle. There’s a serious problem with the subtitle display, too, with a huge number of lines either popping up too late, not showing up at all, or playing out of time with the dialogue. These issues, while disappointing, are far from what I’d call a deal breaker, though, and I suspect that a few patches may iron out some of these wrinkles in time (but who’s to say, really).

On a more positive note, the included accessibility options are quite varied, and feature the usual suspects like camera speed adjustment, subtitle size and background opacity, motion sickness mitigation, and even higher object glint contrast and a variety of QTE specifications. Adaptive triggers can be disabled, if you so desire, although I’d encourage leaving them on – by default, the trigger buttons are mapped to the major decisions that pop up throughout the story, and the way the controller perfectly captures that feeling of initial indecision using resistance, followed up by the acceptance of locking in your chosen path is quite clever.



Until Dawn’s PS5 outing, while still the same incredibly enjoyable title at its core all these years later (although a new ending does potentially plant the seeds for a future sequel), is hard to wholeheartedly recommend – especially at its current price point of R1,299 (on the PlayStation Store, at least). At the end of the day, it’s up to you whether a visual overhaul and some gameplay switch-ups are enough to justify a full-price pickup. Personally, I’d highly advise waiting for a sale. And if you’ve never played Until Dawn before, there’s nothing wrong with trying out the original, which just so happens to also be a hell of a lot cheaper (R379 at the time of writing) and runs better than the rebuild via backwards compatibility.

*PS5 Review code provided by PlayStation