I’ve been a die-hard fan of Supermassive Games for years now, and I’ve got to say, the House of Ashes, The Quarry, and even the Dark Pictures Anthology have become my spooky season staples. So, when I heard about the Until Dawn remake, I was beyond excited! But alas, my dear reader, this remake runs like a haunted carousel on a PC that’s got more power than a T-Rex on a treadmill. It was so poorly optimized that I eventually had to throw in the towel.
I’m quite fond of Supermassive Games, particularly House of Ashes and The Quarry. You could say I’m an advocate for the Dark Pictures Anthology. I eagerly anticipate each game they release, and we thoroughly enjoy them during our horror marathons from Spooktember to Nopevember. Therefore, take my word when I say that I was hoping for a great remake of Until Dawn. Regrettably, it fell short. To put it mildly, it performed terribly even on a PC far beyond the recommended specifications. In fact, its performance was so poor that I eventually gave up playing it.
Let’s address the elephant in the room first: A remake for Until Dawn isn’t necessary. This PS4 game just celebrated its ninth birthday, and it continues to perform admirably, particularly when played on a PS5 or PC – the two platforms where the remake is slated to release. You may wonder why we’re remaking games that are under a decade old? The answer lies in Sony’s preferences of today: easy profits from established brands and strategic brand alignment. Over the past few years, Sony has transformed into the House of Pointless Remakes and Remasters, largely abandoning new IPs (with a few exceptions like Returnal) and favoring sequels (or remakes/remasters) of well-known franchises such as Horizon (which was remastered seven years after its initial release) and The Last of Us (The Last of Us: Part 2 Remastered came out less than five years after the original game). If you’re familiar with how Concord fared (its servers were shut down just two weeks post-launch), you’ll understand Sony’s current strategy isn’t thriving. In other words, it’s not going well.
It’s only right that Until Dawn gets its moment in the spotlight, and Sony is likely hoping this will generate excitement for the upcoming Until Dawn movie set to release next year. These days, everything seems to be part of a multimedia franchise. Although remaking Supermassive Games’ horror game masterpiece isn’t as questionable as remastering The Last of Us Part 2 so soon after its initial release, it still gives the impression of being more about drumming up anticipation for the upcoming Until Dawn film rather than preserving or improving the original game. It feels a bit like a move motivated purely by financial considerations.
Interestingly enough, despite a few additions like extra scenes and a teaser for a potential sequel in the end credits, this revamp seems strikingly familiar to the initial version. While Ballistic Moon, the remake’s developer, has introduced some changes, most of them appear to diminish the original’s qualities. For instance, the fixed camera angles that were a hallmark of the original have been predominantly replaced with a third-person, Resident Evil 4-style perspective. On paper, this seems acceptable. However, in reality, it strips Until Dawn’s remake of much of the cinematic feel that characterized the original’s “interactive movie” design.
In a curious turn of events, Ballistic Moon has taken away the option for players to manually increase their character’s speed. While characters will automatically run during appropriate sequences, this change makes self-paced exploration more sluggish. Adding to this issue is the fact that the remake’s controls are generally less intuitive than the original, leading to a gameplay experience that feels less immersive overall. Although clumsy controls can sometimes enhance the eerie atmosphere in horror games, Until Dawn’s quick-time events and the freedom to explore the environment are what truly define its unique appeal. If these elements don’t feel enjoyable, it poses a challenge to the game’s enjoyment.
I’m truly disappointed that some of my favorite aspects of Until Dawn haven’t been updated in the newer versions. The narrative remains engaging and delightfully cheesy, and the performances by Hayden Panettiere, Peter Stormare, Rami Malek, and others continue to shine. It’s still an awesome game to enjoy with friends, even though I can’t help but wish they had carried over the pass-the-controller feature from their later games. And let me tell you, the updated visuals make Until Dawn look stunning!
But man does it run badly. The Until Dawn remake crashed on me twice in the first 40 minutes, and stuttered constantly, no matter how many settings I turned down or how much I tweaked my graphics settings. And my PC absolutely annihilates the recommended requirements. No matter what I did, Until Dawn ran poorly. And when some of the quick-time events you’ll deal with require Speedy Gonzales-level reactions, stuttering can mean you’ll miss crucial opportunities that can lead to pretty gruesome outcomes. This is a horror movie; people die. But if they do, I want them to die because I screwed up, not because I’m having technical issues.
To put it simply, I gave the Until Dawn remake a shot, but in the end, I found myself unable to continue. Instead, I opted to install the original game. I sincerely hope that Ballistic Moon improves the remake, as I believe Until Dawn is an excellent game that deserves to be played. However, it’s hard to justify the cost of this remaster when you can buy the original on PS4 at a significantly lower price. At this point, the remaster feels like a cash grab, and its current state at launch doesn’t help the situation. In summary, it seems that it might be best to move past this remake for now.
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2024-10-22 17:57