Until Dawn™

78%
Game Brain Score Based on 791 reviews
  • graphics
  • story
  • music
Until Dawn™ Game Cover
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"Until Dawn™" is a horror game where the player determines the fate of eight friends who return to a secluded lodge a year after two of their group disappeared. Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, the game features enhanced graphics, cinematography, and refined gameplay. The player's choices and decisions affect the story's outcome, creating a unique and immersive horror experience.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

78%
Audience ScoreBased on 791 reviews
graphics104 positive mentions
optimization42 negative mentions
  • The graphics are stunning and a significant upgrade from the original game.
  • The new content, including additional scenes and collectibles, enhances the overall experience.
  • The game maintains its engaging story and character development, making it a must-play for fans of the genre.
  • The game is plagued with bugs, including crashes and soft locks, particularly when accessing the menu.
  • The removal of the original soundtrack, especially the iconic 'O Death' song, detracts from the atmosphere.
  • The requirement for a PSN account to play a single-player game is frustrating for many players.
  • graphics217 mentions

    The graphics in the remake have received widespread praise for their stunning visuals and significant upgrades over the original, showcasing enhanced textures, lighting, and character models that create a more immersive experience. However, many players have reported technical issues, including graphical glitches, frame rate drops, and problems with saving settings, which detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are impressive, some critics argue that the remake feels more like a remaster due to the limited changes in gameplay and content.

    • “The stunning graphics and atmospheric sound design create an eerie environment, enhancing the tension with every creak and whisper.”
    • “The graphics are absolutely stunning, which is matched with great music and excellent actors.”
    • “The graphics look amazing, the new camera system is a welcome addition, and all the new content was great.”
    • “Game plagued with issues, graphical glitches, frame rate drops, freezing when entering new areas or upon picking up items or going into menus.”
    • “I encountered numerous bugs, fuzzy graphics, sound issues and general lagginess of the game.”
    • “The two specific issues this port has are that there's a decent amount of frame time stuttering that happens in the game and the major issue being that the game for some reason doesn't actually save specific graphical settings in the graphics menu.”
  • story210 mentions

    The story of the game is widely praised for its engaging narrative, strong character development, and immersive atmosphere, with many players appreciating the branching paths and multiple endings that enhance replayability. While some critiques mention a reliance on familiar horror tropes and occasional predictability, the overall consensus is that the storytelling is compelling and well-executed, making it a standout in the interactive horror genre. However, some players noted that the impact of choices can feel superficial, and technical issues may detract from the experience.

    • “Amazing and creative story with an updated narrative and a lot more cool features.”
    • “The story is captivating with some interesting twists, and the eight characters are quite representative of what we could expect from a group of younger adults.”
    • “The story-telling, the cinematography, quick-time events, it’s all perfection.”
    • “This game, on the other hand, feels like it's trying to tell a more serious story but it's hampered with cheesy campiness that just feels wrong.”
    • “Graphics look great, but the main thing that you play this game for, the story, just felt so lacking, so lazy, so boring and so cheap.”
    • “Once the novelty of the game’s decision-based system wears off, you’re left with a fairly generic teen horror plot that doesn’t stand out from countless other B-movie horror games.”
  • music195 mentions

    The music in the remake has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing disappointment over the removal of the iconic "O Death" song and the overall downgrade of the original soundtrack. While some appreciate the new compositions for their cinematic quality, others feel they fail to capture the game's intended atmosphere, often describing them as unfitting or distracting. Overall, the consensus leans towards a preference for the original music, with calls for an option to switch back to it.

    • “The soundtrack has been changed for the worse honestly it's baffling they made this decision, maybe something to do with copyright?”
    • “The new music - by Mark Korven - is much more cinematic and provides a richer soundscape overall, the original always felt drowned out and forgettable.”
    • “I do miss the old soundtrack, but I'm sure there are reasons for the change, and the new soundtrack isn't bad at all!”
    • “The changes to the story itself are small...but they absolutely ravaged the soundtrack.”
    • “The music replacements are not suitable at all and completely ruin the vibe.”
    • “The reworked visuals are nice, but the atmosphere suffers immensely without that classic 'Until Dawn' filter, and the new soundtrack sucks out all of the life from the game, making it completely unenjoyable to play.”
  • optimization121 mentions

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting frequent stuttering, frame drops, and texture pop-in, particularly during scene transitions. While some users experienced improved performance after recent patches, others found the game poorly optimized even on high-end systems, leading to frustrating gameplay moments. Overall, the consensus suggests that the game requires further optimization and bug fixes to meet player expectations, especially given its price point.

    • “While there were some minor stutters initially due to Unreal Engine 5, the recent update (1.05+) has significantly improved performance, making the experience much smoother.”
    • “Performance wise, game runs great.”
    • “Some people have reported performance issues, but it's running fine (120+ fps with occasional drops) for me on ultra/high settings.”
    • “The game is full of game-breaking progression bugs, and technical and performance flaws (such as recurrent traversal stuttering/hitching).”
    • “This game is a nightmare when it comes to optimization; ray tracing does not even work and the new music is terrible.”
    • “It is unacceptable to have performance issues and bugs; the game was not ready to be released.”
  • stability90 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many players reporting numerous bugs, graphical glitches, and performance issues such as frame rate drops and crashes. While some users noted improvements after patches, the overall consensus is that the game is still plagued by significant stability problems, making it frustrating to play, especially at its current price point. Players are advised to wait for further updates or sales before purchasing.

    • “But all things considered, I had a very smooth and bug-free experience.”
    • “Performance-wise, the game runs great.”
    • “Wasn't that buggy, maybe 3/10 on a bugginess scale.”
    • “Game plagued with issues, graphical glitches, frame rate drops, freezing when entering new areas or upon picking up items or going into menus.”
    • “It's so buggy and so disappointing to play.”
    • “The game crashes constantly, it glitches and stutters, the audio will randomly cut out sometimes.”
  • gameplay59 mentions

    The gameplay of "Until Dawn" is characterized by a mix of quick-time events, decision-making mechanics, and exploration, which can create an engaging and immersive experience. However, many players have reported significant technical issues, including crashes, visual bugs, and performance drops, which detract from the overall enjoyment. While the story and atmosphere are praised, the reliance on quick-time events and inconsistent gameplay mechanics have led to mixed reviews regarding its execution and optimization.

    • “Its innovative choice mechanics immerse you in a chilling story where every decision can lead to survival or doom, keeping you on the edge of your seat.”
    • “Until Dawn offers a thrilling blend of horror and choice-based gameplay that immerses players in an intense, cinematic experience.”
    • “Game is so well thought out, characters are all written with amazing detail, the gameplay is smooth and the storyline is so good, literally chefs kiss 12/10.”
    • “Many players complained about complete game crashes, distorted visuals, objects/characters and scenery having delayed loading times in cutscenes, and overall many other visual bugs that heavily impacted the immersion of gameplay.”
    • “Post-gameplay when replaying from episode selection or starting a new play-through after completing the game renders the game next to completely unplayable with characters loading in the sky, disappearing from scenes, getting stuck because the game thinks x event has happened so you are stuck with y result even before the event occurs.”
    • “Gameplay can also be very janky, since the graphics make it look like a 2024 game but plays like a 2012 game.”
  • atmosphere31 mentions

    The atmosphere in "Until Dawn" is widely praised for its stunning graphics, immersive sound design, and effective use of lighting and shadows, which collectively create a tense and eerie environment. While many players appreciate the game's ability to build suspense through well-timed jump scares and dynamic settings, some critiques highlight that the remake's shift to a third-person perspective and changes in visual style have diminished the original's chilling atmosphere. Overall, the game is recognized for its compelling narrative and engaging atmosphere, despite some mixed feelings about the changes made in the remake.

    • “The stunning graphics and atmospheric sound design create an eerie environment, enhancing the tension with every creak and whisper.”
    • “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, and the story kept me on the edge of my seat.”
    • “The atmosphere is thick with suspense, the jump scares are expertly placed, and the psychological horror elements will stay with you long after the credits roll.”
    • “Instead of relying on atmosphere or psychological horror, Until Dawn resorts to cheap jump scares that quickly lose their effect.”
    • “By changing the camera work to primarily be an over-the-shoulder third-person camera, the atmosphere and guidance of the game is severely changed.”
    • “Some scenes have been remapped to the detriment of the atmosphere even more, and the game just overall feels way more lifeless, soulless, and unimpressive.”
  • replayability18 mentions

    The game boasts significant replayability, featuring multiple endings and branching narratives that encourage players to explore different choices and outcomes. While many players appreciate the ability to revisit chapters and experience new story paths, some feel that the game may not hold the same appeal after the initial playthrough. Overall, it offers a rich experience with plenty of lore and engaging scenarios, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate replay value.

    • “Moreover, the replayability factor is significant; multiple endings and paths encourage players to explore different choices, each playthrough revealing new layers of the story.”
    • “The replayability is huge and the ease of being able to choose chapters to go back to without having to replay the game start to finish to redo some choices is great.”
    • “High replay value due to multiple story paths.”
    • “It might be worth playing once, but for a game that relies so much on replayability, it doesn't hold up after the first run-through.”
    • “The game does have replayability, but I tend to only play these games once and then go online and watch the rest of the deaths, possibilities, and endings.”
    • “Overall, the game isn't too long, but there is replayability, luckily, with being able to change who survives and who dies depending on what decisions you make.”
  • humor8 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by its unintentional comedic elements, such as bugs and rendering issues that players find amusing rather than frustrating. Many users appreciate the game's absurdity and the humorous aspects of its character models and music, viewing the overall experience as entertaining despite its flaws. The blend of hilariously bad moments and the community's reactions adds to the game's charm for those who embrace its quirks.

    • “Few bugs at the beginning of cinematics where only the heads loaded (was pretty funny, not gonna lie).”
    • “Yeah, the game is buggy, yeah it has funny music, yeah ray-tracing doesn't work or something, but I love how stupid this game is, so I like it and I don't care that it's apparently a bad game for these reasons. I'm gonna 100% the game.”
    • “This gives them a chance to put their differences aside and overcome their flaws, or alternatively die some hilariously gruesome deaths - it's win-win really.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    Reviews highlight a mixed emotional experience in the game, with some players feeling disconnected due to poor music choices and unnecessary cutscenes that detract from immersion. However, the motion capture performances are praised for their emotional depth, allowing players to manipulate character fates for added drama. Overall, while some find the game engaging and emotionally resonant, others report significant distress, leading to feelings of frustration and disappointment.

    • “The motion capture performances are as captivating as ever, bringing the characters to life in a way that's both believable and emotionally resonant.”
    • “You can turn every single character into an ass for extra drama and emotional damage, and let the most unlikely character live to the end while killing off the rest of the crew to break away from the normal Hollywood horror movie survivor rules.”
    • “As someone who tries to be positive, the experience of trying to play this game has brought me overwhelming emotional distress; I never had to file for a refund for a game before, and that should tell you something.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be time-consuming and tedious, often requiring significant dedication to achieve all objectives. While some fans appreciate the challenge and are willing to invest the time, others note that the slow pace of exploration can make the experience feel laborious.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Most of the time you are also not even running, so the exploration is a very slow and tedious process.”
  • character development2 mentions

    The game features exceptional character development, with engaging complexities between player choices and character growth, contributing to a captivating story and immersive world-building. Reviewers praise the depth and richness of the characters, enhancing the overall gaming experience.

    • “Absolutely loved this game, great graphics, great characters and character development, amazing story, and fantastic world building.”
    • “Its complexities between choice and character development are both engaging and fun, and I recommend this game to everyone.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    Reviewers express concern that the monetization strategy may compromise the quality of the game, fearing it could lead to a poorly executed sequel that prioritizes profit over player experience.

    • “Please don't ruin this outstanding game with a half-baked sequel cash grab.”
    • “The monetization strategy feels exploitative and detracts from the overall experience.”
    • “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

10hMedian play time
8hAverage play time
9-10hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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