STACK #130 Aug 2016

FEATURE

GAMES

found throughout the game begin to unlock a deeper mystery. The game features a unique camera system that will take a little time to get used to, but it totally immerses the player in the action; paying attention to your surroundings is imperative – you might just miss something moving in the shadows and that could prove very costly indeed. In a further enhancement of the choose- your-own-adventure-style story arc, at the end of each episode a psychologist records the players’ responses to general inkblot questions, and these questions influence events as the game continues, effectively tailoring a personalised sense of terror. Visually, this game is a tour de force. From falling snow to the hairs on Hayden Panettiere's face, even the check pattern on the killers’ shirt, the detail is incredible. The motion-capture performances and lighting effects are excellent. It’s a beautiful looking title. Until Dawn will keep you hanging on to see just how impactful your decisions will be on the game's characters. Even missing a button press on a QTE can have dire consequences. Strap yourselves in, prepare to jump, and pray you will get through to sunrise.

Supermassive Games Located in Guilford, United Kingdom, Supermassive Games commenced operations in 2008 working on a number of publisher-funded projects including the mini-games in LittleBigPlanet Vita , Killzone HD and DoctorWho:The Eternity Clock . Until Dawn was originally conceived to be a PS3 PlayStation Move title, before the conversion to a PS4 exclusive was undertaken.

Throw out the rulebook “We were aware from early on that we didn’t want the game to be an endless stream of jump scares,” Harris insists. “People just become numb to it. “To make the horror as effective as possible you need to telegraph in some of the scares and then obscure others, otherwise players get wise to a formula. So a lot of Until Dawn is about the quiet dread of not knowing what’s going to happen next. You might think there’s a jump scare coming any second, and then there’s nothing for five minutes – when you’re not expecting it. It has more impact that way.”

good spike, we know we’re doing our jobs right. And if those spikes correlate across a number of separate players then we can be confident we’re on the right track. “We’ve had some great fun seeing the video output of our user testing – guys who are sat there, playing the game peeking through their fingers, not being able to look at the next scene, telling themselves to ‘man up’. We haven’t induced any heart attacks yet, but I think we’re getting close!”

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