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FEATURE
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.
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!”
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.”