At the Gamescom 2014 Sony Playstation press conference in Cologne, Germany today, U.K. based independent game developer Supermassive Games re-revealed their upcoming horror video game Until Dawn, a ‘butterfly effect’-style dynamic horror game where you are meant to feel like you are playing your way through, and effecting, a slasher-style film.
Here is the official trailer as seen at Gamescom:
On their website, where you can watch )what looks like) Hayden Panettiere (Nashville, Heroes) looking scared as one of the main characters in Until Dawn, Supermassive describes Until Dawn as:
“…an unpredictable and dynamically adaptive story, crafted in consultation with Until Dawn scriptwriters and indie horror auteurs Larry Fessenden (Stake Land & I Sell the Dead) and Graham Reznick (Chilling Vision: 5 States of Fear), eight friends come together at a remote mountain getaway and embark upon a night of unexpected terror. Through the course of the night, anyone can live, anyone can die, and things aren’t always what they seem. Twists and turns will keep you guessing right to the end as you play each of the friends. The decisions you make on their behalf will determine who survives Until Dawn.”
This re-reveal has been teased by Sony in the lead up to Gamescom for the past week with three little teaser trailers like this one:
Now, I have been categorizing this as a ‘re-reveal’, because this game was originally announced in 2012 to be coming to the Playstation 3 for the ever-so-pointless Playstation Move. The original Until Dawn seemed to be intended as much more of a campy 1980s style horror, but like the Evil Dead franchise, has been taken and modernized into what appears to be a much more sinister and dark horror film/game than its’ first incantation, whose trailer you can see here:
The differences between the original, campy (or say Cabin in the Woods) style to the game and its new, darker tone are incredibly evident in the trailers, and while I cannot say that I would not have enjoyed the 2012 version of Until Dawn (despite its’ being on the Playstation Move, which leads me to believe it would entail some horrible flailing), I must say that I am particularly excited for this upcoming release. Controls aside, having an upgrade in graphics can only help make Until Dawn an even more exciting, and (hopefully) scary-fun ride.
Imagine the possibilities of what a horror game that has an “unpredictable and dynamic story” can mean if Supermassive Games pulls off their intended vision: this could be one of the best horror games to come out since the original Silent Hill or Fatal Frame. Plus, from what we know right now, it does not appear to be about zombies, and for horror video games, there is something refreshing and exciting in that news alone.
For a long time now, the horror gamer was almost completely forced to either play a title which was more geared toward action than horror, or look for new and excitingly scary games exclusively on the PC, but with the PS4, console gamers have slowly been starting to see a few more games (including ports of PC horror titles like Outlast), and with upcoming games like Alien: Isolation and Until Dawn, horror appears to be returning to consoles, and I for one could not be happier.
What do you think? Do these trailers and/or the concept get you excited for Until Dawn? What horror games are you looking forward to the most? Sound off in the comments below