Why Until Dawn Should Be Game of the Year

GAMEPLAY!!!

It’s currently Twinfinite’s Game of the Year week! All week long, our Editors and Writers will be nominating games from this year that stood out in 2015. Today, Yamilia Avendano tells us why Until Dawn is worthy of being Twinfinite’s 2015 Game of the Year.

Until Dawn burst into the scene that games like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls had brought into living rooms: the interactive drama genre. After years and years of hoping that this movie-like genre of gaming could have a signature series to point to as a prime example of how it should be done, Until Dawn has appeared. It blows the competition out of the water and sets a new precedent.

What sets Until Dawn apart is that, despite being a lot like others, everything is tighter. You walk or power walk around through the setting as you would any other interactive drama, but it just feels better. Throw in that there are choices you can make that alter your characters’ fates and you’ve got yourself one of the most in-depth choice systems in games to date. The repercussions of what you do in the game can be felt, even if the ending can’t possibly reflect absolute freedom. Every choice has a reaction or multiple ones, and it really keeps you on your toes for what could happen next.

Being a B movie kind of horror game, where stupid teenagers are running around all willy nilly, you’re given options to slaughter them or save them. Every choice can seriously mess these kids up, and it really depends on how you play whether you want to “open that obviously unsafe trap door” or “avoid the dangerous road.” Whatever you do in this game will either be fun, scary, or at the very least entertaining. And it’s good to say that there’s something for everyone, and that you won’t feel like you’re watching a super boring movie while playing.

The suspenseful moments of the game are heightened through a unique gameplay mechanic that utilizes the Dualshock’s light. You need to hold it still during thrilling moments so you won’t get caught and it’s easy to catch yourself holding your own breath and getting into the moment that much.

STORY!!!

As mentioned before, it’s a B horror movie about a bunch of teenagers that wanted to spend time together (for some reason) in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Perfect. These kids seem to have nothing in common besides having been in classes together. They’re loud. They’re obnoxious. They’re idiots. It’s great.

Until Dawn’s greatest strength is that it’s fully aware of what it is and isn’t trying to be better. It’s not trying to be some groundbreaking drama, rather, it’s trying to be a good time for everyone that plays. Without spoiling, these teens are way in over their heads and the story goes from 0 to a hundred quickly.

You won’t be disappointed in the writing, although it can be cheesy at times. It’s all a great big parody of how dumb horror movie victims can be, and it’s even got its scary moments here and there. And, as was mentioned, the whole game goes off of the butterfly effect. Every action has a reaction and you’ll be kept on the edge of your seat wondering if you made the right choice. You won’t even know if someone’s really dead, even. This game gets nuts.

ACTING!!!

Until Dawn has a lot of familiar and famous faces in its cast, something that’s not that common these days in video games. This works completely in its favor. Being an interactive drama, there needs to be a ton of emotion behind the script and these actors all bring it. You’ll be wrapped up in the emotions, happy with the silly jokes, and overwhelmed when shit hits the fan.

Rami Malek, in particular, performs so well his role that I’m still thinking about some of the later scenes. They haunt me thanks to a mixture of him and the script itself. They really did their research and behind the scenes work and all the planning to compose this amazing game that came out of nowhere, and it shows.

Each of these elements bring together what could have very well been a forgettable title to the forefront of every release. A year that is full of blockbuster hits, and some interactive B movie easily steals the show. It’s truly incredible what Until Dawn has managed to do as a new IP, for a somewhat tainted genre, in a year that has had so many GOTY contenders.

Keep checking back all this week for more opinions from Twinfinite on which game should be Game of the Year! And finally, next week, we’ll announce our Game of the Year!