Friday, February 2nd 2024
Until Dawn Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Coming to PC & PS5 This Year
Until Dawn has remained a core, genre-defining horror experience for players since its release almost a decade ago. We are now taking these amazing foundations and adding more emotional depth, an enhanced look, and a completely new soundscape that a game with such a strong legacy deserves. Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Until Dawn has seen enhancements across the board, all made with passion and care for the original from the team of horror lovers, film fanatics, and veteran game makers at Ballistic Moon; and it's coming to PS5 and PC this year! Until Dawn has been rebuilt with the latest tools and techniques. New and improved animations build on the success of the original character performances. Characters, environments and VFX have been upgraded - all for a truly enhanced cinematic horror experience.
We use a broader cinematic tonal colour palette and new perspectives to make the story more nuanced and emotional. We've been brave enough to shine a light into the dark, unseen corners of Blackwood Mountain and added a third-person camera, which means you can now look behind the curtain of the original game, exploring enhanced and new locations with new interactions and collectables. Incorporating a third-person camera and adding contextual character movement animations, the game now allows the player to really feel the experience of that fateful night. Until Dawn's sound has undergone a massive overhaul too, featuring a new score from legendary horror composer Mark Korven. We've endeavored to keep the fantastic narrative integratory of the original, but we have seized the opportunity to expand upon unexplored emotional parts of the story.
Look out for more news on this enhanced version of Until Dawn coming later this year.
Also, stay tuned for more on the newly announced film adaptation of Until Dawn from PlayStation Productions and Sony's Screen Gems, to be directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation), and a screenplay written by Gary Dauberman (It: Chapter Two, The Nun and The Nun II) and Blair Butler (The Invitation).
Source:
PlayStation Blog
We use a broader cinematic tonal colour palette and new perspectives to make the story more nuanced and emotional. We've been brave enough to shine a light into the dark, unseen corners of Blackwood Mountain and added a third-person camera, which means you can now look behind the curtain of the original game, exploring enhanced and new locations with new interactions and collectables. Incorporating a third-person camera and adding contextual character movement animations, the game now allows the player to really feel the experience of that fateful night. Until Dawn's sound has undergone a massive overhaul too, featuring a new score from legendary horror composer Mark Korven. We've endeavored to keep the fantastic narrative integratory of the original, but we have seized the opportunity to expand upon unexplored emotional parts of the story.
Also, stay tuned for more on the newly announced film adaptation of Until Dawn from PlayStation Productions and Sony's Screen Gems, to be directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation), and a screenplay written by Gary Dauberman (It: Chapter Two, The Nun and The Nun II) and Blair Butler (The Invitation).
10 Comments on Until Dawn Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Coming to PC & PS5 This Year
I could spend $10 on a PS5 upgrade. But if they're going to charge everyone $70 like for TLoU Part I, they are out of their minds.
PS5 games pretty much don't drop below $30 in the PS Store. It's a joke.
I switched to fully digital around 2014 when I bought the Xbox One VCR. But the last generation had really good sales. I bought so many digital PS4 games below $10, some for $20. But on the PS5 the situation is horrible. Thankfully I spent my 3080-mined bitcoins to buy PSN top-up cards two years ago, so that offset a lot of the cost. ;)
I only play Sony "exclusives" on their consoles, and there haven't been many of those this generation. And it looks like I'm not going to buy anything new any time soon, literally no announced games outside of Marvel, which is not my thing.
But the $10 upgrades I really don't mind. They seem to be worth it in every game so far.
Perhaps the most interesting part (to me) is that it stars Hayden Panattiere ("The Cheerleader" or, if you prefer, Kirby Reed) and Rami Malek (Mr. Robot [which I won't link because that show caused me severe emotional distress]/The Freddie Mercury Biopic) perhaps before they were better known to most, and in retrospect very much fits with something you could see as being in their (especially Malek's experimental) filmography. It's kind of bleak, but interesting in a 'experimental gameplay/cinema' sort of way. For me personally, I get the same "I don't know if I like it, but I absolutely respect the creative/artistic vision/chance they took" that I get from something like the (audio/story decisions of) Hellblade. If nothing else, Peter Stomare is also there, chewing scenery.
As a film, I'd put it in the schlock of Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, 13 Ghosts, etc. Perhaps most-aptly Dreamcatcher. The generally-accepted bad one, not the subjectively-wonderful good one. ;)
Others would probably say something like Haunted Mansion meets Saw.
As a game, though, it's actually pretty unique. It was interesting (at the time) for using the lightbar for some stuff, and the choose your own adventure (butterfly effect) aspect is/was pretty cool.
I'm not going to tell you it may be the best way to spend your time, but considering how simple it is to attain, there's nothing wrong having the experience going through it (alone or) with a loved one at least once.
I'm glad it was made, and it's probably 'one of those games' that people will always remember for some of it's unique cinematic aspects (and early Hollywood actor motion-cap). The craft (of the devs) perhaps more-so than the story imo.