Until Dawn Remake Review

In the first Scream movie, hero Sydney Prescott is asked if she likes scary movies. She scoffs, saying scary movies are all the same, with a “stupid killer” stalking a girl who is “always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door.” Like Sydney, we’d all like to think we would be smart enough to survive a horror movie, and horror classic Until Dawn lets horror fans put the theory to the test. The 2015 original is remembered fondly as one of the better horror games to grace the PS4, and now, nine years later, the Until Dawn remake has landed on PC and PlayStation 5.

The original Until Dawn still looks great, and it’s readily available to play on PlayStation 5 thanks to backward compatibility. Considering this, some may be wondering what exactly the point of the remake is, and why it’s priced at $59.99 when the 2015 version retails for $19.99 on the PlayStation Store. Upfront, there isn’t a great reason to pick the Until Dawn remake over the original game and if you have to get one, I would recommend going with the 2015 version. But that doesn’t mean that the remake is a bad game.

On the contrary, the Until Dawn remake is a great horror gaming experience from start to finish. It maintains the story, narrative choices, and heart-pounding QTEs of the original, but shakes things up with a new over-the-shoulder camera. At first, I found myself missing the original Until Dawn‘s fixed camera angles, as they felt like a throwback to classic survival-horror games, but after a few chapters, I was sold on the shift in perspective. Until Dawn 2024’s over-the-shoulder camera makes the game more immersive.

Immersion is important in any horror game, and Until Dawn is no exception. For those who may be unfamiliar with the game, Until Dawn is basically an interactive horror movie where player choice dictates who lives and who dies. Players are given direct control of Until Dawn‘s cast of unlucky characters and are forced to make tough choices with each one of them if they hope to get everyone out alive. Players also dictate dialogue shared between the characters, which in turn has an impact on how everyone feels about each other. There are consequences for every choice made in Until Dawn, which adds a great deal of replay value to the game.

Choices Matter in the Until Dawn Remake

A core theme in Until Dawn is the “butterfly effect,” how one seemingly small and insignificant choice can have much larger, far-reaching consequences. It’s fascinating to see this theory at work and watch the narrative unfold based on the choices made throughout the game. Of course, it helps that Until Dawn‘s story is wildly entertaining even without the hook that players can help shape it.

An homage to classic slasher movies, Until Dawn is full of shocking twists and turns that will leave players on the edge of their seat. It’s best to go in without little to no knowledge about the story at all, but the gist is that a group of friends is staying at a ski lodge on an isolated mountain and are suddenly subjected to all kinds of bizarre and horrible things. The story is elevated significantly by Until Dawn‘s performances, which are fantastic across the board. Stars like Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, and the rest of the cast make Until Dawn feel like a Hollywood-level horror movie.

The Until Dawn remake presents basically the same story as the 2015 game, but with slight tweaks here and there. Among the changes in the Until Dawn remake are a slightly expanded prologue and a brand-new ending that has major implications for the future of the franchise. I don’t think the new content is meaty enough to justify spending $59.99 on the remake if one already owns the original, but the new ending is still pretty exciting.

Until Dawn 2024 Brings New Content to the Table

A new ending isn’t the only thing fresh about the Until Dawn remake. Players also have new totems to collect while exploring Blackwood Mountain, which help flesh out the narrative. Totems also give players an idea of how they should act in future situations for the best possible outcome. The Until Dawn remake totems have an added puzzle element in that players now have to rotate them and find the perfect spot to trigger their premonitions, though this doesn’t add anything to the game. There is no challenge to it, so it serves little purpose beyond making totems take slightly longer to use. Regardless, the totems are still an interesting wrinkle and come in handy regarding some of the tough decisions players are presented with in the game.

In the grand scheme of things, the new content added in the Until Dawn remake isn’t all that substantial. The real selling point of the remake is its graphics, which make an already-impressive-looking game look even better. Like I said before, the original Until Dawn‘s graphics still hold up, but those who want an even better-looking game may be convinced to pay full price for the new version. Until Dawn 2024 looks absolutely amazing with perfectly detailed character models and environments. There are occasionally wonky animations, but otherwise, I came away very impressed with how it all looks.

I wish the same could be said about the soundtrack. Unfortunately, Until Dawn‘s soundtrack is a step down from the 2015 version, with one of the most distracting choices being the lack of “O Death” from the intro. I don’t know if there were licensing issues keeping the remake from using O Death, but it’s still sad to see it go. The new song in its place, “Out of the Shadows,” is perfectly fine, but it’s hard not to be disappointed at the lack of “O Death.”

Soundtrack changes, the cheaper price, and PS5’s backward compatibility make it easy to recommend the original Until Dawn over the remake, but the remake is still a high-quality game. It looks incredible, the Until Dawn story is still a thrilling time, and there is some worthwhile new content to seek out. However, $59.99 is a steep asking price for what’s on offer. PC-only gamers may want to consider taking the plunge, but those on PlayStation might be better served sticking with the original and looking up the new ending.