Until Dawn Vs Until Dawn Remastered

In an attempt to reignite the raging fires beneath Supermassive Games’ cult classic horror, Until Dawn, UK-based developer Ballistic Moon has pledged its support to a brand-new iteration for PlayStation 5. That’s right, it’s happening again, which can mean only one thing: Emily is about to test our moral values for a second time. Sorry, Em — but we just can’t stand the thought of saving you, even if it does mean losing out on that glorious gold trophy. Sam, on the other hand, well, let’s just say we’ll be glad to return to those pair of shoes when the remastered version jolts to life later this year.

So, what more do we actually know about 2024’s Until Dawn, aside from the fact that Supermassive Games is no longer in the equation? Well, if you are planning on return to the foot of Blackwood Mountain at some point this year, then be sure to brush up on all the following details before placing a pre-order. Here are all of the new assets you can expect to receive from Ballistic Moon’s reincarnation.

Engine & Technical Support

Until Dawn was originally conceived in Guerrilla Games’ Decima engine—a suite that was also used for the conception of award-winning titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding; whereas the upcoming 2024 version is a product of Unreal Engine 5, a modern staple that has been used to formulate some of the biggest and most visually impressive IPs on the market. In other words, the forthcoming iteration won’t be a simple rehash of the original that released back in 2015, but rather, an entirely separate and completely rewritten one with a slew of refined technical features.

Given the DualSense’s primary features and the core capabilities of the PlayStation 5, Until Dawn (2024) will provide fully adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and 3D audio tech. What’s more, it’ll aim to take full advantage of the console’s ultra high-speed SSD, which will allow players to “stay fully immersed in the heart-pumping horror and face your fears without a moment’s respite.”

Technical and visual improvements aside, the latest version of Until Dawn will also roll out the red carpet for a “brand-new musical score and reauthored audio that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the journey.” In other words, if you’re a headphones sort of user, then you’re going to be in for a real treat.

Story & Characters

As far as storylines travel, the 2024 version of Until Dawn will remain mostly the same as the original. As a result of it keeping to the same script and structure, it’ll still feature the same characters, dialogue, and settings. In other words, it’ll still accommodate the same five-hour campaign that featured in the original, which will of course be open to manipulate and tailor over a series of events and critical moments. Like before, characters can die, and it’ll be your job to assure their safety from the initial hours of the evening through to the break of dawn.

“Set at an isolated mountain lodge where nothing is as it seems, eight friends try to stay alive with a killer on the loose,” an excerpt from PlayStation’s store listing reads in part. “Players define the relationships between the characters through dialogue and experience the night from their unique point of view. Written in collaboration with famed horror writers and directors Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick, find out who will survive Until Dawn.”

The good news is, all of the actors who filled the roster back in 2015’s Until Dawn will be reprising their roles in the updated version. It won’t be re-recorded, but it will, more or less, come loaded with a bit more polish and an entirely new soundscape to accompany it.

Gameplay

If you happened to slug through the original version of Until Dawn back in 2015, then you’ll no doubt have a solid idea of what to expect in the remastered one. What’s new in the 2024 version, though, is its third-person option—a perspective that was previously unavailable due to 2015’s habit of adopting a fixed screen and a forced perspective. In other words, it’ll allow players to explore their surroundings with a lot more freedom and fewer barriers, similar to what the recent remakes of Resident Evil carried out.

“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,” Ballistic Moon added in a recent press release.

Aside from the new perspective, 2024’s Until Dawn will also incorporate new settings, collectibles, and secrets, all while keeping in line with the original narrative the stole the hearts of players back in 2015. It’ll also keep a firm hold of all the same quick-time events, dialogue choices, and DualSense functions, so if you had any concerns about that — don’t, basically. It’ll still be Until Dawn, but a better looking version of it, and with a slew of new nifty upgrades and technical enhancements, to list just a couple.

Platforms

Whilst you can access the original Until Dawn on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, the latest version will only be available to play on the latter. Does this mean there won’t be an ex-gen port available at some point in the future? It’s unlikely. With that said, PC users will also be able to get their hands on the upcoming version as well as console fans.

For more information on the upcoming Until Dawn release, be sure to sure visit the team over at Ballistic Moon via their official social handle here. Alternatively, you can check in with the OG firm at Supermassive Games for all the additional details here.

So, what’s your take? Will you be returning to Until Dawn when it arrives on PlayStation 5 later this year? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.