Until Dawn: Games Becoming More

This past week, a few friends and I played through the thoroughly enjoyable Until Dawn for PS4. Taking heavy inspiration from the slasher teen flicks of the 80s, the game focuses on a group of teenagers as they return to a remote, isolated cabin following a tragedy that they brought on exactly one year prior - sounds familiar, right? Well, like games such as Heavy Rain, Until Dawn attempts to create more than just a traditional game. In fact, the experience is crafted in such a way that for those not necessarily playing, it almost feels as if you're watching a lengthy horror movie. 

Now, games have emulated movies to a certain extent for years. The Metal Gear Solid series, for example, contains insanely long cut-scenes that rival some of Hollywood's own efforts at engaging storytelling. But if you asked somebody unfamiliar with games to sit down and enjoy an instalment from this series, they wouldn't have the faintest clue where to begin. And this is understandable; between these moments of nothing but viewing are lengthy, complicated gameplay segments that are immediately foreign to anybody not involved in videogame culture. So why is Until Dawn any different? Well, it simplifies the actual 'playing' sections to their most base level, while also maintaining a strong sense of player engagement. 

What this does is create an experience that is just as enjoyable for viewers as it is for players, and it shows: a quick search on YouTube reveals videos of the game with view-counts passing the millions. The interesting point to this, however, is that while the game is selling well, it isn't doing so at the rate of popular franchises such as GTA or Call of Duty. NPD sales figures show that for August, the game is at 7th place in the charts. Now, the whole culture of watching people play games on the internet is an ever-growing one, but it's interesting to see a game that is arguably being viewed far more than actually played. Is this a bad thing, though? Of course not. 

If anything, this shows that the medium of videogames is expanding into popular culture more so than ever before. What we have here is a game that has captivated the attention spans of people who may not necessarily consider themselves a player of videogames. A game that, for better or worse, is being enjoyed passively just as much as it is actively. Can the same be said for music, or TV, or even films? Here is an experience that is entirely unique to the videogame industry, and just goes to show just how diverse of an industry it is. If you want to sit down with some friends and play through Until Dawn, you can, but you can also find just as much enjoyment watching somebody else do so. 

Hopefully, the success (both sales-wise and through sheer popularity) of Until Dawn will lead to more experiences such as this. Games that engage both the players and audience, and go out of their way to truly make you feel a part of the experience. Even if you'd consider yourself as far from a player of games as black from white, you should at the very least see what the fuss is all about, and might see that this is a medium far beyond what others can achieve. 

Oh, and this was originally going to be a flat-out review of the game, but I felt this would be a little more interesting. If you're interested in a review: You should buy this game. Not only is it a hugely enjoyable, interesting and engaging story wrapped up with some tight controls and believable characters, but purchasing it also shows that a variety of content is favoured in mainstream videogame culture.