The menu has no option to play with more than one controller, it hasn’t got any competitive modes and it’s not score-based, yet I’ve found the game even more enjoyable when played with someone else alongside me.
I was about two hours into it when I stopped and decided that I wanted to start over. Not because of the decisions I had made, but because I wanted to share the experience with my brother.
He’s not a big gamer. We used to play games growing up but as I was sinking deeper into the world of videogames he seemed to drift away. Those days of tense Pro Evolution Soccer matches fell apart as my obsession grew and we were no longer equally matched.
It’s a shame, losing someone you played so much with. It changes your path on what games you look out for and it feels like a big part of my youth died out. When I moved out of my family home that death was officially confirmed.
I tried several times to get things going with him but nothing hit home. Nintendo managed to drag him back in for a short period with Wii Sports but that fad died out pretty quickly and we were back to trying to make conversation rather than virtually batter each other.
These days when my brother and I meet up we usually watch a film, talk about comedy and eat far too much pizza. Last week was different though. I packed up my PS4, stuck in Until Dawn and we and we sat down to see if we could relive the years we spent sharing a bedroom.
Playing a single-player game with others in the room is not something I make a habit of. It’s usually awkward for everyone involved. Like someone watching over your shoulder as you read a book, but thinking you’re an idiot for turning the pages incorrectly and having to start the last chapter over again.
I did so in front of one of my best mates. We lasted about five minutes. The problem with playing a game like Ground Zeroes with a friend is that you end up hating them. Every choice you make in that game can lead to failure. Every moment is important and if you mess up then you have to do it again.
Ground Zeroes is fantastic, I’m not taking anything away from that, it’s just not the sort of game you want to experience in the presence of company. It’s a true single-player game and I enjoyed it a lot more once my mate had pissed off.
E3 2015
Until Dawn’s tone is perfect. It’s a camp slasher film channelling the likes of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. The characters in it are completely unlikable. Rich kids, living high school lives with petty drama. The sort that you wouldn’t mind seeing torn to pieces by crazed killer.
Because there’s no one to root for, your choices become a little less meaningful. That’s not a bad thing. You still have to think over your decisions in order to influence the story the way you want to, but the pressure is off. If you make a mistake, there’s no going back to a checkpoint and the game doesn’t feel as though it weakens when one of its characters smashes their head open.
E3 2015
Take, for example, confrontation. When I play these sort of games I make personal choices. If an argument breaks out I try my best to defuse the situation so that it doesn’t escalate. With Until Dawn we were more interested in mixing things up and the game’s drama improved as a result.
Although the game offers moral choices, it doesn’t ask the player to make them. Instead, you’re more likely to roleplay, molding the characters the way you want to as story progresses and the satisfaction you get as your choices unfold are better than any film could possibly achieve.
After a couple of hours had gone past, we’d been through many phases. From wondering if it was worth turning off and going back to our usual Saturday night to my brother making the character walk around in circles because it was funny to finally sitting on the edge of our seats barking orders at each other.
We’d fallen for it and it managed to achieve what many a game failed to do in the past decade. It got us gaming.
The next morning I woke up with a mixed taste of stale beer and pizza in my mouth. I checked my phone and read the text my brother had sent me. ‘I enjoyed last night’. So did I.
So that’s why Until Dawn is the surprise multiplayer hit of the year. It’s a game that’s fun to play alone but, to get the most out of it, it demands the arguments over decisions, the laughter at the deaths and the tense moments that you’ll both share as one of you is stumbling around in the dark.
Not only did it fill us with nostalgia of the horror films we grew up with, but we sat side by side with a pad in our hands laughing and joking along in front of a console. For a moment it felt like we were back in our bedroom finding the highest point we could in Tomb Raider and flinging Lara Croft to her death.
