5 things you should know about Until Dawn

It’s been a long time coming, but Until Dawn is finally being released on August 25 for PlayStation 4.

The game is going to be downright scary – an abandoned resort? No power or phones? A killer on the loose? (Really, what were these kids thinking going there?) But before you dive in for all the horror-filled excitement, you can prepare to be a little less scared for the journey with these five things you should know about Until Dawn.

It stars a former ‘hero’ Hayden Panettiere

You may know her as cheerleader Claire Bennet from the TV show Heroes, or more recently as Juliette Barnes on Nashville, but in Until Dawn, Panettiere takes center stage as Sam, one girl in a group of eight friends visiting a log cabin on the anniversary of their friends’ disappearance. A familiar face and voice such as Panettiere’s is always welcome in a game that can be as horrifying as Until Dawn. It’s not Panettiere’s first time in games either – she previously voiced Kairi in Kingdom Hearts I and II.

It was originally headed for the PS3 with Move support

When the game was originally announced in 2012, Creative Director Will Byles revealed it was coming to PlayStation 3 and being built exclusively to utilize the motion controlled PlayStation Move peripherals. The PS Move controller was going to act as your flashlight to guide you through the dark world in the game (because naturally, the power is out), as well as map itself to function for a variety of other in-game items, such as when you lift and investigate objects. When the title was unveiled to be making the jump to PlayStation 4 last year, executive producer Pete Samuels noted the capabilities of the DualShock 4 as a new way to incorporate these controls into the game after many players gave feedback of wanting to experience the game with regular DualShock controls. The PS4 version of the game has also attributed greater visuals and textures, as well as helping make the jump from a first-person perspective to a third-person, allowing “for a much more cinematic experience.”

You will have to play it multiple times to fully understand it

In Until Dawn, you will get the chance to play as each of the eight different friends who are spending the night in the log cabin, as they find themselves in a night full of terror themselves as they become hunted by a killer. According to developer Supermassive Games, Until Dawn has over 1000 different endings and each play through will last about nine hours, so multiple play throughs of the game are necessary to see and understand everything that happens. Everyone who plays it will begin in the same spot, but it can quickly spawn off into an extraordinary amount of different directions because…..

Every choice you make in the game will resonate 

Supermassive Games refers to it as “The Butterfly Effect.”  Every action you make in the game has a rippling effect that can influence the story. Based on your choices in the game – all or zero of the group of eight characters may face death by the end. The results of your choices go beyond just what decision you made, but are also based on how quickly you acted or if you chose not to make a decision at all. Whether you’re shooting a fellow member of the group or just picking up an object off of a table, the influence of each choice can and will be felt somewhere down the line.

Auto-save will stop you from changing a decision you regret

After being forced to make so many decisions, you’re bound to meet some points in the road that you aren’t happy with. Open the menu and go to quit before the previous save to go back and make the decision you want, right? Not in Until Dawn. The game features a pretty strict auto-save feature that will not allow players to go back to a point in time before a decision is made in hopes of changing their mind. Better think carefully (and sometimes quickly) prior to choosing what you want to do.

Will you be picking up Until Dawn when it hits PS4?