Until Dawn came along with her big mouth!

I play too much League of Legends, so I barely find time to play any other games which I can then go on to discuss with you. But an unusual thing happened lately, I started to feel that I had played TOO MUCH LoL! *Gasp* So I am going to take advantage of that and start a new game.

Hayden Panettiere is in this.

I chose Until Dawn, a survival horror by theme, but less Silent Hill and more Heavy Rain by style. I didn't know this (I hadn't read anything about it) and that possibly affected my judgement of the first two hours. I'm about 2 1/2 hours in and so I may have to come back to this when I am done and do a 'part 2', as I may be wrong about it!

*SPOILERS?* 

I'm not going to discuss specific story points, but I am going to discuss the form of the game.

I started playing Until Dawn with the lights off, it's one of those games; horror, scares, atmosphere, tension, right? The set up is more like a TV drama though, with a cast of main characters and an HBO opening sequence. The structure splits the game into 'scenes' where the different characters do their own thing and then reconvene, and after about an hour or so you get a 'Previously on Until Dawn' section, which recaps the story so far. I found this to be the singularly most annoying thing about the game. I had only played for an hour, did the developers REALLY think that I would have forgotten what had happened already? It wasn't like I had last played a week ago, I had JUST done it!

How do I make Mike into the biggest douchebag?

The cast seems to be made up of teenagers (though some are questionably in their 30's) and you get to play as each character from time to time. They have individual personalities and complex relationships with each other, which you can nurture or hang out to dry through your actions. (I have only just realised this, so now I am going to be angling for some Dragon Age style same gender relationships or something). Most of the characters are annoying dimwits though, so most of my decisions (see below) were based on that. It's set in a huge isolated ski lodge with NO PARENTS and the biggest bath you have ever seen, so it is time to 'party like porn stars'. Oh and to remember what happened here exactly a year ago when two of our friends went missing. Bummer. Conveniently we are all back together and there is no phone signal. Let's hope we all stay safe this time!

The first time the gang got together, such fun!

You really don't 'play' much of this game. There is a lot of pressing buttons when you are prompted. This gets mighty tedious, pretty quick, and the game is possibly too hand-holdy. If you enjoy opening drawers (who doesn't!?!?!) then you will love this game. Like many games with an explore element you have to find clues. You spot the shining white dot that signifies something to investigate, walk over, an X appears on the screen (yes I get it- dur) and once pressed your character will position themselves to open/pick up whatever you have found. But you have to press another button to do this. These characters are so dumb they can't do anything for themselves. 'You want me to look in this drawer? Sure, I'll just bend down and place my hand nearby. Let me know when you are ready for me to ACTUALLY open this drawer.' I press R2. 'Okily-dokily, let's open the drawer!' Maybe not so dumb that they can't open the drawer, but so dumb that they are not trusted to open the drawer without supervision.

Heroic, obviously!

Sometimes you have a time limit in which to press the correct button which does add a bit more energy and engagement to the game. I have never quite learned which side square and circle are on, much like I have never really mastered left and right, so there were some panicky moments when I scrabbled to press the right one (remember I was playing in the dark). When you wait so long for something to do which isn't just walking or opening drawers, these quick time events (QTEs) are sweet relief, but annoying when your hands and brain are out of practice and you fuck it up. When I finally got to shoot something I was all in a tizz because the controller wasn't inverted (my preferred style) and there is no option to do this. But when I realised that this isn't a shooting game, but is actually a 'point your reticle at a shape on the screen and click a button game' then that made all the difference and I could relax.

I can't wait for the sex QTEs though. They have been so tantalisingly promised but have so far not materialised. We just walked/ran in sheer terror really freaking far to a remote cabin and now I have to light a fire before I get some. I'm guessing that I will have to press some buttons to do that. FML. The one opportunity I had so far to kiss someone I chose not to because the guy was a dick.

I think they wanted to call it 'The Butterfly Effect'.

Along the way you are making decisions that affect the game- the butterfly effect (as we are reminded over and over through dialogue, imagery, game mechanics etc.) is very much a whoop-ass force here so you have to think about how you respond. Or not, it's my first playthrough so I don't really care about which ending I get. Sometimes the choices are too binary though, you only get two and they don't always cover exactly how you would like to respond, like telling Emily how incredibly loathsome she is.

So do I like this game? I decided I'd played enough for one session and wanted to turn it off, but in the same way that I would accidentally get drawn into the OC or One Tree Hill (despite it being overly dramatic drivel) I found myself wanting to watch a little bit more. Wait did I type 'watch'?

There are some good dramatic scenes (I would usually write set pieces, but interactivity is so low that they don't even count as that), the consequences storyline is an interesting one, there are some scares that genuinely made me jump, the voice acting is mostly very good and against all odds it has me hooked and I do want to finish it at least once. Women are subtly sexy and sexual without wearing next to nothing- because why would you wear any less? It's got to be pretty freezing up that mountain. Puffer jackets and body warmers, yes please.

I had a dream about that magnificent bath last night, so that clearly stuck with me.