Do you like horror games but hate the game being prominently jump scares with lack of story or character development? Me too. Horror games are amazing genres, but it is hard to find a specific kind of horror game because there are so many subtypes that it makes it hard to find the perfect game to play. My recommendation is The Dark Pictures Anthology series. These series are multiple interactive horror games developed by Supermassive Games for PS4, PC and Xbox, though Until Dawn was made PS4 only. In their series there are so far two out of eight games that have been released or been announced (not included Until Dawn the original game). Man of Medan is the first of eight planned installments in The Dark Pictures Anthology series and Little Hope is the recently announced upcoming game.
Until Dawn is the first game released. The story takes place at a friend’s house named Josh on the anniversary of the disappearance of Josh’s sisters. He gathers all his friends over to hope to recreate a spark they all had but then things get messy and dangerous fast. The setting is set on a snowy mountain with no hope of help until dawn 😉.
Man of Medan takes place on a boat where friends all go to get out and have fun scuba diving and just have fun until they are all kidnapped by pirates and taken to an abandoned ship known as the Ourang Medan. The huge ship is said to contain gold, but you learn very early on you can’t trust anyone, not even yourself. Here is the link to watch Man of Medan trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQvo4-Ly-sA
Little Hope is the second game in the series is called “Little Hope” and it comes out October 30th, 2020. According to the trailer the game seems to link school kids with the salem witch trails. Here is the link to watch the trailer for Little Hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WEDMulICUA
(Option Until Dawn)
In each game you play as five different characters with the goal of surviving. You may be wondering how you can play as five characters but that’s what makes it interesting. The game is played with chapters like a book. Each chapter has its own character dedicated to it, so you only play as one character every chapter. The chapter is set approximately 20 minutes but what you do may shorten the chapter. If you kill a character off or could not keep them alive then they are no longer in the game and you will skip all the chapters that had that character, or some chapters will have you play as a different character than it was supposed to be. Throughout the games you are faced with challenges and choices that require quick thinking and quick button control. Each choice you get has a set timer of ten seconds and if you do not choose a choice you do neither or the game decides for you. The choices range from choosing a direction, choosing a word dialog to say to other characters, and choosing to do an action or not. For example, you can go left or right, choose to tell the truth but it be mean or lie and it be nice (or say nothing if you don’t pick an option or the time runs out) or you can choose to shoot a bird or do nothing and let the bird live. These are all examples of what could happen but in the actual games it is a more complex story mode and hard options that makes you hope you make the right choice. Along with these choices, anything you do to your character stays. If early on you cut your characters leg, that wound is seen on their body the entire game and may cause them to limp or it may get infected if not treated.
(Character in Until Dawn’s Personalities and Relationships)
(Character in Man of Medan’s Personalities and Relationships)
The choices you make also change the character relationships with each other that can change who they act around each other. The choices that are show let you make decisions based on the characters “head” or “heart “letting you choose the kind choice or the rational choice.
(Character in Man of Medan Decision)
If you pick a side with one character, then that character will like you more but the one you are disagreeing with might start to dislike you. These are important in the games for keeping allies and keeping everyone alive. But the choices aren’t as easy as lies or don’t lies. You are forced to make decisions that will hurt someone either way, but you must level out which way will be the best of the two. This puts you in uncomfortable positions and you wish you could have another way. The personalities of the character will also change with each action. Your character may be a kind and lighthearted friend, but a simple choice may turn them sour and hurt. You can see your level and status with your characters and friends on a paused screen.
The games are set with beautiful, yet eerie soundtracks composed by Jason Graves. These go perfectly along with enchanting and eerie designs and graphics. Each room or place you go to in the game is matched very well with how it is expected to look and how it sounds with the background music. The sound design is also perfect with the sound of footprints or if you bump into walls. In the very first game developed Until Dawn, there are scenes where you are outside in the snow and each step has sound and leaves a print no matter where you go, and it stays. The realism that it tries to incorporate into its games is incredible. You are given full control of exploring your environment and are encouraged to go looking into every room and go through every door, but you must be careful and must decide whether or not going to a certain area is the safest option. An amazing may that they try to connect the games are with the “theme” song. The intro song it each game is O’ Death by Ralph Stanley but each song is a cover. In Until Dawn the artist is Amy Van Roekel and in Man of Medan the artist is Khemmis. Even though they are the same song, each uses a different genre when singing it. Roekel sings the song in a calming and melodic sound while Khemmis uses a rock ‘n’ roll sound. I am excited to see what they will use in Little Hope and whether it will be the same song and what genre it will be.
Each game is so different yet is similar to intro music. Notably though, both games incorporate aspects that are put into the game that truly make them game unique. These are premonitions, secrets, and butterfly effects. These are also visible on the pause screen for easy access to see what choice may eb the best.
(Until Dawn Premonitions)
(Man of Medan Premonitions)
Premonition is shown throughout each game that can come in the form of totems (used in Until Dawn) or Paintings (used in Man of Medan). Premonitions show possible situations that can occur throughout the game but are not guaranteed to happen. These are shown as cut scenes like a small movie that lasts for 30 seconds that show you what can happen later in the games. There are different types of premonitions you can find. In Until there are White- fortune, Yellow- guidance, Brown- loss, Red- danger, and Black- death. But in Man of Medan there are only three types: Whites- how to avoid bad decisions, Black- death, and Gold which gives use a premonition for the game Little Hope as an easter egg. This shows how the developers are still trying to use the premotion but makes it easier for the gamer to understand by making it good or bad premotion and not random ones that may have no impact on the story. In the Man of Medan each painting you find can give you a chance to see what to do to make the right choice to survive.
Secrets are used in games as little clues or objects hidden around such as documents, dolls, letters, photographs and more. These give the players an insight into the story and help the characters progress as well. In each story you are trying to escape and live, but you can also look for these clues to figure out why the problem is happening, and it may help you live. I love going through the game looking for secrets and using them to connect my own thoughts on why what is happening is happening and how I am use the secrets to help my characters. An example could be that I look at a document and it shows the purchase of a fog machine. Now this may seem insignificant but then later in the game if there is a lot of fog and ghost going on, me and my character may start to wonder how much of it is actually true. The character will bring up the findings to the group and it will help each character understand and put together the mysteries.
(Butterfly Effects Until Dawn)
My favorite part of the game series is the choices, and something known as the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is the idea that insignificant things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. “A tiny butterfly flapping its wings today may lead to a devastating hurricane week from now.” That quote is taken from Until Dawn and how they describe the effect. Of course, none of that would happen because of a butterfly but the butterfly could have set off on a chain reaction that led to the hurricane. In the game every move, choice and words said all have an outcome. You must remember this when making any decision such as if you lie to the person will they figure it out and it hurt you in the end? If you do not pick up that flashlight will it matter? If you pick up the oxygen tank will it just slow you down? All of these are things you must remember and think about when making any decision and it makes the game much more fun. At the end or when you make a choice it shows up as the butterfly effect and it shows how all your choices lead to a situation or cause. An example on what an effect would be is like, “Teressa was asked to give Sam a screwdriver. Teressa did not pick up a screwdriver when in the house. Teressa was attacked by a dog with rabies. Teressa dies.” This exact example does not happen in the games, but this is a potential scenario of what a simple effect may look like. Such small tasks as picking up an object or being nice to someone may save your life.
(Multiplayer Screen in Man of Medan).
Some other fun parts about the newer games (Man of Medan and Little Hope) are that they are multiplayers and have different modes to play as with your friends. The games are first meant to be played alone so that you can get a deep connection to each character and you can figure out the game son you won but if you want to play with friends after or even at first then you can use these modes. One mode is called “Movie Night” where you can have up to five friends who each pick a character they want to be and when the story switches chapters you pass the controller to the persons who characters comes up and you watch them play their chapter. This mode is good for anyone who gets scared easily o prefers to have an exciting game to play at game night. There is another mode that is called “Shared Story Mode” which acts like a two-player co-op game. The way this works is that you and a friend pick characters that you want to play as then while you are playing you see your perspective while your friend is experiencing something else at the same time. When you make a decision, it shows your friends that a decision has been made and you both need to figure out the consequences that may happen with each other’s choices.
You can order Until Dawn for PS4 and order Man of Medan and Little hope for PS4, PC, and Xbox. This game is perfect for any gamer who loves quick actions but also thoughtful storytelling and interesting characters that you like or a horror addict who loves a good scare when gaming with a spooky atmosphere and stunning visual design. Who will you save? Who will die? And can you save them all?
