Entertainment

Games: Interactive horror's day has finally come

Until Dawn (PS4)

By: Sony

NINE, 10, never sleep again. With schlock-meister Wes Craven having recently taken a dirt nap, Until Dawn is a timely release, subverting slasher horror tropes in the same gleeful way he did with the Scream series.

Back in 1992 Sega used the tech du jour, full-motion video, for gaming nasty Night Trap, though the limited gameplay, porn-grade acting and fuzzy video footage failed to set pulses pounding. Only now, it seems, is the technology in place to deliver a truly interactive horror flick, which Sony has delivered in fine style with Until Dawn.

The plot is an exercise in knowing the drill as a gaggle of teens heavy with hot hormone become trapped in a remote cabin with a killer on the loose. Paying tribute to classic slasher fare, Until Dawn revels in familiarity, with plenty for fans to geek out on.

Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street through to Final Destination and the torture porn of Saw all get a cap-doff, though the game most apes Cabin in the Woods, albeit without Whedon's tremendous rug-pull.

Playing out like a choose-your-own-adventure in a similar vein to Heavy Rain and Beyond, where David Crane's auteur offerings veered into chin-stroking pretention, Until Dawn is pure popcorn fodder, as committee-shaped and populist as the fleapit bait it emulates.

Rather than screaming at the screen, you can finally opt not to go up the stairs alone, making canny decisions that can potentially save every character. Amid much hoo-ha over the game's cause-and-effect mechanics, which channel the vibe of gum enthusiast Ashton Kutcher's pretentious MTV-gen horror The Butterfly Effect, gameplay is a collection of quick-time events and moral choices, offering around 10 hours of schlock that's almost as fun to watch as it is to play.

Peter Stormare brings his simmering psycho schtick to the role of psychologist Dr Hill as, drawing on players' unique fears to build the game world. Stormare chews the virtual scenery like there's a famine, supported by an "I know that face" cast headed up by Hayden Panettiere.

It's all impressive stuff, though occasionally undone by an overreliance on jump-scares and a cast of loathsome Yank oiks that plays out like an Al Qaeda training video. Save them all or slaughter the lot? I know which one I'm gunning for, and Sony's latest gives players free rein to do just that.

A survival horror that isn't about perforating zombies makes for a welcome change of pace and Until Dawn marks a brand-new, erm, dawn for slashers. Wes can snooze soundly in his box – his spirit lives on with the genre, even if its future has a control pad dangling from its backside.