Watching another war of exclusives is like judging women's football in the third division (if there is such a thing). Already the third year will soon go, and there is no epic confrontation, such as, say, Gears of War vs. Uncharted, and not even close. All sequels, indies or not-so-impressive new IPs like The Order: 1886.

Somewhere in the same row of "optional" exclusives, Sony kept Until Dawn. The game did not get a wide advertising campaign, no one released special "bundles" and does not brag about the number of copies shipped or sold. And in vain, because what I hoped for after the first press show was confirmed: the new Heavy Rain has come to us . To be honest, sometimes Until Dawn beats any David Cage game, and that's the system-seller that PlayStation needs today.

From the very beginning, I find myself in a very difficult situation: I need to talk about a game that is really not allowed to be discussed. It is all woven from surprises, it is pleasant to reveal them as you progress through (and obligatory replay). I can’t even fully reveal the plot, because already at the tenth minute a small plot twist awaits - and even the wonderful opening credits won’t start there.

Let's limit ourselves to the fact that eight young people are isolated along with a maniac killer in a mansion on top of a mountain. In the next seven hours, the player will have to watch an interactive movie, stylistically parodying everything in general: from Saw and Halloween to Pet Cemetery. Until Dawn does not just perform in the style of youth horror - it is a real "tribute" to the genre, which is now almost ousted from the screens. Therefore, the game is not shy about verbatim quotes and clichés.

There is not much gameplay here: the character enters a more or less spacious location (for example, the basement of a mansion) and must wander around it, performing a primitive task. In most cases, just walking from one end of the corridor to the other is enough to run into a cut-scene. 

This is the fundamental difference from the same Heavy Rain. There, the development of events has two “logics”: the player successfully copes with pressing the buttons or fails. The variability of the passage is created due to the fact that you and your characters do not always get what they want.
"Until Dawn" takes a different approach: in the most microscopic situation, the developers are trying to offer the player to make a decision. Often, it's not how well you dodge obstacles while running that matters. The important thing is to hide under the bed or run to the next room. Kiss your girlfriend or throw a snowball at her? Shoot the bag or the squirrel? The levels are littered with dozens of small and large questions, and an item randomly rearranged in the second chapter will play its part in the sixth.

Therefore, one should not think that every spilled glass of water leads to an alternative ending. The consequences of the choice are varied in scope: without having any effect on the global plot at all, they can change the scene. Or dialogue. Or change nothing at all: what difference does it make who wins a snowball duel? We've even seen this with Telltale , but Until Dawn finds interesting uses for small forks.

At the very beginning, the game suggests the types that the characters should follow: "smart", "self-confident", "serious". You can’t completely get rid of these traits, but the choice in the dialogues gives a huge space for acting out. In the pause menu there are indicators of personal qualities ("good" / "evil") and pointers placed by the authors: "In our opinion, everything should be like this." But this is not even a recommendation for the player - it's just a suggestion.

Heroes can behave in exactly the opposite way, going beyond stupid stereotypes and becoming more interesting and deep people. After passing, you will share with your friends not only plot twists, but also things like: “My Mike was a narcissistic bastard, so it’s not a pity. “No, on the contrary, I got a tragic story about self-sacrifice.”

However, no special “Dostoevism” can be achieved in any case. There is bound to be a character you like more or less, but don't expect serious dramatic depth. Who cares when it depends only on your conscious choice whether the heroes will hate each other and yell or try to escape by working as a team?

During a press preview at 2 player games unblocked a year ago, the developers started the demo with a little poll: “Which do you like more, suspense or jump scares? Blood or horror? Are you afraid of the dark? Enthusiastic journalists (including me) rushed to the developers with clarifications: how will this work in the game? The embarrassed authors replied: “You misunderstood us, the questions did not affect the demo shown in any way. It's just a way to teach you how to manage. But everyone liked the idea so much that we will try to include it in the game.” And turned on! The danger of spoilers here is catastrophic, so I'll just mention that the psychologist is the best thing in the game in general. Only for him it would be worth giving "amazing".

For all the ramifications, the script holds a very high bar. Heroes rarely allow themselves stupid or inconsistent behavior, almost always act more or less explainably, and individual phrases do not get out of the general tone. Although funny flaws sometimes happen, they do not spoil the overall picture.

In general, it will not be possible to change the course of events, and history will come to some kind of meaningful finale in any case. The number of details and nuances is directly proportional to the survival of your heroes: the faster they "finish the game", the less information they will bring to the overall investigation. To die, as well as to survive, absolutely everyone can. And, by the way, another question is which version of the development of events is “more canonical”.

Even though you can't avoid major twists and turns, it's hard to figure out the details of the story. The levels are filled with all sorts of pieces of paper, photographs, documents and more. All of this is collected into extensive diaries, accessible from the main menu, and tells the part of the story that is not in the cut-scenes. In fact, when you skim through the levels, you may miss out on a few fundamental story nuances. Which sometimes makes me shudder.

It's easy to miss an important item - the game uses a non-trivial control scheme inherited from PS Move, for which it was originally developed. The body and flashlight of the protagonist are controlled asynchronously, by default, the left and right sticks. Thus, it is not enough to approach the desired object - you need to highlight a dark corner. It is much more interesting to do this with a DualShock gyroscope, so I would recommend choosing this particular control option. Moreover, then the shooting episodes are noticeably more fun: you will have to aim like in arcade machines, moving the sight not with sticks, but by tilting the controller. Unusual and want more.

Until Dawn is almost impossible to claim, because it does not claim anything at all. David Cage touts every step of the development of his new game, showing off guest Hollywood stars and his philosophical approach to history. And the result is Beyond: Two Souls.

Here it's the other way around: you're expecting a regular slasher movie with some variation, plus you get some room to act out, a story with twists and a second bottom, amazing graphics, powerful replay value (I've mastered the story from start to finish three times), and an absolutely brilliant psychologist as a bonus. You can find flaws in this game, but, the right word, you don’t want to.

Pluses: variability; space for wagering; convenient mechanisms for tracking forks and characters; great graphics.
Cons: with a certain chain of choices, the logic fails in several episodes.