From Dusk till I Got Bored

Until Dawn started slowly, but promisingly; the game is basically a teenager-slaying horror film in videogame form. Occasionally cheesy, occasionally jump-scary, and occasionally ominous, Until Dawn excels at building a creepy, anxious atmosphere. In this game, you actually get to tell the bitchy cheerleader whether or not she should open the door to investigate a noise outside. (She may do it anyway, but it's still pretty immersive.)

It is at times a master class in tension building -- when a lighthearted snowball fight is bookended by carefully exploring dark passages or running from a wild animal, Until Dawn does a fantastic job of raising your heart rate, cooling it back down, and jacking it up again.

And then there are the psychoanalysis scenes. Inbetween game chapters, Peter Stormare asks you to look at ink blots and tries to very obviously manipulate you into feeling uneasy. From reading ahead about the game, I know that his character makes more sense later on, but it still feels like an unnecessary interruption to the story.

What brings Until Dawn down the most, though, is the realization that, while it does a great job of emulating a teen thriller movie -- there isn't much more to it. The characters, the setting, and story beats all draw from well-established stereotypes of slasher films. It's predictable.

The game produces a commendable amount of anxiety in spite of this, ... but in the cold light of day, it just isn't all that interesting. And so even though I know I've got plenty of story left, I'm just not that motivated to come back and see it through.