Is Until Dawn Remake worth buying?

When it was first launched in 2015, Until dawn from Supermassive Games was a breath of fresh air. It gave us this exciting and interesting, if a little cliche, horror story about teenagers in a mountain cabin in the woods having a really bad time. And it all worked out pretty well.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the Dark Pictures Anthology series it spawned, which is probably why we find ourselves with a remake of the original Until Dawn coming out nearly a decade later. To see if you should shell out some cash for this throwback to an old classic, here's a quick rundown of whether or not the Until Dawn remake is worth it.

Until Dawn Remake Review

First, the all important review scores. Overall, we're looking at a pretty average score that you'd expect from a remake that nobody really asked for or expected. For the usual suspects, we have IGN giving it a five out of 10. While the original version gave it a seven and a half, so a slight decline.

Game Rant also gave it a seven out of ten and Metacritic gathered an average score of 70 from about 46 critic reviews for Remake Until Dawn. Interestingly, the average user score from 223 reviews has the game at a lower 6.4 out of ten, with 46% of reviews being positive and a higher 52% being negative.

A seven out of ten is generally considered to be an industry rating of a title being “OK”. Not good, not great, but just an ok working game.

So it seems fans and critics are pretty unimpressed despite all the new content.

Speaking of new content. Aside from the big deluxe graphics overhaul, it includes things like access to an extra scene that was originally only available to those who pre-ordered the game. There are also two new endings, an epilogue with Sam, tightening up certain scenes for the better and worse in some cases, plus a new Hunger Totem that adds to the backstory.

Some areas have been expanded for exploration and there are additional items and objects to interact with as you walk around. Finally, the last important thing to note is that the camera has been moved behind the characters to give us that beautiful scary over-the-shoulder look. There are a few other small tweaks and tweaks worth discovering, but that sums up most of the big changes to the game.

At TheGamer, unfortunately, we don't have a review at the time of writing. But some of our staff, like George Foster, looked at the perception of the game from a fan perspective. The biggest problem players have, at least on PC, is that the game is poorly optimized. Which does not bode well for the supposed Until Dawn sequel that is baited in the new ending.

How long does it take to beat?

Since we're looking at a remake with minor additional content, we can safely apply the general timelines to beating the original Until Dawn, which are left to us at How Long To Beat. In summary, we're looking at about eight hours to get through the main story and about an additional nine and a half to 45 minutes to do all the extra content.

For those who want to go full completist with collecting all the totems and exploring all the nooks and crannies for other collectibles and interactables, you're looking at around 19 hours. As before, with all the minor new stuff added, including the at the time hard to find through the prologue, we can round it out to around 20 to 22 hours.

All the totem positions in the game have been changed, so it may take you a little longer than in the original game to find them all.

How much does it cost?

Now the important part, how much does the game cost. Despite launching a decade ago on last-gen consoles, the Until Dawn remake sells for next-gen prices and is a tough pill to swallow.

To go on the mountain top monster killing adventure, you're looking at around $60, or £60 if you're in the US or UK. For those in Europe there is an extra sting as it costs more, around €69 to €70. Also, sorry Aussies, it's around 109 to 110 AUD for the privilege.

Overall, the asking price isn't particularly worth it, and you'd be better off waiting for it to drop. The additions in the remake are minimal at best if you look beyond the graphical overhaul. And unless you're absolutely desperate to play the game at its finest, grab the original and blow it instead. It's easier on your bank account.

Some online retailers like Amazon have lower prices for the remake and it's definitely worth the time to shop around.

What the players are saying

To wrap things up, we took a proverbial poll to the wider community to see what they think of the Until Dawn remake and whether it's worth spending all that money or waiting until it goes on sale.

Robert Edwards

Until Dawn (2024) will redo what Evil Dead 2 was to the original Evil Dead. With improved visuals, a new audio score, and a slightly expanded scope within the narrative, Until Dawn Remake is arguably the definitive edition, but without much else to offer the veteran player of the original. For me Until Dawn was a one-and-done experience, enjoyed over a weekend of horror movies and junk food, and I just don't think the remake is a compelling enough reason to return to that cabin in forest.

So overall the consensus seems to be that the remake doesn't do anything majorly different from the original. With poor optimization and a high price, it seems like this is a game you should definitely wait for a big discount to arrive.