TheUntil Dawnremake being built on a new engine (Unreal Engine 5 as opposed to 2015’s Decima) did a lot of good for the game’s graphics. You can watch the sun set on Blackwood Mountain in pixel-perfect clarity, and shadows and lighting effects have all been vastly improved to create a more immersive playing experience.
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When it came to remaking Until Dawn, Ballistic Moon wasn’t looking to change a game that wasn’t broken, but there are striking differences.
Of course, perhaps the biggest visual changes are the improvements made to the game’s character models. While they are still motion captured by the same cast of actors (and thus, nice to look at), facial expressions have been improved, bringing out the little details unique to each character. To put it in simple terms, many of the characters in Until Dawn have seen a major glow-up.
8Ashley ‘Ash’ Brown
While Ash received the same treatment as a lot of other characters on this list, her improvements were the least noticeable, at least for this author. She still looks -well, the same- although she looks more realistic thanks to the new engine and better lighting and shadows.
What’s been most improved on here is something you’ll see mentioned with many of the other characters on the list: She’s a lot more expressive. Ashley spends a great deal of the game’s events nervous, even terrified, and now you may practically watch as that fear consumes her. She actually looks like she’s on edge, rather than just sad, and the blood and bruises she endures (depending on your playthrough) are also more realistic and prominent.
7Sam Giddings
Let’s face it. It mightactuallybe impossible forHayden Panettiere, who motion captures Samin Until Dawn, to look bad. She was gorgeous in the original 2015 version of the game, and she’s gorgeous in the 2024 version of the game. The improvements here are in the little details on her face - there’s better shadows, which makes her look all the more real - and like many other characters on this list, her hair actually looks less like its coming out of a video game and more like its coming out of a real-life movie.
This author also noticed how captivating her eyes are now - not only the color, which has been emphasized more in her 2024 model, but the way her eyes can now convey sadness, worry and even fear. Again, it now feelsa lotmore like watching a movie than just playing a video game.
6Jessica ‘Jess’ Riley
Jess looks a lot more like her motion capture actress Meaghan Martin in the remake as opposed to in 2015. She’s always been cute, but now, her face is a much closer likeliness, and her hair looks full of volume. Even her braids look intricately detailed, as if she just happened to finish up a TikTok tutorial on braiding her hair before heading up to the mountain.
Where Jess really benefits from these new graphics, however, is her time in the mines after she’s dragged down into them. She looks so much different from the confident, carefree girl we see in the beginning of the game - dirty and tattered, with visible blood and bruises everywhere, and she justlooksso visibly terrified that it feels like we’re watching a scene from a horror movie.
5Josh Washington
Josh Washington looks a lot more mature in the 2024 game as compared to 2015. It’s in his eyes and the creases in his forehead, and the way his 2024 model smiles without that smile quite meeting his eyes is something that you typically don’tseevery often in video games. His hair has been improved, too, and is noticeably more realistic looking than the hairstyle he rocked back in 2015.
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You may recognize a few of the faces thanks to the game’s use of motion capture with a team of talented actors.
Oh, and let’s not forget to mention those dark circles under his eyes. It’s a nice touch, and while they were somewhat visible on his 2015 model, making them more prominent with his 2024 model was a good idea to convey the likelihood that he probably wasn’t getting a whole lot of sleep in the weeks leading up to the events in Until Dawn. (Planning a reunion of such “epic” proportions doesn’t come easy, after all.)
4Emily Davis
There’s something to be said about Emily’s ice queen exterior, and her unbothered stare when it comes to people getting on her nerves or picking a fight with Jessica in the lodge. She’s somehow even more gorgeous, and her icy stare even more piercing with the graphical updates to her 2024 model. Even her fur coat looks significantly better, and the birthmark above her eyebrow looks more realistic.
What’s most impressive here, however, is that she’s far more expressive now, and reacts appropriately to fearful and high-stress situations. Comparatively, in 2015’s Until Dawn, there are several moments where Emily’s expression remains so unchanged that it almost takes you out of the fact that she’s going through such high-stress situations.
3Christopher ‘Chris’ Hartley
Chris didn’t leave too much of an impact on this author in the 2015 version of Until Dawn - he was just kind ofthere. That changed during a playthrough of the 2024 remake. From the first time Chris is introduced, he just looks better. You can see it right away: His face has more structure, making him look a lot more mature, and the scruff above his lips and along his jawline looks more realistic.
He’s also significantly more expressive. you’re able to see the pure distress he has, for example, when he has to pick between Josh and Ashley for the psycho’s trap, or when he’s forced to play a game of Russian Roulette. Meanwhile, in the 2015 version of the game, his expression only suggests he’sslightly botheredby it all.
2Michael ‘Mike’ Munroe
Ah, our dear class president Michael Munroe. This is a similar case to Sam, in that we’re not sure if it’s even possible to make Brett Dalton look bad, but as we learn in the remake, itispossible to make him look like he’s been to hell and back. The improvements are noticeable here from the start - his face and expressions are more lively, and his scruff looks as real as can be, as opposed to just kind ofsitting thereon his face.
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Most improved here is the way that we can see every detail in how much he goes through. We can see every cut, scrape and bruise on his face; every speck of dirt; and even every bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. The details become more pronounced as the night drags on, too, which is fitting, consideringeverything that Mike has to endure during the events of Until Dawn.
1Matthew ‘Matt’ Taylor
The character with quite possibly the biggest glow-up is also one of the most under-appreciated. Matt Taylor, Emily’s boyfriend who tries to keep every situation he finds himself in as calm as possible, now has little details that make his face truly light up: The arch of his brows, the warmth of his eyes and just how expressive he is when happy or afraid.
Most impressively, however, is the improvements made to his hair, which now looks more like a fully developed ‘fro than his 2015 counterpart. Volume added to his hair with enhanced lighting makes his hair look all the more realistic. In fact, Matt Taylor looks a lot more like Jordan Fisher now than Matt Taylor ever has.
Jordan Fisher motion captured Matt for Until Dawn in 2015, and his model was improved for the 2024 version of the game.
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