Skip to main content

Until Dawn remake gets official release date, pads out PS5’s fall lineup

Until Dawn - Comparison Trailer | PS5 & PC Games

October 2024 is shaping up to me an absolutely packed month for horror games. On Wednesday, PlayStation announced that the Until Dawn remake is set to launch on October 4 for PlayStation 5 and PC.

To celebrate, PlayStation and remaster studio Ballistic Moon also released a video that compares the old footage to the new. The game has been rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, giving a huge boost to visuals, from the characters to the backgrounds. It also now features ray tracing, so the lighting looks more realistic and dynamic, along with new simulation techniques to create “more realistic real-time fluids.” Look, this is a slasher horror game, there’s going to be a lot of blood.

However, Until Dawn didn’t just get a visual upgrade. Ballistic Moon creative director Neil McEwan reveals in a PlayStation blog post that the studio made a couple tweaks to the narrative, specifically in the prologue. The team added more context for the original prank that ended in tragedy one year before the events of the game and more detail behind the Washington family.

A big part of Until Dawn are the totems that you can collect that give you visions of possible outcomes. People who played the original will find them in new locations, along with a new type: the Hunger totem.

Finally, there are new accessibility settings. Until Dawn has a lot of quicktime events, including some called Don’t Move that require you to, you know, not move. Even the slightest twitch of the controller can ruin it. Now, Until Dawn will have a Stay Calm option for controllers that don’t have a gyroscope or people who need something a bit different.

The Until Dawn remake was announced at Sony’s January State of Play. The original was released as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2015, and starred Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, Peter Stormare, and others. It cemented developer Supermassive Games’ interactive story style, which it utilized for its The Dark Pictures Anthology and The Quarry. Currently, the studio is working on The Casting of Frank Stone with Behaviour Interactive and Little Nightmares 3. An Until Dawn movie is also in the works.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
PS5 slim vs. PS5: everything you need to know about the new PS5 model
The slimmer PS5 console laying on its side.

Sony consoles have always gotten multiple versions and editions ever since the original PlayStation 1. As technology becomes cheaper and more advanced, refreshed models that are both smaller and less expensive to produce typically come out a couple of years into a console's life cycle, and we have now hit that point for the PS5. The PS5 slim, as it is being referred to, is a smaller version of the launch models, and will eventually become the standard unit available to consumers once the stock of existing PS5s runs out. However, is this version worth getting if you're an existing owner, or is it only for new purchasers? There's also the question about which of the two versions to buy. To answer all these questions, let's compare the PS5 slim to the OG PS5.
Specs

Let's start with the most important part, which is whether or not there's more power under the hood of the PS5 slim compared to the launch models. No, the PS5 slim is not in any way more powerful than an existing PS5. This is not a PS5 Pro, which is currently just a rumor. Games will not look, run, or play any better or worse on either version. The only difference in terms of specs is that the slim versions have slightly more storage space at 1 TB compared to 825GB, which is just a small 175GB upgrade. There's nothing here that makes it worth buying a new system when you can expand the storage of your console yourself.
Size
Obviously, a slim model would mean that this new version would be smaller than the frankly comically large launch version. While that's true, it isn't a huge reduction in size. The PS5 Slim disc version weighs 3.2 kilograms (18% less that the original PS5) while the discless version weighs 2.6kg (24% less), and both are 30% smaller by volume.
Versions
Once again, you will have the option to choose between an all-digital and standard version of the PS5 Slim. However, unlike the original discless PS5, the new version will give you the option to add a disc drive later on if you purchase a separate detachable drive.
Price
The current PS5 models are priced at $400 and $500 for the digital and standard versions, respectively. While the PS5 slim standard version that includes the disc drive will remain at $500, the discless version will get a price increase to $450. This price increase had already been seen in other territories outside the U.S., but will now be introduced here once these new versions launch. It is also worth mentioning that the detachable disc drive you can get to upgrade your discless version will cost $80, meaning you would spend more to buy the digital version and add the drive than you would by simply buying the version with the drive already included.

Read more
New PS5 models are getting their own console covers, but old ones aren’t compatible
A PS5 consxole is opened up, showing its removable hard drive.

The newly redesigned PlayStation 5 is getting its own set of console covers sometime next year. Sony confirms to Digital Trends that several faceplate colors are slated to launch in 2024 but covers for the old PS5 models will not be compatible with the new systems.

One of the PS5's most unique features is its removable faceplates, which allow players to customize their console with new colors and designs. The new PS5 models will evolve that idea with a four-cover panel design that gives the system a slightly different look. Sony is already planning to make those customizable in the near future, according to a statement sent to Digital Trends.

Read more
Take a closer look at Sony’s special-edition Spider-Man 2 PS5
The Spider-Man special edition PS5 and controller stand on a table.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is just over a month away, but Sony is already celebrating its launch. You can now get your hands on a special-edition PlayStation 5 based on the upcoming game. If you're curious about whether or not it's worth the price, we got a close look at the new bundle.

Sony's special package costs $600 and includes a standard PS5 and all the components that usually come with it. However, it comes packed with three specific extras that make it an enticing value: custom faceplates, a digital voucher for the upcoming game, and a nifty DualSense controller.

Read more