Supermassive Games is known for its terrifying horror games, where the choices players make directly affect the plot of the game. If players make one wrong move, it could mean the death of one or multiple characters. So far, Supermassive has two console-based horror games, Until Dawn and Man of Medan, with a Little Hope on the way.
With its new title The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope releasing at the end of the month, it’s the perfect time to revisit its previous horror titles in anticipation of the new game. Plus, it’ll give players some time to get reacquainted with those tricky QTEs (Quick Time Events.)
Until Dawn
This title was Supermassive Games’ first dive into horror, and it made quite a splash. In fact, Until Dawn is still heralded by many as one of the best horror games to date. This accolade is well-deserved, and it’s definitely worth it for players to revisit the snowy Blackwood Mountain where the game takes place. Completionist players can use the new play through as a way to collect all the previously overlooked and missed Until Dawn clues and totems. Plus, every play through has its own unique feeling because players never have to complete the game the same way. Players can hand-pick who they want to live and who they want to perish and play to have that exact outcome happen.
As far as preparing for Little Hope, this game may not offer much. This is the original introduction of QTEs and the “Don’t Move” sensory mechanic for PlayStation 4 controllers, but the follow up game Man of Medan shows a distinct departure from these mechanics. Until Dawn has great replayability for the story choices alone, so it’s a good nostalgia trip for players but won’t be as applicable to Little Hope.
Man of Medan
While it’s not a direct sequel, Little Hope is the second entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, which started with Man of Medan. This was the first of Supermassive’s horror games to have a multiplayer mode built-in for both local and network multiplayer options. While its reviews don’t quite match Until Dawn, Man of Medan is still a great game worth a replay.
Much like its predecessor, multiple play throughs can be used to see how different choices impact different characters and find undiscovered clues. Though, instead of totems foreshadowing to players what will happen, Man of Medan uses pictures in frames instead. Plus, having a small group of friends over is the perfect excuse to crack open this game and give everyone some good ol’ fashioned scary fun.
Man of Medan ditches Until Dawn’s “Don’t Move” sensor and replaces it with a heartbeat mechanic, presumably because all Dark Pictures games will be available for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles instead of being Sony exclusive. This gameplay mechanic is definitely more difficult than the previous sensor, because players must tap the heartbeat on screen exactly in unison when prompted. One wrong misstep could mean life or death for a character.
The QTEs are noticeably more difficult compared to the important choices in Until Dawn as well. Supermassive came under fire for this by fans and has said Little Hope will improve upon the QTEs found in Man of Medan. This gave fans a little hope that the QTEs will still provide some challenge to the game, but not enough to make it unbearable. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is likely to add the perfect amount of scare to any upcoming gamer gathering. That being said, it would be wise to replay Until Dawn and Man of Medan in the meantime to get reacquainted with the controls, the QTEs, and that pesky heartbeat mechanic.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope releases on October 30 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.