BY JOHN CARTER JR
Dead By Daylight is a highly popularized online multiplayer game. The game features a killer versus survivor model, in which one killer hunts down multiple survivors who are attempting to escape. This game takes its roots in traditional slasher films. This goes as far as having downloadable content containing licensed characters from some of the most popular horror franchises as well as characters that are original to Dead By Daylight. Some of the most popularized licensed characters include Michael Myers, Leatherface, Ash Williams, Laurie Strode, Freddy Krueger, and Ghostface to name a few. Many other characters to choose from and these various characters allow for a dynamic and enthralling gameplay experience.
The constantly chasing gameplay allows for this game to feel like every scenario is taken directly from a slasher film. The environments or maps built for these killer/survivor game give this game a nuanced aesthetic when compared to something along the lines of Friday the 13th: The Game. These environments are what really sells the believability and intrigue of Dead by Daylight. These environments, along with the famous horror faces that are included in this game make for an exciting, fun, and nostalgic experience. The designs of the killers in this game show true dedication to the source material in which the characters are pulled from. All these factors at play allow for a scary and exciting ambiance.
Let’s discuss some of the exciting additions for the upcoming year that have been announced recently. Firstly, something that definitely needs to happen is a massive overhaul to Freddy Krueger’s character. It is known among the Dead By Daylight community that Freddy Krueger is very low on the tier list, making him nearly unplayable to most players because of his skill set. This is something that has been long requested and is definitely going to be exciting to see and how it will affect the tier list. There are many times where a patch or update will come out to a game and a character in the game is supposed to get a “buff”, but the “buff” does nothing for the character. So it will be interesting to see whether or not these “buffs” will do a drastic change to the character or if it will be more of a simple adjustment. It will also be interesting to see if this affects the frequency of use in more competitive play for these characters. Developers also announced that many maps that were previously in the game will be getting reworks, or redesigns, to help improve gameplay.
Another announcement for this game was that there would be four chapter DLC releases. The first of which being released in June – the long-awaited Ghostface character. Usually chapters include both a killer and survivor character along with a potential map. It has not been announced yet whether or not Ghostface will be accompanied by a survivor or a map. It is confusing however to see whether or not the rights to other characters and locations, related to the Ghostface character, have been acquired. The reason this is confusing is due to the fact that the rights to Ghostface are through the costume company who originally made the character. These aforementioned characters and locations are in reference to the Scream franchise. Not seeing Ghostface appear alongside Sidney Prescott for example and maybe a Woodsboro map may be very disappointing to fans.
I gave Dead By Daylight and 7 out of 10 for good game play but for needing a definite improvement in certain areas, and I am hopeful for the future of the game.