I've long been a fan of the horror survival genre of games, going all the way back to my middle school days when my best friend and I would stay up all night to try and beat the newest "Silent Hill" game in one sitting. I guess I enjoy being placed in terrible and frightening situations. Projecting myself into video games is a safer way of getting a near-death thrill without facing any real danger. There's no comparison for the feeling of a heart-pounding, tense moment in a horror game like "Outlast." It's that special connection you make when you allow yourself to be lost in the story on screen, when your heart skips a beat because your character dies—or nearly dies, when you see something so gruesome your stomach turns a little, and the relief of coming back into reality.
Enter "Dead by Daylight" by Behaviour Interactive and Starbreeze Studio. This game takes the asymmetric structure of "Evolve" and puts it into a meat grinder with the unsettling tone of "Until Dawn." In "Dead by Daylight," four players take on the role of helpless teenagers trying to escape the clutches of a madman who wants to use the teens in a sacrificial ceremony. The killer is controlled by a fifth player, giving the killer a level of intelligence that AI just can't compete with. Unbalanced teams is just one of the many features that places this game on my "must-play" list.
The four teens view the world in a third-person perspective as they try to start three of five generators on the map and make their escape. This allows them to look around corners and over short obstacles when crouching. If they are careful, they won't be spotted by the killer, who views the world from a first-person perspective. This vision advantage helps the players to view important objects around them as well as give the player a better idea of how well they are hidden.
Though the killer has a disadvantage in perspective, he has a major advantage in the visual cues that are given throughout the game. When any of the four teens are attempting to repair or start a generator, the killer sees on the screen exactly which one he should investigate. Likewise, anytime a player performs an action too loudly, like knocking over a stack of pallets, a directional indicator appears to guide the killer.
Sounds are on the other end of the spectrum for the teenagers. Not only are they a hindrance to the success of their "team," but they contribute to the atmosphere of the player's experience. When the killer is near, players will hear their character's heartbeat. When the killer draws nearer, the heartbeat gets louder and faster, sometimes causing the player to panic and make life-ending mistakes.
Though the ability to ignore the racing heartbeat of your player and using the environment to hide may seem like a solid strategy, allowing the killer to get too close is a risky bet on your life. The killer is slightly faster than the teens, and if he's on your tail, running like hell won't be enough to get away.
Luckily, throughout this decrepit compound in the woods, there are a few things scattered around that can be used to the teens' advantage. Closets, grass, trees, and walls serve as vision blockers and provide a temporary place to catch your breath, and an inventory system can be used to aid in players' escape from the killer.
Exploring the map carefully and opening chests, players find items that can be used to help survive. If a player is able to escape the map with one of these items, they will be able to "bank" them and use them in a later game. in a video put out by the developers at Behaviour Interactive, a med kit, flashlight and toolbox were seen as bankable items. the empty slots on the screen suggest that there are at least 12 items in all, as well as a "perks" and an "offerings" menu that were not detailed.
The best tool in a player's possession, however, is a cool head. According to Creative Director Ash Pannell, "The most important thing about being a survivor is staying calm. If you panic, which the game demands you to do all the time, you're going to move and your movement is going to give you away to a killer."
But the killer has tools of his own. The developers have highlighted a killer that uses bear traps to catch players on the run. They have also hinted at a specter-like killer that can walk through walls, while another video teases a killer that can become nearly invisible. these abilities, when the teenagers don't know exactly what they are up against, will prove to create many one-of-a-kind scares.
With the possibility of looking back and seeing a killer that wasn't there before, paired with the constant fear of getting caught trying to escape, and having to choose between saving a friend or looking out for number one, "Dead by Daylight" promises to be one of the most refreshing takes on the survival horror genre When it releases on Steam on June, 14 this year.
If you have questions or comments, want to discuss hypothetical situations, or talk about your favorite horror games, send me a message. I love talking games.
