We’ve all watched a horror movie and thought, “No dummy don’t do that the killer is right there.” We like to think being put in that situation we’d make better choices. Dead by Daylight lets you put your mental acuity and nerves to the test, from the safety of your desktop. Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game. A team of four survivors is pitted against one slasher movie archetype. In the beta, it’s currently the hulking Jason like “Trapper”. He’s big, scary, and carries a machete. In addition to this, he has the ability to lay out bear traps. His only mission is to prevent the survivors from escaping.
As a survivor you struggle to escape a twisted arena while being hunted down. Freedom comes when the team activates several generators which in turn powers door hatches allowing survivors to flee their nightmare. It’s a simple premise, but satisfying cat and mouse experience. Survivors have no way to attack the killer, but are slightly more nimble them him. Chases are always frightening and perfectly capture the dread of running from an unstoppable force depicted in many horror films. If you’re lucky enough to break sight from the killer, stealth is your next best chance of survival . Running gives the killer clues to where you are because “black magic”, but if you are able to break sight and crouch down you can successfully hide yourself behind objects or in tall grass. This is a viable strategy as the killer plays in 1st person perspective whereas the survivors play in 3rd person with generous control of their camera for spotting danger. It’s a big rush so see the killer looking for you as you’re hoping he doesn’t turn around and spot you. Conversely playing the killer is fun as you chase and terrorize player all over the map. Catching players allows the killer to place them on meat hooks scattered throughout the map. Players on hooks will be killed if they stay on them for too long. Hooking players also gives the killer a chance to bait other survivors to come to him, as hooked survivors can be saved if a fellow member releases them.
My big takeaway from this game is the drama that naturally occurs in each session. If you can stay calm and collected you’ll do quiet well. The killer doesn’t see as well as you think he can and several times I’ve killed myself by freaking out and dashing from safety. I’ve also tried to lose the killer by blatantly running him into a fellow survivor. Perhaps my favorite moment occurred when I was attempting to run from the killer. I jumped through a window and fell into a pit. Since I was injured already, the fall dropped me into a prone state when I can only crawl. Desperately I tried to crawl away, only to find the killer jumped down behind me. Picking me up he attempted to find a meat hook on which to place me. At that point he stepped in his own bear trap, which didn’t harm him, but forced him to drop me while he freed himself. Using this opportunity I fled into the forest. It’s moments like these that Dead by Daylight really shine. I’ve witnessed the horror of watching a fellow teammate get hooked and felt helpless to save them as the killer patrolled the area too closely. It’s the moment to moment terror and drama generated within each session that makes Dead by Daylight a blast to play.
I’m in trouble
Currently the game is in closed beta, open only to people that buy the deluxe version of the game. The full launch of the game is June 14th for the price of $20. I would recommend this game to horror fans or anyone interested by my descriptions above. The game is currently 10% off on Steam for both normal and deluxe editions. The full version promises three total monsters, four different maps to run in terror through, and progressive character systems. Currently, Dead by Daylight looks to be my multiplayer game of the summer….if I survive the summer that is.