Death is not an Escape
Published in 2016, Dead by Daylight is a game I never really thought I would be playing, never mind 4 years after it’s intial release, but here we are!
Dead by Daylight is an asymetric multiplayer horror game, which pits four survivors against a singular killer, in a race to escape the map before the killer can sacrifice all the survivors to the mysterious Entity.
When I first saw footage of Dead by Daylight, I was not entirely impressed with it, it looked slow and unpolished, and was an easy game to not play. But several years later I discovered it all over again, and I am glad that I rediscovered this gem.
The game is set in a paralel dimension that belongs to a malicious force known only as the Entity. It survives by feeding off exreme emotions, which are evoked by the Trials, where survivors are trapped in an enclosed arena and must activate five generators to power an exit gate and escape before the Killer catches them and sacrifices them by hanging them on meat hooks found throughout the map.
As of writing there are 23 survivors and 21 killers that can be played as, with each survivor and killer having unique traits and abilities that make them unique. As you progress in the game you can teach traits to other characters, allowing you to fully customise both survivors and killers to suit your preferred playstyle. Each killer has a unique playstyle that cannot be transferred to other killers,
The survivors play in third person, and sneak around the map, avoiding the killer and repairing generators which power the exit gates through which the survivors must attempt to escape. The killer plays in first person, hunting survivors by following trails left by them, listening to the survivors breath and following bloodpools that are left when you manage to hit a survivor with your weapon.
Killers have to hit survivors to knock them down, then they pick the survivor up and place them on a meathook, which sacrifices them to the Entity. Survivors have no way to directly attack the killer, but instead can try to trip the killer up to save their fellow survivors, or distract the killer long enough for another survivor to rescure their teammate off the hook before the sacrifice is complate.
The game is tense, regardless of which team you choose to play for. Things are expectedly nervewrecking as a survivor, but the tension does not drop as a killer. Trying to keep track of all four survivors, particularly if they are communicating properly with each other, is difficult, and mind-games become a key part of succeeding as a killer.
Developers, Behaviour Interactive, have managed to keep the game fresh by frequent balance fixes and the release of new content, in the form of killers, survivors and maps, with the most recent updating bringing a new killer, The Blight, this year. The game compliments its own unique killers by licencing some of horror’s best known killers including Freddie Kruger, Michael Myers and Leatherface. There is something special about being stalked by Michael Myers, or desperately trying to wake up as you hear the ominous Freddie Kruger lullaby surround you, and it is thrilling to experience.
This game is not perfect, and glitches can be fairly common, despite the frequent bug fixes Behaviour Interactive release. There are also noticable issues with matchmaking speeds, with the game sometimes taking up to 10-15 mintues to place you in a match. These times have been lowered by the recent introduction of cross-play, which allows you to play with friends and other players regardless of what platform the game is played on, but it can still be annoying if you just want to play a quick round.
Dead by Daylight is a great horror themed multiplayer game, and I have found it to be a great game to unwind to. It will not be everyone’s cup of tea, given the horror styling and issues with bugs, but if you are not put off by these things, Dead by Daylight is a game worth playing, and one I have found very enjoyable, despite my initial misgivings.
This is art, not real life. 