Welcome to my review for Dead By Daylight. I would like to start off by mentioning that I am a recent adopter to the game, after months of being harassed by my brother to give it a try. Now I'm almost 14 hours in, I admit I regret not trying this game sooner.
So, if you've not played this game before, why not? Its £24.99 for the standard edition and free if you are a Game Pass subscriber. What is not good about this?
Now, onto the game itself. What you have is a game that is split into two uneven teams. Four survivors who need to escape the map from a deranged serial killer fully intent on slaughtering them like stuck lugs with a wide selection of killers, featuring classics such as Pyramid Head and Michael Myers. Sounds unfair, but in my humble opinion, the balance is near perfect.
The aim as a survivor is in essence, simple. Activate the 5 generators randomly spawned around the map, then open the big metal gate and run for your life to escape. But alas, its not that easy. The generators take a long time to repair, and if you fail a skill check, a small explosion sounds alerting the killer to your presence. What they choose to do is entirely up to them, as they may stalk their nearest victim, or they may well just hunt you down and impale you on one of the many hooks to sacrifice you to the Entity.
The maps are chosen randomly when you connect to an online game, and as there is a random element to it all, this in turn makes the game damn near impossible to learn. So nobody gets an advantage. Unless they dedicate them selves to a killer of course, in which case, Michael Myers experts will dominate you with the greatest of ease. Case in point, Tier 3 Myers is pure evil.
As for the maps, there are plenty to play through, and each have their own pro's and cons. But all are certified creepy as hell. Then throw in ambient sounds whilst playing, such as the heartbeat getting faster as a killer approaches, and The Huntress's sweet voice alerts you to her terrifying presence. It all adds to the atmosphere, generating anxiety, tension and stress to the survivors as they fight to fix the generators. Running is only partially an option, as the killer always runs slightly faster. But with plenty of obstacles that can be used to determine a would be killer from snaring you, along with lockers to hide in make any chase scene a terrifying experience.
Dead by Daylight isn't some simple 4 vs 1 game however, as many others have tried and failed at this set up. The levelling and perk system within the game is surprisingly deep and intuitive. With many perks on offer that add gradually increases to your survivors traits which in turn making the aim of surviving a little bit easier each time.
With a vast amount of paid DLC on offer, there is plenty of reasons to keep playing as it keeps the game fresh here too. Developers Behaviour Interactive have struck gold here with Dead By Daylight, as its a great game to play with friends to play against a lone madman/woman/other as they strive to end your pitiful existence.
The game does suffer a little with connection problems, as some days I have a 5-10 minute wait to connect, while other games I get in immediately. Is it frustrating? Yes. But is it worth the wait? A side yes. Games can last as little as 5 minutes with an experienced killer, where you find yourself devoured by the Entity. Myers is a prime example of a great killer if played by the right person. Or games can last a good 15-20 minutes of the skills of both sides are even.
As far as gameplay mechanics go, I cannot fault anything. Everything works as intended, and the eerie feelings never go away until the match is over. Sure disconnects are irritating, but it seldom happened to me during my time with the game.
Achievement hunters may end up staying away from a game like this, as they all have to be done in public matches, meaning a boost session will be incredibly hard to impossible to set up. I admit I'm an achievement hunter, but here, I just enjoy playing the game with friends and my brother. Sometimes, you just need a game like this to play and not worry about achievemets. You will get some along the way, as there are the grind riddled ones on the list. But its pure fun with a team, and thats what matters.
Overall, I am glad I took the plunge and installed it, as there are no regrets what so ever. A fantastic experience. If a little frightening.
Side note: If you've read this far and would like to join in the fun, feel free to message with and let me know. Always up for a laugh and meeting new people.
4.0