Friday the 13th: The Game Reviews

  • Dark Death 90Dark Death 90604,604
    01 Aug 2018 02 Aug 2018
    21 3 1
    Friday The 13th: The Game is an asymmetrical multiplayer Survival Horror game, developed by Illfonic and published by Gun Media. 1 player plays as Jason Voorhees, while 7 play as the counselors.

    The goal of Jason is simple. Kill all the counselors, by any means necessary. Jason is given many tools to do this. Along with various melee weapons ranging from his signature machete to a battle axe, there are many brutal contextual kills littered throughout the environment. Jason also has traps he can place to try and snare his prey. He also has four abilities to help you catch those pesky counselors. Morph, which allows you to teleport around the map, Sense, which lights up counselors and buildings they are inside of bright red, Shift, which allows you to quickly speed up on fleeing counselors, and stalk, which help you quietly sneak up on your victims. There are 8 different Jason variants to choose, from the sack headed Jason from Part 2, to the monstrous undead Jason from Part 9. Each Jason has different strengths and weaknesses. One Jason may have increased shift speed, but less traps. Another may be able to break down doors faster, but be slower in water, making it difficult to chase down an escaping boat. With each Jason having pros and cons, you can experiment and find the one that fits your play style best.

     This game is rather violent. You probably guessed that. This game is rather violent. You probably guessed that.


    The goal of the counselors is to escape. There are several ways to do this. You can repair a car or boat, you can fix a phone box and call the cops, or you can try to hide and wait out the timer. You can even attempt to kill Jason, however this takes an incredibly well coordinated team. Speaking of which, coordination, teamwork, and communication is key if the counselors want to survive the night. The different counselors all have different of areas of expertise. Some are better at repairing objectives, but slower to escape from Jason. Others will be good as runners, with high stamina they are able to quickly transport important items to objectives, although they will have trouble repairing them themselves. Some are good as bodyguards, able to more reliably stun Jason and buy the repair counselors some time. And some are all rounders, decent at all tasks, master of none. You will be playing as a counselor far more often than Jason, as there is only a one in eight chance you will be chosen as him.

    Most of your time as a counselor will be spent opening drawers and searching buildings for the vital components to escape, such as a boat propeller or car keys. You can only speak to other players close to you unless you find a walkie talkie, and a map will enable you to see where all the objectives are located. There are weapons strewn throughout the map as well, they can can be used to stun Jason, if you are willing to get close enough to try. If they get too scared, they will lose their mini-map and make scared gasps, making Jason more likely to locate them. One other aspect of counselors to mention: the perk system. You will earn CP for completing matches, performing certain actions like repairing or killing, and completing the objectives in Single Player Challenges. You can spend these points to roll from a random perk. These perks vary from rather useless to very helpful. Things such as starting with a map or med spray, or an improvement to stamina. They also have different levels of rarity. The higher the rarity, the higher the benefit. I feel I should also point out that these perks are NOT able to be purchased with real money, so there is no fear of any pay to win system here. You have outfit customization options with them as well, as you level up you will unlock more clothes to mix and match on your chosen character.

     You will need to search cabins and campsites to find items to aid in your escape. You will need to search cabins and campsites to find items to aid in your escape.


    One thing Gun/Illfonic can be be praised for is authenticity. If you are a fan of the F13 franchise, you will be thrilled with the attention to detail that they have put in. Tons of easter eggs and references to the various films litter the different maps. The maps themselves are iconic locations from the franchise, such as Jarvis House, Pinehurst, and of course, camp Crystal Lake. These maps are lovingly created with astounding accuracy. It is clear that this game was a passion project with all the detail they include. The Jason models are also dead on accurate to their on screen counterparts, including their faces when they are unmasked. Most of the counselors are original characters with heavy references to movie characters, but Shelly Finkelstein and Fox are both from the movies, and look the part very well. While the graphics themselves are average, any F13 fan will honestly have fun just due to the accuracy of the whole game.

    The game also includes a single player component with three different modes, Offline Bots, Virtual Cabin, and Single Player Challenges. Offline Bots is simply the online mode, but instead of counselors being other players, they are controlled by AI bots. You always play as Jason in this mode. Unfortunately, the bots are pretty stupid, getting stuck on things or trying to hide when you are nearby. However, their behavior has been improved with patches since they were released. Offline Bots does not have much reply value, but it is great for new players to learn the layout of the maps and practice playing Jason. Virtual Cabin is a first person mode, where you walk around the cabin looking at easter eggs and trying to find the secrets. A lot of the secrets rely on knowledge of the movies, so if you are unfamiliar with them, you will likely struggle without using a guide. Virtual Cabin is a fun little distraction from the main game, but you likely will not come back to it again and again. Still, fans of the movies will enjoy it.

    Single Player Challenges is the real star of the single player modes. In these challenges you play as Jason, while the other counselors go through scripted scenes. The mode is similar to the idea of the Hitman games, where the goal is to kill them as quietly and quickly as possible. There are many context kills you can use when counselors are in the right spots, a lot of them references to the movies. There are 10 different challenges, each with six objectives in each, as well as 3 "skull" objectives. The objectives can range from getting a certain context kill to using a particular Jason. The skull objectives are the same on every map: one for killing every counselor, one for remaining undetected, and one for achieving a high enough XP score. Each skull objective you complete will unlock a new emote for your counselor to use in multiplayer, things like dances and taunts. Going in and just openly slaughtering will not work too well, most of your potential victims will escape. This mode has a fair amount of replay value, as you can't complete every objective in one go. It will take multiple rounds of each challenge to see and do it all.

     Fans of the movies will enjoy reliving many iconic moments from the franchise. Fans of the movies will enjoy reliving many iconic moments from the franchise.


    Of course, the game is far from perfect. The game has had many ups and downs throughout the different patches. Sometimes the bugs could be game breaking. Currently, I have not encountered any game breaking bugs since the latest patch. Mostly it has been minor things, such as graphical errors or delayed sound effects. Annoying, but not a deal breaker. However, one glitch I am aware of that is still around is the interaction bug, which basically causes your character to become unable to pick up or interact with any objects, or climb thorough windows. A swift smack from a fellow counselor will fix it, and thankfully this bug seems quite rare, but it does happen, and it can be problematic when it does. Another problem is the lack of dedicated servers, meaning if the host leaves the match for any reason, everyone will be booted from the game. Thankfully Gun has confirmed that dedicated servers are on the way, meaning that hopefully this will not be an issue much longer. The only other real negative, is that due to the ongoing lawsuit involving the F13 franchise between Victor Miller and Sean Cunningham, Gun has been forced to cancel any future DLC. They can release new bug fixes and dedicated servers, but they are no longer allowed to add any new content. So we won't be seeing the much anticipated Uber Jason and Grendel map from Jason X, or any other new Jason, map, or counselor. It's sad, but unfortunately this decision is out of their hands. Regardless, I think the game already has plenty of content to satiate any F13 enthusiast.

    I don't consider achievements with my final score, because I don't think achievements should ever stop someone from playing a great game. But considering the website we are on, I should at least mention them. While many of the achievements are quite easy, The Final Chapter, which requires you to play 1000 matches as Jason, will take you a long time. It can be boosted in private matches, but even that will take quite a while. Doing it legit will be next to impossible, considering your 1/8 chance of being Jason in each match. If all you want is an easy completion, move along, nothing to see here.

     Kill them all, Jason! "Kill them all, Jason!"


    At the end of the day, there are 2 big questions that I feel must be answered:

    1. Is it fun?

    2. Would I recommend it?

    For the first question, I can say in my experience a wholehearted yes. I have put more time into this game than any other game of 2017 or 2018, and I still always have a good time. I'm over 400 hours in and not sick of it yet. As for the second question, that is a bit trickier. If you are not a fan of asymmetrical horror games, this one isn't likely to change your mind on that. If you need a 100% bug free experience, this is not the game you're looking for. If you are fan of the F13 series, you should absolutely pick this up, and you likely already have. There is still a lot of fun to be had for non fans, many of the people I play with regularly had never seen a single movie in the series before they played this game. If you enjoy other asymmetrical horror games, I believe this one to be the best of the bunch. However, I can not express enough how much better this game is with friends. Having a team of buddies communicating is always much better than some randoms with no mics. However, the game still has a lot of people playing, and I have made tons of new friends that I play with often through the Xbox One's LFG feature. If you are not shy, this is a great way to get a crew. Overall, I do indeed recommend this game. It has provided me many hours of fun, and I know it will provide me many more.

     Good times. Good times.


    *Note: This is my first review for TA, constructive criticism is welcome. I may revise this review over time if I see things I feel need fixed.
    4.0
    Showing only comment.
    WTG x RoCK STaRGame plays and feels better deu to patches, Fixes and updates. Please do take this in consideration and update review.
    Posted by WTG x RoCK STaR on 06 Oct 18 at 00:09
  • Removed Gamer
    Gamer has been removed
    17 15 5
    I would like to first start off this review with a deep philosophical question; What makes an online only multiplayer game good? A difficult question indeed, seeing as how solid titles in this specific niche are about as rare as Arc getting on games. These experiences also very rarely have a middle ground, you'd be hard-pressed to find one that is simply mediocre, consisting of games that are either "Cold piss extracted from a dead cat" awful or "Jersey Mike's roast beef" Godlike. Which of these 2 categories does Friday the 13th: The Game fall under? If you thought "Obviously the former because this is a Vitiated1 review and he hasn't said anything positive about a game since Resident Evil remastered" you are both correct and creepily obsessed with me. In order for a multiplayer only experience to even be decent, the following are required:

    1. Content to support the price. If you release a game in the $40-$60 range it needs more than 3 maps and a small handful of characters with only 1 game mode.

    2. Polish and shine. If your gameplay footage looks like a pre-alpha of a game from 2007 it may be a sign that it's not ready for release.

    3. Balance. Multiplayer should be all about giving everyone playing a fair chance to succeed, not only sweaty no-life's who devote their existence to this one particular game. Or in this game's case, anyone at all.

    4. A goal. Where many multiplayer games fall flat. What are you working towards? Is your time spent on the game actively trying to achieve something or is it just more time on the hamster wheel?

    Since F13 contains none of these things, it's about time to actually open up this garbage bag and see what that awful smell is.

    The first thing you'll notice upon loading up the game is Jason's signature hockey mask face texturing in over a period of time. I would say that you should get used to that, but you'll be pretty lucky if things actually texture in for you. I called this the ugliest game ever sold for $40, and that is not hyperbole. The 2nd thing you will notice is how fond this game is of wasting your time when you try to get into a match. Once you're in a lobby and all players have hit the ready up button you'll be treated to a loading screen. After the loading screen there will be a 30 second intro cutscene...Every. Single. Match. There's almost no deviation either, so I hope you enjoy looking at this beautiful face:

    https://postimg.cc/image/4q1gniw6f/

    Yes, that is the facial animation in this game. Every character looks like a mannequin coated in grease and it puts Mass Effect: Andromeda to shame. As you run around the unimpressive maps full of copy/pasted cabins and trees you'll also likely notice constant texturing issues that cause parts of the screen to flash, light up bright green/pink, or disappear altogether. One hilarious bug was when the blood textures were broken, causing all blood to light up as a bright rainbow color that looked like Jason was beating confetti out of a counselor. The realm in which the players exist may not relate directly to each other, with counselors or Jason being frozen mid-animation or stuck in a pose and unable to do anything. The physics also like to flip out, causing characters to shoot up into the air, items to float 4 feet above the ground, or characters driving a boat moving their hands and feet like they're operating a car. However, I understand these are mostly aesthetic quibbles and that the root of the issue is gameplay...So how is that?

    Glad you asked friends because it is atrocious. At random, someone from the lobby is chosen as a killer. The job of the killer is to hunt down and prevent the counselors from escaping. The counselors can escape by outlasting the 20 minute timer, repairing a vehicle and escaping, calling the police and escaping with them, or by killing Jason. Why is that last part scratched out? Because it is impossible. Killing Jason requires the preparation and communication of a CoD Zombies Easter Egg, requiring the killer to be incompetent and the counselors doing the killing to be both lucky and masterful tacticians. So that's off the table straight away, which is a shame because it is the only ending to a match in which it feels like you actually won. So the match begins and the counselors are off, scrambling through identical CTRL+C/CTRL+V cabins and searching corners and drawers for gas cans, car keys, fuses, propellers, or anything else that may help them escape. They are then immediately hampered by a sprained ankle, where they must sit in a corner and have a little cry before continuing their search. Counselors are painfully slow, running out of stamina in seconds and taking ages to recharge it. With maps as large as they are, crawling from one end to the other is a chore to say the least. While Jason is also slow moving he has a few teleportation powers that make getting around significantly easier, and less of a hassle. So the match will eventually end. Most likely some counselors will die and other will escape, either by surviving the time or by playing as the one girl with decent speed who can repair vehicles in 2 seconds. Another 30 second cutscene will now play of Jason going back home and no one feels like they've accomplished anything.

    That's the extent of the gameplay unfortunately. Counselors can use shotguns, flare guns, and melee weapons to beat Jason back and stun him for a few seconds, but only the previously mentioned quantum computer instruction manual can actually kill him permanently. Everything else becomes a game of hide & seek, a concept that Evolve and Dead by Daylight managed to do better. Even the dozens of unique kills Jason has available are meaningless when it looks like 2 claymation statues reenacting the Rosenberg Executions in a dark room. That is, when the animation doesn't break and Jason is left holding empty air as a counselor floats 3 feet to his left, both of you stuck until the game decides you can move again. You can unlock more characters and Jason's from the films by leveling up, using points gained in matches to randomly roll for perks that help counselors or kills that Jason performs...But why would you want to? Every match is unique in the same sense that every person is unique; slightly different mannerisms but still miserable to interact with overall. Nearly every match results in a network error by the time you're invested in it, people quitting because they're dead or not getting enough kills, or the game just having a massive brain hemorrhage and crashing itself.

    This game is in an awkward position, seeing as it has no reason to exist. Want what is essentially the same experience with a lot more polish and variety? Check out Dead by Daylight or even White Noise 2. The single game mode and 3 maps get very old, very fast. Want more Jason Voorhees? There's something like 10 Friday the 13th films, just spend a weekend watching those and occasionally stabbing yourself with a screwdriver. Want overhyped and overfunded Kickstarter games that had underwhelming releases and broken promises? Mighty No. 9 and Yooka-Laylee are also on the Xbox One. Jason went to hell, and he ended up in this game.

    1/10
    .5
  • SuperGamePowSuperGamePow39,104
    05 Dec 2018
    5 8 0
    O que dizer sobre Sexta Feira 13 - The Game?

    Claro, que sou fã da série de filmes que me fizeram perder noites e noites de sono nos anos 80. E lembro-me de quando foi anunciado este jogo: Eu vibrei. Queria ver meu personagem favorito de terror assassinar todos os monitores. Queria ter o prazer de ser Jason Voorhess e matar outro jogador. Então, em Setembro de 2017, eu finalmente comprei para jogá-lo no meu Xbox.

    A primeira impressão, logo quando iniciei o jogo, foi de felicidade, ao ver Jason na tela inicial do game, e os sussurros Kill kill kill Ma Ma Ma. Foi Surreal! Só que rapidamente comecei a irritar-me com a demora para achar uma sala e jogadores, e quando achava, o jogo caía, ou o dono da sala saía e eu recebia a mensagem "Você foi expulso!". Por várias vezes eu tentei e sempre caindo como o "dono da sala", mas no toda vez que eu era o "dono da sala", meu ping triplicava, e acabava derrubando a todos.

    Minha primeira personagem foi a A.J. Mason, a "roqueira" e acho que fiquei a metade do jogo parado e abaixado de tanto medo e pavor do game, com medo de Jason me pegar. Rapidamente o conceito de terror deu lugar a diversão, e já estava habilidoso, desbloqueando tudo!

    Depois, foi a primeira vez como Jason, e acreditem, matei todos sem dificuldade, mesmo não sabendo usar as habilidades de Jason corretamente. Cara! Foi Irado!!! Inclusive coloquei a opção de preferencia em ser Jason na partida, e a cada 3 partidas, lá estava eu como assassino.

    Haviam muitos bugs, como a renderização dos personagens na tela de habilidades antes da partida, portas quebradas que retornavam ao normal, bonecos flutuantes, e uma série de problemas, mas acreditem, nenhum deles tirou o brilho do jogo. Só o PING alto é que atrapalhava pra caramba, mas isso era facilmente contornado quando eu jogava em servidores estrangeiros (sim, parece que é um problema nos servidores BR).

    Enfim. Quando eu começava a enjoar (coisa difícil, porque o jogo é realmente divertidíssimo), eles lançavam um novo mapa, ou um novo personagem ou um novo traje, e a galera retornava aos servidores!

    Sexta feira 13 é um jogo fiel aos filmes, desde Jason aos mapas, rico em detalhes e trilha sonora muito boa. E quando Jason aparece toca sua música tema dependendo da versão do assassino que escolher (Jason parte 2 até parte 9).

    Assim como as versões de Jason, cada monitor (sobrevivente) possui habilidades diferentes, como consertar carros, barcos, telefones, ou força para atacar Jason, stealth, velocidade, etc.

    Cada mapa tem sua singularidade, sendo uns mais fáceis, outros maiores, etc. (Todos adoramos PACKANACK).

    É um jogo muito bom, divertido, viciante, fiel, e apesar dos bugs, seu brilho não consegue ser apagado. Pena sofrer problemas de direitos autorais e a empresa responsável informar que não haverá mais atualizações de novos personagens, mapas, etc.
    5.0