#it's a nice wonky factor you know? it makes them visually far more interesting

[mirchloe]

for me, the best pn side character model update going in to pn2 has to be loboto. i really love the grit and grime on his claw, the materials of his clothing, and the visible grooves on his misshapen, slightly yellow teeth. he's such a standout in terms of character designs, too.

[undeadimpulsereviews]

Friday the 13th: The Game

Happy Halloween everyone; it was a long time coming but it’s finally here... Wait, it’s not October 31? We’re still in June, and it’s not even Friday the 13th? Well I have to fill the slot some how I guess. No matter the time period you’ve probably heard of the series Friday the 13th; a machete wielding murderer named Jason is moving through a camp in the middle of the woods killing unsuspecting people. The series has it’s fair share of loyal fans out there, that have stuck with it through thick and thin. So my question to all those fans out there is this; have you ever wanted to play as Jason as he hunts the people of camp crystal lake? Was the retro NES title not enough to satiate your hunger? Well look no longer because the people over at Gun Media have the game for you.

Friday the 13: The Game is the recently kickstarted game from developer Gun Media; it’s a one v seven survival horror game starring Jason and the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake. The people over at Gun Media wanted to create a game where people can experience the horror one of the most iconic serial killers in movies. Now I’ll be honest, I don’t have to much experience with Friday the 13th; I’ve said it a few times now, but horror isn’t really my genre. I find the whole genre to be boring or predictable; that’s not to say there aren’t good things among the genre, but most of what I see now is just terrible. I do really like Friday the 13th, and all the other iconic stories, but still. As for this game I always heard that it was in production, but never payed to much attention to it. After the game came out I got my hands on it and played a decent amount with a friend. I will say that I do enjoy what I’ve played, but the game isn’t without it’s problems. This review will be on the short side due to many factors, the game just recently came out and so there is still room to grow. With that said let’s start with the story. Though if you’ve seen the movies then you’re already ahead of the game.

Friday the 13th: the game is very early in it’s development; the game came out in late may of this year (2017), and currently is just a multiplayer only game. The developers have been working on a single player mode which I presume is a story, but I can’t honestly say; however, this game follows the story of the movies so, unless you’re like me, you should probably know what’s up. In the game there are three maps so far; you have Camp Crystal Lake, Higgins Haven, and Packanack Lodge. Basically speaking the story of the game is your classic survival horror; Jason Voorhees is hunting the counselors because his mother, Pamela, is telling him to do so, or at least the voice of Pamela. Pamela Voorhees is long dead , but Jason can still hear the voice in his head. As Jason it is your job to hunt the counselors; though the counselors must survive by any means necessary and escape the camp. Other than that there is no clear story driving the game; though the game doesn’t really need ones since the movies exist, and you don’t need the movies to have fun with the game. The characters, while new, are nothing to special as well in terms of growth; however gameplay is another story.

Friday the 13: the game is a seven versus one game where one person hunts as Jason, and the others are the counselors. Jason and Pamela are staple characters in the series, and then you have familiar faces like Tommy Jarvis and Rob Dier. Otherwise the characters are original; some are influenced by people from the movies, but most are actually designed off of people who donated to the kickstarter. This makes me want a story a little more, an original story centered around these new counselors that captures the original feeling of the movies, but otherwise they aren’t much in term of character. You can see what they are like based on clothing and overall appearance, but since the game starts with you being hunted there isn’t time to see each character and how they would normally act. However, while the characters don’t show much personality, they make up for it in gameplay; each character has their own strengths and weaknesses that will help them escape from Jason. My favorite so far, A.J. is great at repairs and stealth, but fails when it comes to Luck; that means I can easily repair things fast and sneak around, but my weapons break easier than other people. The same goes for Jason; instead of being another killer you are stuck with Jason; it’s Friday the 13th so it makes sense, but how do you make different variants of Jason? How about using different Jason’s from other movies; each Jason is from the different parts, for example Jason in Manhattan. Each part has different stats that both benefit and hinder Jason; some can’t run, but start with more traps or knives; Some Jason’s move faster in water, or have better uses with their abilities. As far as gameplay goes the characters feel really different and fun, but other than that they aren’t really interesting characters. I’d love to see if more story comes for these counselors when the single player finally drops, but for now I’ll have to settle with this. However, we have to remember that this is a fan game; it’s not a triple A title, and it was a kickstarter project. There are a lot of variables that effect this game, and not just it’s story or characters, but it’s gameplay and visuals as well. I’m sure even if you haven’t played the game you’ve see something somewhere in terms of the visuals.

While Friday the 13th is a game on the next generation of consoles, it’s visuals are nothing to praise. As I said before this was a kickstarted game so don’t expect the world from it. If there is one thing about this game that I see a lot it’s talk about the characters and their expression. I don’t really mind, but I can’t give them a pass regardless of the circumstances.

The games not perfect, and the animations are the same; you’ll be running around as a counselor a lot, and if Jason is behind you you’ll be seeing a lot of this. It’s more hilarious than suspenseful because of this, but at the same time I think it adds to the quirky nature of the characters a little, given that this isn’t modern day. This is honestly the only problem I have with the visuals of the game. I love the recreations of the different camp sites, and Jason really gives off that creepy atmosphere whenever he’s around. Each of the different Jason’s look really good given what little animations he has.

Just seeing this slowly waltzing his way towards you makes for a tense situation. I can’t tell you how many games I’ve played where my heart was beating out of my chest, and it’s not just the design of Jason either. The music that goes with Jason adds to that suspense. There are certain musical cues in the game for when you’re being chased, or when someone else is being hunted; there’s even music built in to throw you off, make you feel like Jason is breathing down your neck. However, the music kind of blends together a little to much. All the songs sound really similar, and you won’t really know them unless you can pick out specific parts. I went into this review thinking there was only about three to four musical tracks in the game, but when I looked online there is actually fourteen. It doesn’t help that the game has about three to four different tracks for the same thing; you could get one of three tracks playing when you’re alone, or a theme for each Jason variant. The variant theme are the hardest to remember because they all sound really similar. Regardless though, each does a great job at sending shiver down your spine. Here are a few that I feel really drive the point home.

Overall, while not perfect the visuals aren’t terrible, and the music really helps drive that survival horror atmosphere home. Lastly comes the gameplay, early in the games life there were some problems; while some have been fixed, there are more becoming apparent as time goes on. The gameplay can be hit or miss at times, but bear with me for a moment.

The developers over at Gun Media thought at first that Friday the 13th: the game would have a much smaller audience; much to their surprise the game was really popular and they received more players on day one that anticipated. Due to this the game had some overloaded servers upon release and it made it hard to play the game. These problems didn’t stop there however, even after the release day the game had trouble with the servers; it was hard to find a game, or even stay in one. It took a while for a patch to be released, but even after that the servers weren’t perfect. Plus now the game has seen it’s share of glitches that hinder Jason; players have been exploiting the map to getting into areas unreachable. While the game is still pretty early in it’s life these problems will need to be addressed fast; it’s putting a lot of hate on the game and driving people away. Yet there are still those who will stick with the game through thick and thin; I recommend finding a community or friends to play the game with, it’s what I did on the playstation and now I don’t need to worry about finding games. Aside from the server problems the game itself isn’t perfect; it’s easy in practice, but due to things like spawn points and hit boxes, the game can be pretty hard. Both sides have their share of problems making it harder to play Jason or the counselors, but I still think the counselors have it bad. In my experience with the game I’ve been killed out of spawn a lot due to the terrible spawn points the game gives me. They will put me next to a car, or the boat; which sounds nice, but most people playing Jason will make that their first priority and will teleport straight to it. Then the hit boxes can get a little wonky; this may sometimes be due to connection, but even still; you could be running from Jason and on your screen you’re more than an arms length away, but he’ll go for a grab and still get you. As for Jason you’ll have many ways of killing your targets; you can just slash them with your weapon, kill them with a hold move, or find a special execution. Yet the best way to kill is usually just slashing people; it’s reliable and fast, which tends to make things boring. I want to kill each person in interesting ways, and there are definitely interesting deaths. For example here’s a classic death some of you may be familiar with.

The problem with these kills is that they are scarce, and most of the time you won’t be near one of these. This means you’re left with the holding kills and slashing. The hold kills are interesting, but get old fast; plus the hold kills are given to Jason way to fast. They tend to be really unfair to the counselors, unless the counselor has a pocket knife to save them or a really good ability to break away. This really brings down the fun of the game; I don’t want to reuse the same kill because it’s fast, sure it may net be a total win but I feel more satisfaction when I can kill people in different ways. Other than this the game is extremely fun; it’s crucial that you have people you can talk to. If the counselors don’t work together and communicate then it will be that much harder to escape. The game utilizes a proximity chat; when you speak your voice travels a certain distance and any counselor in the area will be able to hear you. This also means that Jason will need to be close to hear you as well; so you’ll need to choose when to speak and what information you’ll want to share. It’s fun to play both side and require some strategy to win. For Jason you’ll want to inspect the means of escape, break windows, set traps; for the counselors you’ll want to travel in groups, prioritize stunning Jason over hurting him, and build a team you think will have the best chance for escape. It’s a fun game with the right people, and the game is definitely a lot more playable than it was a launch. I say give it a try.

Overall I give Friday the 13th: the game a 7 out of 10; it’s a good game, but it’s heavy hit by it’s problems. Don’t go in expecting to get some horror experience like Resident Evil or Dead Space, it’s not a triple A title. Though it still manages to put the fear in you when it matters most. The game is fun, but currently it’s small and it will need to expand if it wants to survive; I have faith that this game can be something great. The developers have been working feverishly to fix the problems and make the game worthwhile. I do recommend you try the game and see for yourself if you wish to play more, but I can fully say it’s worth what it is currently.

That will do it for the month of June, on Saturday I will update for the month to come. For now, have a great rest of your day, and I’ll see you soon.