While at E3, Daily Dead got some face time with Gun Media, the team behind the upcoming Friday the 13th: The Game, in which players can take on the role of either Jason or a camp counselor in a one versus seven asymmetrical multiplayer experience. Jason is the unstoppable force that we all know and love, while the counselors are not from any existing Friday the 13th storyline, but are instead various teenage stereotypes from ’80s slasher movies: the jock, the girl next door, the nerd, etc. After hearing more from Gun Media and watching a full demo of Friday the 13th: The Game, it’s easily now my most anticipated game of 2016.
Right off the bat, it was very apparent to me that the development team members are huge fans of the horror genre, and are even bigger fans of the Friday the 13th franchise in particular. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s apparent that they’ve put in great attention to detail while working on this game, whereas a developer without any attachment to the Friday the 13th series might have excluded things true fans would have been looking for in a game featuring their favorite hockey mask killer.
Since the huge appeal for most Friday the 13th fans is the ability to play Jason, that’s precisely how our demo begins. At the start, Jason is alone in the woods and we hear the voice of Mrs. Voorhees, Jason’s mother, telling us to “hunt them down and make them pay.” Voiced by Jen Burton, Mrs. Voorhees continues to goad Jason on and guide him through the game, which is a lovely tribute to the character originally played by actress Betsy Palmer.
While playing as Jason, you are able to use four active special abilities. An onscreen progression bar fills up as you make your way through the match, unlocking each of these abilities one at a time. After being unlocked, each skill has their own cool-down time. The first of Jason’s superpowers is his “Sense” ability, allowing Jason to look around and scan for the fear level of others in the camp. When a counselor is scared, their body outline will glow red in Jason’s vision, and if they’re inside a cabin or house, the entire building will glow red, with the length of time determined by the fear level.
As a counselor, your composure level determines how visible you are to the big guy. The best way to not be scared is to reassure yourself, things that you might do if you were really trapped in a Friday the 13th movie. For example, staying inside, locking the doors, finding weapons, staying in the light, being around friends, and finding parts to repair cars or phones will lower your fear level, and doing the opposite will raise your fear. Running into the woods by yourself lowers your composure and makes you easily visible to Jason from a distance. Coming across a dead body or, worse yet, seeing Jason, dramatically raises your fear level, making you prime for the picking.
The developers explained that in Friday the 13th: The Game, it’s all about managing your fear before you encounter Jason so that you don’t immediately become visible to him. Jason has to seek out all of the counselors and the more scared you are, the easier it is for him to find you.
“Morph”, Jason’s way of covering large distances quickly, was another ability discussed by Gun Media. By bringing up a full-screen map, the player can choose an approximate location to drop Jason to get closer to the action. Jason’s powers are how the developers interpreted his ability to supernaturally stalk his victims in the films, and they allow him to move around his environment undetected until he is ready to strike.
The third ability is very cool and really puts the player in Jason’s mindset. “Shift” is Jason’s way of moving short distances, and when using “Shift”, Jason can pinpoint the area he will instantly move to as well as choose the direction he faces. A red silhouette of Jason represents his landing location, showing the exact spot and body position he will stand in once the move is completed. In the demo, Jason uses “Shift” to drop himself right in front of a fleeing counselor, easily setting up a kill.
The last ability we were shown was “Rage.” Jason is strong, but if he thinks you’re inside a cabin, he still has to chop the door down with an axe or machete, and it will take some time. That changes with “Rage.” In the demo, Jason busts through a door, shattering it with little effort. The “Rage” ability enables Jason to do a variety of actions including some specialized kills, however, the only thing revealed thus far is the door smash. The potential for mayhem is incredible, though.
Jason also has a fifth passive ability, a type of radar that highlights anything he hears with an audio blip. Counselors making any noise at all, such as searching for items, repairing objects, or just running, will attract Jason to their location.
After Gun Media went through Jason’s abilities, they moved on to getting rid of those pesky teenagers. When playing as Jason or one of the counselors, the combat system allows you to grab any weapon and go to town with traditional melee combat. But if Jason can grab a counselor, there is an added bonus with the potential to set up a “brutal execution.” Designed by legendary makeup effects artist Tom Savini, over forty brutal execution locations are scattered throughout the camp, and performing these specially designed kills fills up your ability meter faster, unlocking your powers even more quickly. It’s really a win-win for players.
Now, when you’re playing as one of the seven counselors, in order to keep your fear level down while outdoors, it’s best to stick to the paths through the woods, find existing light sources, or use your flashlight. The first thing you should do is look for a building and once you’re inside, lock that door. Although it was not in this demo, Gun Media discussed that you will have the ability to barricade a door in the final game by moving objects in front of it.
None of this ever really stops Jason, it just slows him down, and the way to win is to slow Jason down enough to give you time to escape the camp by repairing a car and making a getaway or waiting for the police to show up after you’ve contacted them. And as a counselor, it’s important to gather together friends and attempt to escape with them.
Gun Media gives counselors a lot of gameplay options. Every single interior has at least two exits—the front door and a window or back door—and some buildings, like the Higgins ranch property, have two floors, so there are many entry and exit points to be found. Players still have to be careful, though, as realistic damage is represented physically on the character, meaning if you jump out of a second-story window, you’ll probably hurt your leg and then have to drag it behind you with Jason in pursuit.
Gun Media talked about how potential hiding spots can vary from location to location. Any place that you would normally hide, such as under a bed, in a closet, or inside a trunk, are all accessible, but each location also has a few unique options, too. Understandably, when Jason shows up in the same room where you’re hiding, your fear level goes up considerably, causing the counselors to audibly voice their fears, which is something players can’t control. So even when hiding and laying still, you will still make noise and we were told that Jason can either search those places, pull you from them, or just start stabbing through objects to check if anyone is inside. The good news for counselors is that if Jason stabs through a closet door and no one is in there, his weapon gets stuck and it takes a minute to remove it, giving his would-be victims precious seconds to potentially escape.
Gun Media also mentioned a combat system that allows you to find a weapon and defeat Jason, but the only details revealed so far indicate that you must remove Jason’s mask before he can be killed. They said that it will be very rare for a group to take out Jason during a match, and even more rare for an individual, but it will be possible to kill him, and certain characters are designed to have a better chance at doing so than others.
The team also stated that a specific item on the map will help you defeat Jason. Although just what exactly that item is hasn’t yet been revealed, my personal hopes are for something related to Jason’s shrine to Pamela Voorhees from Friday the 13th Part II.
Overall, I really enjoyed what I saw and heard from Gun Media during the demo for Friday the 13th: The Game. This feels like the game we’ve all been wanting for years, and this fall cannot get here fast enough so that I can start inflicting some carnage as Jason.
Even though Friday the 13th: The Game is slated for a fall 2016 release, Gun Media is still accepting pre-orders HERE, which helps them pay for the development of killer new features they want to incorporate into the upcoming game (with the ultimate goal being single-player mode, which sounds incredible).
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