Friday the 13th: The Game (Video Game)
From IllFonic / Gun Media
Rated M for Mature
Available for Xbox One (reviewed), PlayStation 4, Steam
“I don’t wanna scare anyone, but I’m gonna give it to you straight about Jason. His body was never recovered from the lake after he drowned. And if you listen to the old-timers in town, they’ll tell you he’s still out there, some sort of demented creature, surviving in the wilderness, full grown by now… stalking… stealing what he needs, living off wild animals and vegetation. Some folks claim they’ve even seen him, right in this area. The girl that survived that night at Camp Blood, that… Friday the 13th? She claimed she saw him. She disappeared two months later… vanished. Blood was everywhere. No one knows what happened to her. Legend has it that Jason saw his mother beheaded that night. Then, he took his revenge, a revenge he continued to seek if anyone ever enters his wilderness again. And, by now, I guess you all know we’re the first to return here. Five years… five long years he’s been dormant. And he’s hungry. Jason’s out there… watching… always on the prowl for intruders… ready to kill… ready to devour… thirsty for young blood.” – Paul, Friday the 13th Part 2.
Nothing has changed.
That familiar and unmistakable Harry Manfredini score is blaring! Ki ki ki… Ma ma ma… is ringing in your ears, haunting your every step. You and your fellow counselors are trying desperately to get the car outside working. Finally you do… you gun the engine, but then seemingly out of nowhere Jason Voorhees steps out, stops your car, and pulls you screaming out of the window while everyone else in the vehicle just watches on in horror until you’re hacked apart in front of them.
No, this isn’t a typical scene from a Friday the 13th flick, but it may as well be. This is a typical moment from Friday the 13th: The Game, and it puts YOU in the shoes of either a scared counselor or Jason himself.
Know what else it is? One of the single most fun times I’ve ever had playing a video game.
It’s easy to dismiss this as an Evolve-type game which puts you and your hunters against a player-controlled monster, but what sets it apart from Evolve and all the other games of its ilk are the attention to detail and love that’s gone into every aspect of making this feel like a true Friday the 13th experience.
When the game starts, you and your fellow counselors are gathered together until Jason appears and you all scatter. The game begins. One of the up to eight players is given the role of Jason with the others being counselors. You start off the game alone as either Jason or frightened meat for the beast.
Let’s tackle the counselor experience first.
When you first start playing as a counselor, you are by yourself. Look at your map; you’ll see either white circles, which show you the location of a fellow counselor, or a white arrow pointing in the direction of where your friends are. This is where proximity chat really shines. You cannot hear anyone but the people around you. I recommend teaming up with your friend(s) as soon as you can as there is safety in numbers, even if said numbers are only there to be killed while you flee, and you will flee.
As a counselor your job is to do one of three things…
- Survive the night by hiding like the coward that you are.
- Escape the scene by doing the things on your objective list which can lead to police rescue, get away by boat or car, etc.
- Try to kill Jason by working together to complete the objectives to knock everyone’s favorite mama’s boy out for good!
Pressing the “Select” button brings up a map (if you’ve found it) and a list of things to do to get around your camp. There are cabins to loot, which are home to everything from places to hide, objective items, and useful things like a pocketknife that can be used to stab Jason should he catch you so that you may get away… for now. You’ll also find a walkie-talkie to talk to other counselors who are far away, bear traps, weapons, the aforementioned invaluable map (holy shit, does this come in handy), and more. Even cooler, if you or one of the other counselors completes an objective (i.e., gassing up the car), a check mark will appear next to whatever has been done. This makes it easy to always know what’s going on and to work together as a means to survive the night.
Different counselors with different abilities unlock as you progress through the game, and you can buy them perks using the points you accrue from playing, as well as different outfits and more. When Jason is upon you, the music kicks in; and as soon as it does, the adrenaline will hit you like few other games. Really stellar stuff.
Now then, let’s talk about playing as Jason…
Having Kane Hodder do the motion-capture really adds to the authenticity of playing as Mr. Voorhees. Your character not only looks like Jason, but he moves like him. Breathes like him. Kills like him. Some of the franchise’s best kills have been re-created here in stunning gory detail, but I won’t spoil it. Experience it for yourself, and get ready to smile from ear to ear.
As Jason you start off in your house at your mother’s shrine. Throughout your stint as the great masked one, your mom will be giving you advice, another incredible touch. Again, thanks to proximity chat, you can only hear the counselors when you’re near them.
I know what you’re saying: The camps are pretty massive; how do you know where to go? Here’s the neat thing… Jason has abilities. Depending on which Jason you choose to play as, there’s an array of them to make finding your prey easier. Some abilities let you swim faster than counselors, while others can make you warp around to different areas of the map. There’s even one that lets you know exactly which direction to head in to find those naughty teens who should have been watching you when you were drowning. Look what they did to you… LOOK WHAT THEY DID! Sorry… the mother’s voice. It’s in my head, too. Moving on.
Needless to say, when you’re playing with a Jason who knows what he’s doing, you’re in for a hell of a time as they can be just as lethal as you’d imagine. When you’re not using your abilities, you can only detect noise made by the counselors on screen so make sure you pick your Jason wisely to suit your play style.
Now to the downside… What about all the bad things you’ve no doubt heard since the game launched about finding a match and actually playing the game? Well, believe them. They are there. If you’re on Xbox One, you can only join or be invited to private matches for now as the “Quick Play” option does not work. We wrote about a work-around so that you can easily find a game here. These are server issues because of the unexpected demand to play that Gun Media just wasn’t prepared for. They’re working on it via several patches so sit tight. I know it’s frustrating, but holy shit… when you get into a game, you’ll quickly forget about your troubles.
There are also a lot of glitches you’ll run into. There’s some really bad collision detection plus some visual anomalies like floating objects here and there. Hell, I’ve even seen Jason’s victims turn invisible mid-kill. Again… these will all be patched; and we’ve been promised new modes, including single player and story mode, and all sorts of goodies to make up for our torment. We eagerly anticipate them.
Friday the 13th: The Game, even temporary warts and all, is a gooey splatterific wet dream for fans of the franchise, and things will only get better from here. This is in every sense of the phrase an absolute love letter to both the franchise and its fans… scrawled in blood and dripping from the carcass of a hanging corpse for all to see. Bravo.
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Categorized:Horror Gaming Reviews
