Make them remember what fear tastes like, Jason! Make them suffer! We are a few months away from the official release of Friday the 13th: The Game on your home gaming consoles. The beta was released several weeks ago and although I didn’t have the chance to play myself, I did watch others play for hours on both YouTube and Twitch.
The makers of this game are by far the most faithful contributors to a franchise product. So much in fact, that they put some filmmakers to shame. Friday the 13th: The Game was delayed to add a single player offline campaign, but what is focused on in the beta is the online multiplayer experience. Five to eight players generally must fend off an attack on Crystal Lake from Jason, and can do that in a number of ways; You can call the cops and escape with them, get one of the two cars on the campgrounds running and bounce outta town, or call Tommy Jarvis and try to kill the man behind the mask… However, your odds are slim to none of doing that. I mean there are 12 films. What makes you so special?
There is also an element of sabotage, meaning there is only six seats between two car getaways, so have to leave someone behind… sorry, Shelly. Developers of this bad boy have made the option to play as counselor or Jason and you can pick from parts two thru ten, or so I hear. So far we have only seen parts two, three, six, and seven. No word on part four or Roy from five, but always keep the faith.
Friday the 13th was even scored by the original movie artist, Mr. Manfredini, so you get that Friday vibe, full force. Kane Hodder did all of the mo-caps for the Jason character… told ya these guys were hardcore loyalists. The special kill designs are off the hook; It’s a mixed bag of a few classic faves from the movies and some new ones for us gorehounds.
I highly recommend checking out the endless videos you can find online. If you can pledge to the Kickstarter, it has been amazing to follow how this game is coming along and I give it a future 5 stars because after seeing all I have, it’s impossible for this one to not be what we have wanted since that NES Friday the 13th game. Also keep this in mind, if this game is a major success, then it opens the doors wide for the rest of the slasher genre to get a faithful game release. ANoES, we are looking at you next. So, this spring I look forward to playing with all of you at Higgins Haven, we are all doomed!