Horror games are hit-and-miss with me. For example, the Resident Evil series has been a gem in my opinion. I enjoy the horror elements incorporated in those and have fun when replaying them (especially the remakes). They get me jumpy with scares, create a sense of urgency to escape or survive, and they have so many little things going on that it creates this beautifully big experience that makes me forget how horrible the movie adaptions are from Sony and Netflix. Ugh, that could be an entirely different commentary and article.
Anyway.
Outside of Resident Evil, there have been few satisfactory experiences. While the weirdness of Silent Hill creates a horror category of its own, I have never taken to any of those types of horror games…outside of P.T., which was more traditional than not. When you sprinkle in horrible weirdness that is supposed to take the place of urgency and fear, you don’t create the same experience that you typically get with a horror show. It’s distracting with non-horror elements at best rather than fearful and horrifying.
So where does that leave us? Only Resident Evil games? Not quite. A simplistic horror experience can be grand if done correctly. You don’t need viruses or dead hounds that tirelessly chase you through mansions to get horror done. Sometimes you just need the simple purpose of staying alive or hunting down people. For example, Until Dawn bases its gameplay on simply surviving the night to find help. This simple concept was more than good enough to warrant a good experience. Thanks to UD, there are plenty of games that use that formula, though, we should credit LucasFilm Games’ Maniac Mansion for starting that type of drama. Anyway, to make the Until Dawn experience even better you would have to allow players to become the antagonist. Doing that would create a fun horror show.
This brings me to my point and my review of Dead by Daylight on mobile. The Behaviour Interactive and NetEase Games developed mobile version is going to hit iOS soon, and it’s damn cool. You may not get the same visuals as you do with the 2016 release, but you do get that core horror essence from the 2016 version that pushes you to either survive or to successfully hunt down your prey. That’s all you should ask for with a mobile horror experience.
Let’s get right into it.
Story
There is a savage killer on the loose. Four people are trying to survive that killer. They’re all in a place called the “Killing Ground”, which is straight out of an 80s horror situation. There isn’t necessarily a hardcore story to this game, rather it’s just a situation you’re put in. Imagine if Saw didn’t have a story. That’s exactly where Dead by Daylight exists. Quite honestly, it doesn’t need a story to run. The setup itself is good enough to drive the gameplay. Who hasn’t had a nightmare about getting tracked down by something? Oof. That’s quite enough for a setup. You don’t need a reason to run if someone is constantly chasing you.
Gameplay drives it all
The gameplay structure here is quite simple. You can either play as the killer or the four people trying to survive. There aren’t any wrong answers when playing this 4v1 structured gameplay. It’s pure and balanced competition no matter which side you want to start on. For me, I preferred the former.
Playing as the killer provides you with destructive options, killing habits, and, more importantly, no jump scares. You are the jump scare. The game allows you to set traps, hunt down survivors, break door-opening generators, and capture or kill survivors. The capture part is horrifying, as you can injure survivors and hang them on a hook to bait other survivors to try and help them. You can bait people, or you can simply kill everyone. There is almost no danger to you as the killer other than stepping on your traps (did that so many times) or simply allowing people to escape the killing ground. Playing as the killer is like being “IT” in a game of tag. It can be frustrating at times, but the more people you tag/kill, the easier the game gets. It’s a sinister feeling to play the killer. The inclusion of customizable killers, specialized weapons, and skins, makes the role even more interesting. It was the right way for me to get to know the game.
On the flip side of that coin, playing as those trying to survive the killer is the opposite in almost every way. The gameplay design has the survivors booting up generators to open escape doors and hatches, hiding in lockers and rooms to avoid the killer, and generally just running. The survivor can set up obstacles for the killer to delay them while the survivors escape, but there is generally no 1v1 with survivors against the killer. You’re only purpose is to survive the experience with as many people as possible left over. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Playing as a survivor, you can also help other teammates out. This means unhooking them (gross) and healing them. It also means strategizing with friends to see what the best method of fooling the killer might be to survive the experience. If you were ever that person in a theater during a horror film yelling at a character not to “open that door”, then this is your chance to help that person out. This is your moment to shine!
And that’s initially how the game works at a base level. Someone is hunting, someone is running. What more could you want from a horror experience? It is how it should be. I’m sure someone will complain that the survivors can’t brandish weapons and take down the killer, but why would the killer bring you to the killing ground if you could harm them? This is simply a game of tag…with a weapon. It certainly makes the experience more exciting.
Before we move to customization and backend shenanigans, it should be noted that you’re going to have to use onscreen controls to move around. The controls are standard when it comes to what you should expect from a mobile gaming experience. You can choose from three control types:
- Smart Joystick + Half-screen aiming
- Fixed Joystick + Half-screen aiming
- Fixed Joystick + Full-screen aiming
I used the default middle-ground “Fixed Joystick + Half-screen aiming”, which worked just fine for me. I’m not typically a fan of mobile games that are in third-person due to the controls they offer up, but for movement in Dead by Daylight, it was just fine. They work. I didn’t have any particular problems with them in my killing/surviving adventures.
On the gameplay control choices end of the spectrum, the game makes it easy to run, crouch, hide, and access actions (like fixing generators, healing, etc.). When you’re near an action point (not running, crouching, or hiding) an onscreen indicator will come up. It can get a bit finicky when it comes to getting this choice to pop up, which I can only imagine is on purpose because they want you to panic a bit, but it works. If you’re near a teammate that is hanging on a hook (gross), an onscreen choice to get them down pops up when you’re facing them. In the same action, when you get them off the hook, an onscreen choice will pop up to heal them, if you’re able. The game knows what you need all the time and what you need sometimes regarding screen actions. I think this all works out well and it doesn’t get in the way too much, with the outlier being panic-pushing and accidentally hitting a standard action. That might be more on my fat fingers than the gameplay.
Overall, the gameplay is balanced, fun, and it’s quick. With that said, it should be noted that this is a casual horror gaming experience (never imagined I would type that), so it will occupy you for short stints, but shouldn’t be seen as some massive amount of gameplay at once. Ultimately, you want that in a horror situation like the one presented in Dead by Daylight. Taking nibbles is better than taking large chunks. At the very least, it will keep your heart healthy.
Backend customization
The backend customization in this game offers up some interesting items, upgrades, and a few more strategic options for you to choose from when fighting or flighting. It makes the game interesting visually. It’s akin to Fall Guys or Among Us, where what you mainly get from this is more show than anything else. That’s not to say that you’re not going to improve a situation, or level up your character to unlock XYZ and progress. Rather, the game seems like it doesn’t want you to upgrade everyone so far that you have a clear advantage in multiplayer or single-player mode. What would be the point of that? It would ruin the essence of the game.
Now, the backend is also filled with a little bit of confusion, where you’re not sure how the earning currency part works and how purchasing microtransactions affects it all. I wouldn’t pay for anything and would prefer to earn it, and the earning part is a good chunk of the game, but the timeline is long for that to happen for most high-level items. The thankful part of this is that, as stated above, the essence of the gameplay doesn’t change with the backend pieces. You can level up, you can acquire helpful items (weapons/healing), and you can purchase attributes that will buff you a bit, but ultimately, you’re not going to change the gameplay enough that the gameplay itself becomes an unbalanced disaster. These types of microtransactions are easy to deal with and are just cosmetic at best.
Anyway, the backend contains a lot of customization options. They don’t affect the gameplay balance too much, and they do have some fascinating pickups and purchases. Ultimately, they make the game a bit deeper and more fun, especially with the inclusion of some familiar faces.
On that note, let’s wrap this up.
Conclusion
Dead by Daylight on mobile from NetEase Games is quite good. It captures the essence of its PC brethren and makes for a wonderful, yet casual horror-filled good time.
