Christmas is the festival of love. Cortyn, however, prefers to watch horror titles like Dead by Daylight.
Christmas is for gamers – besides it being gift time – also the time for shopping on Steam, as many games are traditionally on sale there. After the “death” of Evolve, I listened to my inner voice and bought “Dead by Daylight” instead.
The game mechanics have some parallels. In Dead by Daylight, four survivors face off against one killer – so 4vs1. The survivors are weak on their own and can only win in one way: by leaving the map alive. The killer wins by sacrificing survivors to the Entity, a demonic creature that feeds on suffering, death, and fading hope. Players are sacrificed by being hung on meat hooks, where they slowly bleed out. The unfortunate one on the hook is ultimately consumed by the Entity – if the other survivors do not come to help.
To the Hook – The Game Mechanics of Dead by Daylight
To escape from the map, the survivors need to find and repair a total of 5 generators and then reach one of the exit points. What sounds simple in theory is complicated by many factors. The killer is generally faster than the survivors; only obstacles (like windows, blockages, etc.) slow him down.
If the killer hits once with his weapon, the survivor bleeds and screams, making it easier for the killer to find the injured – blood and screams are generally not subtle. A second hit sends the survivor to the ground, where he can only crawl or be picked up by the killer. Once picked up, it’s off to the nearest meat hook.
The basic principle sounds simple, yet Dead by Daylight manages to create an incredibly intense atmosphere. The closer the killer is to a survivor, the louder the heartbeat can be heard. However, the killer has no auditory aid and must rely on his first-person view, while the survivors look from third-person perspective, giving them a tactical advantage. The tension and despair that arise when you panic and flee from the killer across the map, constantly feeling his breath on your neck – it’s hard to describe.
Pure Thrill
Thanks to different perks and play styles of the killers and survivors, it never gets boring quickly. For example, as a killer, there is Michael Myers (or a direct copy of him). Unlike other killers, you do not hear him when he is near a survivor. He becomes stronger the longer he simply watches a survivor. This way, he builds up buffs until he is ultimately strong and fast enough to overwhelm one.
Hardly anyone can imagine the terror of spending about 30 seconds tinkering with a generator, only to carefully turn the camera, just to realize that the killer is staring right at the back of your neck.
To summarize in one sentence: Sacrificing innocent, defenseless players to a dark demon has never been as much fun as in Dead by Daylight. The game has excited me so much in the past few days that I will certainly write about it several more times.
If you have a few euros left and find yourself bored during the holiday days, you should grab a few friends and try Dead by Daylight. Here is the Steam store page for the game. I am also currently urging my friend circle to do the same.
