Dead By Daylight Review - By Hook or By Crook

So here’s the thing: In 2016, Behaviour Interactive’s Dead By Daylight wasn’t even a blip on my radar. In fact, I’d never intended to play it. I had my massively multiplayer online live service title of choice, and that was Bungie’s Destiny. I wasn’t even a big survival horror fan back then; I hadn’t even tried to play Resident Evil or Silent Hill. And DBD, quite frankly, looked bush league to me. Rough around the edges in terms of gameplay, muddy visuals, and presentation that felt very low-budget added up to a game that I didn’t really have any interest in trying out.

But that was six years ago. A lot can change in that time. For instance, I finally played some Resident Evil games, which, oh man, did I miss out on those! Survival horror experienced a renaissance as a genre, with creative titles like Phasmophobia seeing the light of, er, day. Action/FPS/horror hybrids like Doom and Doom Eternal also saw critical and commercial success, and hey, I even gained a few friends in my life by co-founding this website and podcast! Eventually, a couple of those friends convinced me to give Dead By Daylight a try, and to my surprise, I enjoyed my time with it! It may not be game of the year material, but it’s a solid experience, especially when played with friends.

At its core, DBD is a simple game. As an asymmetrical multiplayer title, players can choose to be either one of four survivors who must work together to repair five generators in order to open up a gate through which they can escape. Or they can be the killer, who uses a weapon - usually a blade of some sort, though some characters have access to more otherworldly powers - to slash and incapacitate his victims so he can hang them on meathooks scattered about the map. Once they’re secured, a malevolent presence known as the Entity will slowly begin to feed upon their essence and eventually, the victims are sacrificed. Unless, of course, another survivor manages to save them and heal them, temporarily staving off the icy (or would that be spider-y?) stare of death.

Gen-yyyy, I need your number…

So yeah, rainbows and unicorns, this game ain’t. It’s dark, atmospheric, intense, creepy, and frightening. Once you hear the killer’s heartbeat after entering his “terror radius,” as the game calls it, the adrenaline starts pumping and you start running for your life. Or, if you’re like me, you hold out for a few more precious seconds as your character slowly fixes the generator, which results in the killer promptly finding you and cutting you to shreds with his weapon. Ah, the memories. Oh, the tactical mistakes.

On the other hand, the killer can see where all the generators are, so he (or she or it) can patrol and search for survivors, who can be quite slippery and hard to find if they know the map or have a flashlight equipped, which they can shine in the killer’s eyes in order to blind him. It only lasts a few seconds, but it’s enough time for the nasty little runts to escape. Sometimes, though, under the right (or would that be wrong?) circumstances, you’ll see hilarious, Benny Hill-style chases can take place between killers and survivors around dilapidated structures, resulting in amusing video clips or, y’know, a great story. I wish I’d recorded video of that one killer who kept chasing me around a rock for about five minutes. A fun time was had by all. Well, maybe not for him. He was swiping at me pretty fierce.

Carry me, mommy… I mean, oh no, how could this happen, I definitely don’t want this, yadda yadda.

The point is, although the survivors have the numbers advantage against the killer, as well as a third-person camera they can utilize to assess their surroundings, while the killer is limited to a first-person view, they are far less durable. Two hits from the killer’s weapon will down them, and two or three trips to the meathook will certainly result in their demise. They also don’t have many offensive capabilities: characters like Jill Valentine from the RE series can set traps on unfinished generators which cause an explosion, while toolboxes can be used to sabotage hooks, and the aforementioned flashlight can temporarily blind the killer. Pallets in the environment can also be pushed on to the killer as he pursues his victims, stunning him momentarily. These abilities can provide effective means of escape, but many of them are only indirect offensive methods, while the killer can just run up to you and go all stabby on your ass.

Which brings me to the unpleasant section of this review. While survivors can work together effectively as a unit and strategize their way to victory, it’s more likely that you’ll queue up in matchmaking, get stuck with some random players, and everyone will run around like chickens without heads as the killer goes from chasing one victim to another, slashing them down as you frantically struggle to complete your skill check (read: QTE) button prompts successfully at a generator and attempt to preserve your pitiable life. I realize the hardcore DBD contingent is throwing tomatoes at their screens right now (don’t forget to clean those up, by the way) and yelling at me that the unbalanced nature of the game is what they love, and that crybabies like me need to “git gud.” I hear you, bros. And I understand.

Welcome to anime killer condominium!

However, I do believe that there are some instances where player engagement and enjoyment should come first. For instance, when Pinhead from Hellraiser is the killer, they can utilize ethereal chains which bind, debuff, and immobilize survivors. These spawn all over the map, and can attach themselves within seconds, even after players unbind themselves. I realize things shouldn’t be too easy for survivors, but it feels excessive, and escaping from the chains doesn’t result in much of a respite for the targeted victims.

In another instance, a killer’s perk turned off the sound that preceded survivors’ skill checks, resulting in some, uh, chaotic moments, and a lot of failed button mashing. Again, I recognize the purpose behind this, and it’s an ability that the killer has, and they should be able to use it. Still, it feels unbalanced and unenjoyable for players on the other side of the equation. At least nerf these perks so that they don’t last quite as long for survivors. It’s not a deal breaker for me, but it’s irritating. And with the killers having so many offensive advantages over the survivors from the outset, I think adjustments should be made.

That said, I’ve been enjoying my time with the game, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been playing with my best friend, who goes by the moniker Red (follow her on Twitch and TikTok, by the way). She’s played far longer than I have, so I rely on her to guide me through maps I’m unfamiliar with, and we both try to play the game intelligently and strategize so that we can get generators up and watch for downed victims. With repetition comes experience, and with that experience comes skill (hopefully) and fun (mostly). I’d highly recommend playing with friends if you’re going to choose a survivor, but going solo as the killer leads to a perfectly fine time.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the improvements that Behaviour has made to the presentation of this game since 2016. A lot of the rough edges have been smoothed over, with much improved graphics, animation, sound design, and varied musical cues that ratchet up the tension and even provide some cool orchestral themes for the killers as they bare down on you and slice you to bloody chunks. And the wild screams of the survivors as they’re hooked can be blood-curdling, hilarious, or some combination of both. I also love seeing the Resident Evil characters show up in DBD, along with some of the more infamous cinematic serial killers like Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger, Sadako from the Ring films, and, of course, Ghostface. Too bad there isn’t a rampaging unicorn in sight. Although my character of choice is the master of unlocking herself, Jill Valentine, I also love the design of the latest DLC character, Mikaela Reid, a horror-obsessed novelist who has a penchant for witchy goth outfits. Nice!

In the end, while the experience of playing a DBD match can be chaotic, stressful, or even toxic at times, most of the time, it’s solid fun. Just make sure to bring a friend. After all, isn’t it more fun to die together in video games? I know it is for me… Mwahahahahahahaha! Ooh, got carried away there. Kudos to Behaviour Interactive for a much-improved game. Only thing it needs is a DLC character designed after Rubi Malone.

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