Haddonfield has always been a place of sheer terror, just as the pale-faced, knife-wielding Michael Myers has always been an icon when the fall months arrive. This time we have two of the most well known horror game developers once again teaming up to take players to Haddonfield. Gun Interactive and IIlfonic have quite the history as the two developers originally created and produced Friday the 13th: The Game. This is important because both developers continued to dedicate their talent to the horror genre, making fantastic multiplayer experiences such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, Predator Hunting Grounds, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
One important detail to note about these titles: they are not live service games. They are not meant to offer the same experiences or longevity as, say, Dead by Daylight. This has led to my biggest criticism which is sustained with the question: what potential is there for more content? Will there be more maps? More skins? More characters?
When Halloween was chosen as the next IP to get the game treatment, where else can we be hunted by the legendary Myers? Haddonfield is only so big. Yes, there are a ton of Halloween movies; but how many of them take us somewhere else? Maybe two?
1v4 Chaos
In Halloween, you will take control of either Michael or one of four civilians. Both roles are very different from one another, as you either A.) Try to save other members of the Haddonfield Community and yourself or B.) Murder everyone in sight and don’t get arrested.
Michael has a multitude of powers to help him close the distance. One of the first things you notice playing as him, he is much slower than the civilians. He has a “Shape Jump” ability that allows him to maneuver in the maps darkness and teleport, “Detection Pulse” to try and find his next target, and “Blackout”, which will knock out all of the lights in a small area. Naturally, as you level up you gain access to more abilities that can help shape your playstyle.
Civilians work much differently and have quite a difficult task that often snowballs into some pretty cool outcomes. As you load into the match with next to nothing, you start wandering around to gear up, and warn other members of Haddonfield about Michael. You can call the police thus bringing up his wanted level and getting more firearms on the street to help you take him down. As usual civilians can fight back, and can knock Michael down, but Michael cannot be killed. Only arrested. In order to do so you have to have the upper hand on Michael, and be surrounded by cops or Dr. Loomis.
Lazarus
My favorite thing about playing as a civilian, aside from playing with my friends, is the game doesn’t end when you die. Some matches I found out quickly Michael can end your life as soon as you spawn if you have bad luck, so finding out that you can respawn in as Loomis or police officers if your teammates are doing their job, makes each game a brand of party chaos I can get behind.
This detail alone makes for a better experience than most asymmetrical horror games because if you die, you are often waiting for the match to end so you can recollect your friends and try again. In this case, much like in Killer Klowns, you can play mini-games to help your teammates and give them perks/items. These mini-games can also in you returning as the police and being able to help your friends again.
Civilians have to overcome conversation mini-games and then convince the NPC to follow them, call for help, or even escape if a route is known. These mini-games persist for police calls as well.
Follow Me to Your Doom
As the match goes on, you will find that some in-game events occur and will influence how you escape. If you can manage to max out police presence, you can escape via ambulance. Aside from that, there are other escapes via a car, storm cellars, and a few other map specific escapes as well. As a match plays out, you are updated in-game with your objectives as you find the pieces to make those escapes viable.
NPC’s are a new thing Halloween brings to the blue print we have all grown accustomed to. They are also the focus of the games objectives as Michael is tasked with killing them while civilians are tasked with saving them. This adds another wrinkle to the moment-to-moment action of each match.
Dedication to a Genre
Immersion is always important in horror. It’s what determines if you get scared with the music, ambiance, environment, etc. coming together to transport the player into the experience. Halloween executes on this well and then some.
It absolutely feels like I’m in Haddonfield, regardless of which role I’m playing. The attention to detail is immaculate and offers quite the experience for the Halloween fans out there.
The Good, the Bad, and the Jank
Although there is much to be praised, Halloween boasts some significant issues with performance. These range from lobbies taking upwards of 15 minutes that simply refuse to fill, being unable to match with crossplay friends, getting kicked randomly, game crashes, collision issues, grabs not connecting, heavy hits not registering, frame issues, and more.
Obviously all of these provide a ton of frustration and severely hinder your time with the game. Worse, many issues persist as of this writing, even after the developers have reportedly fixed many of them.
Despite the extremely rough edges, Halloween provides a unique experience that has merit. Nothing is funnier than running into Michael with a bike, or even some of the weirder interactions making things even funnier.
It’s a Party Not a Competition
Halloween offers a unique, asymmetrical, horror experience. It captures the original film well, and exceeds previous works in the space easily. With only three maps and one killer, longevity is absolutely a concern but doesn’t impact how much fun each match can be.
The performance needs work and will surely be updated as time goes on, but you can’t help but pull for it to be well optimized because Halloween has the experience horror fans were hoping for.
Thank you to IIlFonic, Gun Interactive, and our PR partners for review access to Halloween. You can find Seasoned Gaming’s review policy here.
