Find an escape route, collect your weapons, and get out of dodge. Or chase down the hapless residents of Haddonfield and perform brutal kills. That’s the basic premise of Halloween: The Game, another entry in the unique horror subgenre of asymmetrical multiplayer games. Like its predecessors–Friday the 13th, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game–from the same developer, Halloween: The Game uses an iconic horror franchise as the setting of a classic cat and mouse game between one killer and four survivors.
This time, players are dropped into the dark streets of 1970s Haddonfield, where they must frantically convince the various locals that a masked killer is on the loose and try to help them escape. This mechanic, in which the “civilians” must aid NPC residents and try their best to make it out in one piece, makes Halloween: The Game unique and gives it a special edge in gameplay.
Another asymmetrical horror game
Creating yet another asymmetrical multiplayer horror experience in the wake of Dead by Daylight’s success after all these years is quite the challenge. With so many prominent failures from major horror franchises on the mind – Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ghostbusters, and most famously, Friday the 13th after a series of rights issues – seeing a new title with Halloween on the label didn’t exactly invoke confidence upon announcement.
Aesthetically, Halloween: The Game puts players directly into the world of the 1978 film. Environments are richly detailed, making each home feel like a truly lived-in space, while also providing plenty of unique location based kills for Michael to utilize. There are a few maps to choose from, each a different location in the Haddonfield area, but each feels well crafted and designed for both sides equally.
Like other asymmetrical horror experiences, you play as either one of many survivors seeking a way out or as the sole killer hunting them down. What makes Halloween: The Game so unique in this little subgenre is the focus on not only getting yourself and your friends out, but trying to protect the residents of Haddonfield.
Playing as a ‘Civilian’: A layered NPC experience
To save the NPCs–who can be found scattered around the map inside their homes, shops, or garages–players need to burst through their doors and convince them there’s a killer on the loose. Hitting some skill checks will convince them of your story, though failing does provide funny dialogue, as your character mutters and mumbles something about a masked murderer and is promptly asked to leave.
In fact, there’s plenty of humor in Halloween: The Game. Players can find beers or even joints scattered around the map and partake in either substance. Pounding down a few brews in a row will get you properly drunk, making the role play experience of a slasher movie’s traditional cast of meatbags very immersive.
After you’ve scared the NPCs into believing that Myers is on the prowl, you can direct them in a few ways. They can either hide, phone the police, or follow you armed with random household weapons. Each match includes three special NPCs, targets of Michael Myers that have a higher value placed on their survival than an Average Joe NPC. It’s best to prioritize shuttling these NPCs to safety, but other NPCs can be incredibly useful for calling the police or even as a distraction.
Finding a route out of Haddonfield isn’t too difficult, as you can either take a car, head into a cellar, exit through a trapdoor, or head out a garden gate. Each has a few requirements, like filling up the gas tank, repairing the engine, and finding the keys, but with so many possible exits and three other players rifling for loot, it’s easy to get at least one exit open quickly. In fact, there might just be too much loot available on the maps for players to utilize against Michael.
The main obstacles to saving the NPCs are generally the NPCs themselves. On multiple occasions throughout the matches, an NPC that had been instructed to follow me would agree, grab a weapon, and immediately lock the door behind me once I’d left the house. Cajoling the innocent residents outside and into the various escape methods is something of a sisypheon effort, but ultimately worth it unless you want to see “Mediocre Escape” on the screen when you jump into a cellar.
While admittedly a little buggy, the NPCs add a lot to Halloween: The Game. Having to find multiple routes out (as cars will fill up and cellars can reach capacity) to save as many people as you can adds an extra dimension to the game and makes seeing the murdered NPCs left in Michael’s wake more impactful than just set dressing.
Playing as Michael Myers
For the killer, filling the shoes of Michael Myers provides some unique gameplay that other horror franchises didn’t have. His slow, methodical style of stalking his future victims gives the game an excellent reason to pull back from beelining towards slashing every one to death. Since the game rewards taking a step back to keep an eye on your prey and extending the match time, it doesn’t need to overly handicap his abilities.
Myers feels incredibly powerful (though playing against skilled survivors will put those abilities to the test). With the power to shift into a shadow and traverse the map at high speed, Michael can find his victims with little to no time lost. The key is balancing time stalking, which unlocks special kills, with time actively killing. One of the most satisfying aspects of playing Michael are all the unique ways he can go about his favorite hobby.
Depending on the weapon, Michael can execute civilians on the spot or even just crush them to death with a lethal bear hug. Environmental executions mix things up and keep the game brutal, like using a fridge door to repeatedly slam someone’s head or stomping them through a toilet.
Like other asymmetrical horror games, Michael’s role is fairly straightforward. The pure brutality of his actions, which can feel a little cartoon-y depending on the animation, makes finally getting your hands on a player or NPC satisfying after a long chase.
Bugs, among other things
There are a few downsides to the gameplay. For one, if you’re unfortunate enough to die early in the match, you’ll be stuck spectating for an extremely long time with only random minigames to kill time with. These minigames–which mostly come in the form of skill checks – slowly fill up a bar that unlocks tarot cards, each of which provides bonus abilities to living civilians, so you can still be useful post-mortem. Unfortunately, they continue even when every single survivor is dead and just watching Michael kill NPCs, so the repetitive nature can get tedious fast and they feel more like a distraction than anything else.
As is to be expected with a game just before release, Halloween: The Game has its fair share of bugs, though most will surely be addressed in early patch notes, if not on day one. NPCs might occasionally spawn on a roof, forcing Michael to track down a pitchfork to spear them with from a distance, while certain glitches might prevent you from passing through a fence or out a window. Other small quality of life changes make some of the experience grating, as players can’t exit immediately after a match but instead are forced to wait for another to load first (at which point voice chat stops working).
The Verdict
Compared to other, earlier IllFonic titles, Halloween: The Game simply feels better. The gameplay is given more depth through the use of NPCs for the survivors and the additional killer objectives for Michael (as well as the motivation to find more unique ways to execute people). Another major factor to Halloween is Haddonfield. The town feels lived-in and the people react in realistic ways to both Michael and the frantic survivors, something that other asymmetrical games lack.
With any asymmetrical horror game, it’s hard to ignore the precedent set by other less fortunate titles. However, Halloween: The Game may have finally struck the right balance in giving both civilians and the killer the abilities and motive to succeed. Neither side feels too overpowered, and the survivor objective of saving Haddonfield’s residents gives the game an extra layer of complexity and strategy that comparable titles lack.
Time will tell if Halloween: The Game will keep a steady fanbase after its release, but it certainly has better bones than others in its subgenre and seems well equipped to keep up a consistent playercount.
8.5 Halloween: The Game Halloween: The Game is a well crafted addition to the asymmetrical multiplayer horror game genre, with equal opportunity for the killer and survivors to thrive. While some bugs do impact the gameplay, most only add to multiplayer antics and don't break the game. The addition of NPCs to the survivors main goal elevates the gameplay and gives a much better reason for players to spend time exploring the map, finding multiple escape routes, and escaping close encounters with Michael. Hopefully the game finds a loyal fanbase and, with more updates to support the game, can continue with a steady playerbase in the future. Pros
- NPCs add a creative dimension to the gameplay for both the killer and survivor.
- Maps are beautifully crafted for a 1970s atmosphere.
- Michael's abilities are strong without feeling overpowered.
- Dr. Loomis is a highlight as a late game addition in every match.
Cons
- Some glaring bugs can disrupt gameplay.
- Death state minigames are repetitive and quickly become annoying.
- Quality-of-life updates are greatly needed, especially when in-between matches.
A copy of this game was provided by IllFonic for review. Reviewed on PC.
