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Rumors have long circulated in the lands of Steam. Rumors of terrifying, merciless creatures terrorizing the gaming community. A new guise of the legendary Camper, leaving no chance for salvation. The Ping-Wizard, capable of teleporting four people simultaneously every second with the powerful "Torrent Download" spell. And, of course, the Cheater-Bogatyr, that Usain Bolt with built-in X-ray vision, from whom there is no hiding.
But heroes were found who could challenge the forces of evil. Team-players and randoms, try-hards and noobs, old-fags and schoolkids — as one united force they fight, overcoming cheats, ping, and the lack of balance.
So say the legends, or rather, the Steam reviews. Now, let me tell you.
The general essence is four survivors, one maniac. The maniac must catch everyone and hang them on a hook; the survivors must prevent him from doing so, open the gates, and escape.
The game really hooked me for the following reasons:
- The Idea. We haven't seen session-based games in this format before; co-op has existed for a long time, of course, but not in this format.
- Roleplay. Playing as the maniac is an absolutely special sensation, primarily due to his invulnerability. You truly feel like a predator that inspires fear. The hunting excitement during a chase or search for survivors, the growing bloodlust when you manage to land a hit, and the cruel pleasure at the sight of someone helplessly dangling on a hook... Simultaneously, there's a slight anger when a survivor escapes and a bitter resentment when you, as a maniac with a single level 2 perk, end up against a coordinated team of survivors with four level 4 perks. Here, you are no longer the predator — you are a retiree whose summer house has been broken into by teenagers who are now breaking your hooks and traps, shining flashlights in your eyes, and ruining your life in every way possible.
Playing as a survivor is also quite good, especially after the introduction of the imba Leatherface, from whom it is almost impossible to escape, making him truly scary; moreover, he appears in matches VERY often, even though he is behind a paywall.
- Atmosphere. Although the devs added a few maniacs from movies, overall the universe is their own. Perk descriptions in the form of diary notes (so much was written and in such a way that I even thought they had copied it from the works of some madman or sci-fi writer, but it turned out they did it themselves), level design, their own lore and the linked locations for killers and survivors — all this contributes to the immersion.
- Different skills for maniacs and even survivors add variety to the game.
Of course, there are downsides, and some are quite serious.
- No servers. The maniac hosts. I already mentioned the ping mages.
- Perk imbalance. I wrote about that too; actually, it's not that bad.
- Players often crash before the start or during a match.
I didn't play as survivors much; it's not very interesting with randoms. I haven't seen any cheaters, though I had suspicions. I encountered a ping-mage once; it was very unpleasant. Bubba Sawyer is a hellish imbalance.
I mostly play as maniacs; it's genuinely fun. I watched quite a few slashers in my time, and it was interesting to experience being the protagonist, specifically the maniac. Of the defaults, I played the Hillbilly, the Trapper, and the Wraith the most. With the first one, using the chainsaw, you can get a -4 without much trouble if you're lucky with the map, but in tight spaces, there's a high probability of ending up with no victims at all. Nevertheless, for now, he is my favorite maniac both in appearance (an ugly redneck with a chainsaw is an immortal classic that appears in dozens of slashers) and playstyle, although some say he is the weakest killer in the game. The Trapper is the game's calling card; conversely, he is good on tight levels where a trap is hard to miss. The Wraith is quite versatile, but I haven't really grown fond of his playstyle yet; maybe I'll like it more over time. I didn't like the Huntress or the Nurse because of their low speed, although the Nurse is even considered imba.
In total — a fun and unusual game, but not very well-made technically, 8.5/10