Have you ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a classic movie’s serial killer, or how it might feel to play the bad guy in a similar story? Indie game developer Illfonic can answer that question for you with the release of their newest game, Halloween: The Game. Veterans of the horror genre with similar active developments like Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game, this take on the classic Halloween movie series not only gives players a fun multiplayer game where survivors can take on Michael Myers but also lets us get a little look into how the original movies came to be in the first place.
It’s a Bloody Good Story with Terrifying Gameplay
When the game is first opened, players are greeted with a pop-up that suggests they play through a six-episode single-player campaign. This campaign has two purposes: to teach players the mechanics that they’ll be exercising regularly while playing Michael Myers, and to show a little bit more of what happened on October 31st, 1978 in Haddonfield, Illinois. The story of The Shape starts with a breakout from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he fights against the antipsychotic medication he’d been given while either terrifying or killing the guards who are on the grounds in search of him and other inmates. Once he steals Dr. Loomis’s station wagon and makes his way into town, the player’s job is to learn how to use the tools of the trade while the antipsychotics continue to wear off over the course of the campaign, which takes players through the events of the first Halloween movie.
Over each chapter of the campaign, there are certain goals that players should look to meet. Players will be presented with different mechanics that Michael can use as the story goes on, as the antipsychotics wear off. For example, Michael gains the Bloodlust ability in Chapter 3 of the campaign, in which players can get bonuses from performing kills, admiring the bodies of victims and staying in the shadows. He’ll slowly lose progress towards these bonuses if he stays visible in the light too long, as the whole point is that Michael stays hidden and mysterious as always. Branching off of that, players have the ability to jump through the shadows to chase and stalk victims. This ability can also be used to access inaccessible areas, such as the locked convenience store in Chapter 2 of the campaign. Seeing the way that Michael can move throughout each piece of the map with these mechanics and many more answers the age-old question that everyone had while watching the original movies: how is he able to catch up to his victims if he barely seems to move?
For those who are fans of games like Dead by Daylight, there are plenty of mechanics that should be familiar. In both the prologue and Chapter 5, there are instances where Michael will need to pry a gate open. This is done by mashing a certain key until the progress bar fills up. Key-pressing patterns are also seen through execution-style kills, which each have varying options depending on the type of weapon that Michael is armed with at the time. Depending on the kind of kill players make, bonuses can be earned, which means a higher ending score for the chapter. Experience is earned from each kill, which adds up at the end of each chapter for a rating out of five stars. High scores are saved for replayability, so players know where the current threshold is for the score they need to beat.
If players want to go beyond the bare minimum of completing chapters, each chapter has its own special challenges that are able to be completed per chapter playthrough. Every chapter has six unique challenges, which range from completing the chapter in question without alerting anyone of Michael’s presence to using specific environmental kill situations to finish off a certain target. With each challenge completed, players can earn rewards like visual cosmetic items for both Michael and survivors, like different outfits or colors for said outfits, icons, player card backgrounds and titles. Every chapter has three different difficulties: Normal, Hard, and Boogeyman (which is unlockable by completing every chapter on Hard). Rewards are the same across all difficulties, so players don’t have to worry about losing out on something that they might want if they only want to play on Normal.
Multiplayer Mayhem
Beyond all of the fun there is to be had in singleplayer mode, Halloween: The Game has a dedicated online mode. Up to four survivors are tasked with fighting back against Michael, protecting innocent civilians and alerting the police of The Shape’s presence. As Michael, the goal is to wipe out the heroes standing up to stop him and terrorize anyone in your path. Survivors must utilize the tools that they have on hand, such as various household items, in order to keep Michael at arm’s length. They can also give these items to civilians to give them a means of defending themselves from their ghoulish attacker. Contacting the authorities will ramp up police presence throughout the match, making it hard for Michael to move around unseen. No two games of multiplayer are the same, giving both killer and survivor unique challenges in every single game.
What to Expect: Day 1
The developers of Halloween: The Game are planning on addressing a large number of issues on their Day 1 patch. These fixes will concern both single and multiplayer modes, along with some cosmetic and perk card fixes as well. Some of the most important issues to be addressed across different modes are listed here.
Single Player:
- Multiple Issues with Challenges being completed
- Some checkpoint states are inconsistent on reloads or when restarting Chapters
- Missing some movie-specific Context Executions
- Several Cinematics are not playing as intended
- Loomis cannot detain Michael in Chapters 3 or 5
- Several issues with AI not behaving according to their script
Multiplayer:
- [East Haddonfield Map] Killer Escape is not set up
- It is possible to get stuck in an infinite falling state when jumping out of certain windows
- Using the Flashlight when too close to Michael does not blind him
- Vehicles jitter during movement for clients when driven by any player
- NPCs pause after unlocking and opening a door or after encountering a locked door from the outside
- Hero and bike jitter back and forth during movement
- Visual issues with certain Executions
Customization:
- Weapon customizations are not saved when the player switches weapons
- Some UI inconsistencies when editing loadouts
- Several placeholder arts are still present in the customization menu
- Some cosmetic tints are not in a final state
Survivor Perks/Graveyard:
- Some Perks do not have their rarity increased after an upgrade
- Graveyard background becomes briefly visible when rolling for a perk card
- Multiple perk cards reuse the same card art
- Some perks cannot be rolled in the Graveyard
- Unlock requirements are not displayed for passive challenges that are unlocked based on profile level
- Perk durability overlaps its name in the deck
All in all, players are in for a treat if they enjoy lurking around in the dark and taking out targets one by one, all in uniquely creative ways with different weapons or environmental items. Michael Myers is one of the main faces of fictional serial killers, and getting to step into his shoes to prey on the innocents of Haddenfield makes for a truly terrifying time. Being able to stand up against him as a survivor in multiplayer is not to be underestimated either. The amount of customization that players have for just about everything about the game they’re playing is phenomenal, and it makes for a truly ever-changing play experience in the best way possible. Though there are minor bugs that will need to be addressed in future updates, the sense of nostalgia that comes from playing through each piece of the story and investigating different aspects of the game as a whole (i.e. familiar faces in the survivors section) makes the whole experience extremely worthwhile. It’s rare that a game where you get to be the one doing the stalking rather than the one being stalked, so it made for an interesting playthrough overall. If you love the Halloween movies, you will love this game. Support the developers by picking up your copy of Halloween: The Game on September 8th for XBOX, PlayStation, or PC.
