Game Review--Dead By Daylight (Switch)

"A dark Fog slowly veiled her eyes, but it could not subdue her rage.  She would not rest--not yet.  The darkness whispered, promising blood and revenge."
--The Spirit's character description, Dead by Daylight


In Dead by Daylight, a group of killers, some original and some borrowed from established franchises, have been relocated to alternate planes of existence along with survivors.  The killers' objective in this multiplayer game is to sacrifice their prey to the Entity, an interdimensional spider-like being that consumes the life force of survivors as they writhe on hooks scattered throughout the environment.  The survivors engage in a desperate attempt to escape the killer and the Entity.

Production Values

The visuals are far from the best the Switch can offer, and the occasional bout of lag can hinder the process of completing objectives, but the visual aspects of Dead by Daylight are easily eclipsed by the audio.  Sound is an enormous part of the gameplay, as both killers and survivors can listen for audio clues about the locations of other players.  Whether it is the heartbeat that intensifies when killers get too close to survivors, the clamor of generators as survivors repair them, or the cries of birds as they move when a player moves past them, sound cues are very helpful for avoiding murder and hunting victims alike.  Thankfully, the quality of the sound design is high.


Gameplay

The four survivors are tasked with activating five generators, which restore power to two exit gates.  The gates must be manually opened, however, leaving the killer additional opportunities to stalk and overpower his or her victims.  As the killer, you can see the location of each generator and exit gate, but the fact that the survivors outnumber you means they can distract you, heal each other, and pull each other off of the hooks.  Each survivor has a maximum of three times that they can be placed on a hook, at which point they are immediately sacrificed to the Entity.

Some of the killers have signature abilities that distinguish them.  For example, the Pig, otherwise known as Amanda Young from the Saw films in her Pigface costume, is a DLC character that can put reverse bear traps on downed survivors.  This forces them to search through Jigsaw boxes to find a key within a certain time limit even if they are removed from a hook--if they don't want to die unnecessarily, of course.  The Trapper can place bear traps on the ground, the Wraith can become invisible, the Huntress can throw axes, and so on.

While the survivors are not able to make any offensive attacks against the killers, they are not completely defenseless.  They can strategically pull wooden pallets down to block an approaching killer and perhaps stun them, for instance.  Lockers provide concealment at the cost of mobility, although the killer can easily catch anyone inside if they choose to open the right one.  Of course, running away is always an option, but the killers have a faster default movement speed, so clever navigation of your surroundings is vital for prolonging chases.

Story

Since Dead by Daylight is only an asymmetrical multiplayer game, there is no plot beyond the background lore and character profiles.  The backstories and personal psychologies of the killers in particular are often detailed and can provide clear descriptions of their motivations, but there is no grand storyline other than this.  The Entity has simply pulled victims and killers from various coexisting universes that are practically treated like a multiverse for the purpose of the game, persuaded the killers to sacrifice the survivors, and affirmed its presence to both parties.


Intellectual Content

This type of game is basically a string of self-contained matches in which both sides must complete the same respective objectives.  As aforementioned, there is little story other than the character descriptions, so it should come as no surprise that philosophical themes are not a major goal.  In this case, the lack of prevailing philosophical themes is not detrimental to the quality of the game.  One may still employ elaborate or spontaneous strategies to make victory more likely, but chance still plays a role.


Conclusion

Dead by Daylight is one of the best games in its subgenre of asymmetric multiplayer-horror (not that the category is especially crowded), and anyone with a Switch who appreciates this niche style of gameplay and has never purchased the game on another platform would do well to consider it.  There is no variation in the objectives from one match to another, yes, but the brutality of the cat-and-mouse style and the extensive customization options can be quite enticing to those who enjoy virtual murderous spectacles.


Content:
 1.  Violence:  Survivors can be slashed, poisoned, and even impaled on massive hooks.  When a killer or the Entity attacks someone, blood is shown.