Friday the 13th: The Game is a survival horror video game developed by IllFonic, and published by Gun Media. It is based on the film franchise of the same name owned by Paramount Pictures. It was released on May 26, 2017 as a digital release and later released on October 13, 2017 as a physical release for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The game is an asymmetrical multiplayer game, pitting up to seven players controlling Camp Crystal Lake counselors against one player controlling Jason Voorhees. It is a semi-open world game, with players able to explore it further.
The game was originally to be developed as Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp by IllFonic in mid-2015. Gun Media was in talks with Friday director Sean S. Cunningham to obtain a license to develop the game, and after a series of meetings, successfully acquired the rights. The game evolved into Friday the 13th: The Game, and funding from both Kickstarter and BackerKit raised approximately US$1,095,143.40, becoming the 124th most successful crowdfunded project of all time.
Video Friday the 13th: The Game
Gameplay
Friday the 13th: The Game is a semi-open world third-person survival horror game set in the camps around the fictional Crystal Lake from the Friday the 13th franchise. The time period in which the game is set is the mid-1980s in order to better capture the feel of the original films.
The game is an asymmetrical multiplayer video game, with up to eight people able to play in one game. One player controls Jason Voorhees whose objective is to kill as many counselors as possible. Playing as Jason grants special abilities including being able to sense nearby counselors and to teleport anywhere on the map the player wants. The remaining players control the counselors at the camp. The objective of playing as a counselor is to fill objectives (which are easier to fill when coordinating with other players) that will allow counselors to escape from the camp, or to survive until time runs out on the session, Jason may also be defeated with an "epic win condition" that requires both teamwork and planning, and is difficult to perform. A player may also control Tommy Jarvis, who becomes playable when certain conditions are met.
Kane Hodder, who portrayed Jason in Part VII, Part VIII, Jason Goes to Hell, and Jason X, reprised him via motion capture and coordinated the stunts. Thom Mathews, who portrayed Tommy Jarvis in Part VI, also reprises his role in the series.
Although the game was originally planned to be multiplayer only, a single player mode via an update was announced for a Summer 2017 release, despite the stretch goal for US$1.625 million to unlock it not being reached. The mode will consist of objective-based missions that will allow the player to take control of Jason against offline camp counselor bots. Some of the missions will be adaptations of the films, while others are original scenarios.
Maps Friday the 13th: The Game
Characters
In the game, players can take control of a number of different characters. Players will either be Jason or a Camp Counselor.
Jason Voorhees
There are ten different playable Jasons to choose from, from Parts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 as well as a "Retro Jason", several "Bloody Jason's", and Tom Savini's own Jason created especially for the game. Each Jason has his own strengths and weakness based on events depicted in the Friday the 13th movies.
Counselors
There are 12 Counselors to choose from, which include two new characters apart from the originals which are Mitch Floyd and movie character from Friday the 13th Part III, Fox.
- Adam Palomino
- A.J. Mason
- Brandon "Buggzy" Wilson
- Chad Kensington
- Deborah Kim
- Eric "J.R." LaChappa
- Fox
- Jenny Myers
- Kenny Riedell
- Mitch Floyd
- Tiffany Cox
- Vanessa Jones
Tommy Jarvis
Tommy Jarvis differs from the rest of the survivors as he not only has max stats on everything and starts equipped with a shotgun, pocket knife and first aid spray, but there has to be a certain requirement met before having the chance as playing as him.
First, as a counselor, locate the CB Radio set in one of the cabins. It has a microphone as well as several buttons and dials on blue electronic devices. Once found, hold the interaction button until the counselor finishes his/her dialogue and steps away from the radio. Once done, any dead or escaped counselor will randomly come back as Tommy Jarvis. Note that there has to be at least two (2) dead or escaped players before Tommy can arrive.
Development
After IllFonic's polarized 2012 remake of Nexuiz and Gun Media's Breach & Clear: Deadline in 2015, IllFonic went to work on a game entitled Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp, with little details on its release date with Gun, in which the story took place in Camp Forest Green. Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham was in talks about an upcoming game based on Friday the 13th with Gun. It is also the first video game IllFonic has developed with Unreal Engine 4, departing from CryEngine after the announcement of Project Advena.
Sean [S. Cunningham] came to us in early 2015, but we quickly discovered these weren't the normal business conversations you would have when you try to secure a license as important as Friday the 13th. It was totally different. It was a conversation built on mutual admiration and respect for what each had created. Sean immediately noticed the passion we had for Friday the 13th, and after several incredible meetings over the next few months, we decided to upgrade our plans for Summer Camp and embrace the Friday the 13th video game license. After several incredible meetings over the next few months, Sean surprised us by offering the Friday the 13th video game license.
Executive director and producer Randy Greenback organized both a BackerKit and a Kickstarter campaign to fund the game's development. Overall, US$422,866 was raised by 18,068 backers in BackerKit and about US$823,704.20 from 12,128 backers in Kickstarter, collecting about US$1,246,570.20 from both platforms, becoming the 95th most crowdfunded project of all time.
On October 13, 2015, it was announced that Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp had evolved into Friday the 13th: The Game, with an announcement trailer released by Gun on their YouTube channel the same day.
On Halloween, Harry Manfredini uploaded a video to the Gun YouTube channel with files on his computer monitor being partially seen, implying that he is composing music for the game.
On November 4, Gun released fly-through shots of the game's environment while in pre-alpha development. On November 10, IllFonic posted a video on Gun's YouTube channel, which highlighted testing and development for the game, including 3D modeling for Jason.
On February 25, 2016, Gun and IllFonic released camera footage showing Hodder with Tarah Paige and Ryan Staats, the two actors who will play the men and women counselors in the game, performing motion capture at Digital Domain. The footage shows Hodder performing a list of kill animations for the game, with rigged placeholder characters used to track the kills and animations in real-time. This was soon reuploaded by Bloody Disgusting in the same day.
A developer panel for Gun Media and IllFonic was opened at PAX South 2016 in January with alpha footage and a list of kill animations, with gameplay released at E3 2016 in June.
On September 2, Gun released the PAX West trailer for the game, entitled "XIII". The trailer showcased Jason Voorhees' kill animations specifically designed by Tom Savini, while set to "XIII" by Crazy Lixx.
Virtual Cabin
On June 30, 2016 IllFonic previewed a 3D development diary to complement behind-the-scenes interviews, footage, and in-development stock called the "Virtual Cabin". Besides overviews, the Cabin has item rooms that house information upon characters or scenes or easter eggs. An item room called the "Jason Room" was unlocked on July 18, 2016 and a room containing the main counselors was unlocked on August 12, 2016.
Soundtrack
Harry Manfredini, who created the soundtrack for the original film, composed the soundtrack of the video game. The physical copy will feature original concept art from the game and liner notes in the packaging.
During development, Gun released two tracks from the upcoming soundtrack, which released as "Harry Manfredini Full Track - 01" on November 9, 2015 and "Harry Manfredini Full Track - 02" on May 14, 2016.
A trailer of the game released for PAX West 2016 featured the theme for the game, "Killer", recorded by Crazy Lixx. Other songs included in the game from Crazy Lixx include "Live Before I Die" and "XIII" which can be heard when the radio is played.
Release
The game was pushed back from the fall release date, multiplayer came out on May 26, 2017 and the campaign was released in Q3 2017. The initial release was digital exclusive, with a physical copy published on Friday, October 13, 2017.
Reception
Friday the 13th: The Game received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
"Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy it a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled." was Caitlin Cooke's conclusion on Destructoid with a score of 6.5/10.
James Kozanitis of Game Revolution gave the game a score of 4 out of 5 stars saying that "Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. Indeed, you'll experience graphical bugs and other quirks that break your immersion. But, after getting into Friday the 13th: The Game, and I mean really getting into it, discovering all its intricacies and more technical aspects, these problems will seem so small as to evaporate, and balance issues you once perceived will be corrected. And what's left is a truly unique experience, unlike any other multiplayer game you've played (certainly a cut above other asymmetrical titles), where cooperation, wits and sometimes ruthless murder are what it takes to survive. Be wary of this game if only for its propensity to hook you. Jason has sunk his pickaxe into me, and he's not letting go, ensuring I will be playing Friday the 13th: The Game extensively for the considerable future.
Peter Brown's 4/10 on GameSpot stated that "These shortcomings and ongoing server issues aren't easily overlooked, and work against what promise Friday the 13th shows. As of now, a week after launch, it's short on content and performs poorly all around, especially on consoles. The story goes that the developers weren't prepared for amount of people who wanted to jump on day one, but that does little to assuage players who were convinced that they were paying for a finished product. Despite showing potential that may one day be realized, Friday the 13th comes across as an unfinished game that shouldn't have been released in its current state."
IGN's Daemon Hatfield scored the game a 6.9/10 with the consensus "Lopsided gameplay and egregious bugs almost kill the mood of Jason's murder spree in Friday the 13th: The Game."
75/100 was Tyler Wilde's score on PC Gamer and said "It needs more maps, but right now Friday the 13th is a gory game of hide-and-go-seek that's fun with funny people."
Austen Goslin's score of 4/10 on Polygon said that "Friday the 13th: The Game mimics the surface level of the classic film series, but misses the spirit."
The game has sold 1.8 million copies as of August 2017.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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