Dead by Daylight
This date 2019 needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
Dead by Daylight | |
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Developer(s) | Behaviour Interactive |
Publisher(s) | Starbreeze Studios (PC through 2017) Behaviour Interactive (PC from 2018) 505 Games (PS4 and Xbox One) Koch Media (Android) |
Director(s) |
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Producer(s) | Stéfan Beauchamp-Daniel |
Designer(s) | Matthew Spriggens |
Programmer(s) |
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Artist(s) |
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Writer(s) | Farah Daoud-Brixi |
Composer(s) | Michel F. April |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) | |
Release | Microsoft Windows
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Genre(s) | Survival horror, indie |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric survival horror developed by Behaviour Interactive.[1] Dead by Daylight was released for Microsoft Windows in June 2016,[2][3] released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017,[4][5][6] released on Nintendo Switch on September 24, 2019, and a mobile port is scheduled for release on iOS and Android later in 2020. The game is played as a one versus four online multiplayer where one player takes on the role of the savage killer, and the other four players play as survivors, trying to escape the killer and avoid being caught and sacrificed to the Entity.
Alongside a handful of original characters, the game also includes downloadable (DLC) characters from several horror franchises such as Halloween, Left 4 Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, Evil Dead, Scream, and Stranger Things. [7]
As of January 1, 2018, Behaviour Interactive became the game's publisher, acquiring publishing rights from Starbreeze Studios.[8]
Gameplay
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/DBD_Gameplay_screenshot.jpg/270px-DBD_Gameplay_screenshot.jpg)
A group of up to four survivors must elude one killer. The survivors' perspectives are third-person, while the killer's perspective is first-person.[1] The survivors cannot fight against the killer and can only survive by running away and evading them. They must use obstacles in the form of wooden pallets, windows, and items that they either find inside chests or bring before the match starts to run from the killer for as long as they can. In order to escape, survivors must repair 5 generators scattered across the entire map to power the exit gates, then they must open the exit gates and leave the area themselves or find a hatch to jump into.
Characters
Players assume the role of one of the 20 survivors: Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Nea Karlsson, Laurie Strode, William 'Bill' Overbeck, Ace Visconti, Feng Min, David King,[9][10] Quentin Smith, David Tapp, Kate Denson, Adam Francis, Jeffrey 'Jeff' Johansen, Jane Romero, Ashley 'Ash' Williams, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, or Yui Kimura. The goal of the survivors is to escape the enclosed area, which can be done in one of two ways: either by repairing five disabled generators to provide power to the switch boxes of two exit gates leading out of the trial grounds; or by escaping through the hatch. The hatch opens only when there is only one survivor remaining in the trial. The survivors will need a key to open the hatch if there is more than one person alive.[11] If the killer closes the hatch before the survivor reaches it the Endgame Collapse will initiate, giving the survivor only two minutes to open one of the exit gates before the timer runs out or if they are caught by the killer. [12] The survivors' movement options consist of sprinting, walking, crouch-walking, or crawling. They must elude the killer by losing their line of sight in a chase or by successfully hiding from them.
Alternatively, players assume the role of one of the 18 killers: the Trapper, the Wraith, the Hillbilly, the Nurse, the Shape, the Hag, the Doctor, the Huntress, the Cannibal, the Nightmare, the Pig, the Clown, the Spirit, the Legion, the Plague, the Ghost Face, the Demogorgon, or the Oni. Most killers only have one form of locomotion, moving at a fast pace, which is moderately faster than the pace of a sprinting survivor, the average killer speed being 4.6 m/s compared to survivors' 4 m/s. When hunting the survivors, the killer must capture them by either striking them twice with their weapon (the first hit reduces the survivor to the "injured" state and gives them a speed boost that lasts as long as your successful hit cooldown, while the second hit drops them to crawling on the ground) or grabbing them in one move by either catching them inside lockers, while attempting to vault over pallets or through windows (these work only when the survivor is injured), while repairing a generator, or trying to rescue a fellow survivor from a hook. Some killers have secondary attacks that deal double-damage and put survivors into the "dying" state in one strike.
Every killer has a secondary ability, called a killer power. Each killer power is unique. For instance, the Wraith can "cloak", turning invisible and moving faster (but being unable to strike survivors while hidden), and the Hillbilly wields a chainsaw which allows him to dash quickly along the map and instantly knock down survivors it comes into contact with. The powers can be augmented using add-ons, which are purchased in the bloodweb.
Basic gameplay
The killer's goal is to sacrifice survivors to the Entity, a malevolent being which rules over the realm in which Dead by Daylight takes place. Caught survivors are put onto meathooks located throughout the trial grounds, which starts the sacrifice process, which will take two minutes to complete without any outside influences. Some special add-ons, perks or the 'Memento Mori' offerings allow the killer to bypass the sacrifice process and kill a survivor directly, with a special animation.
The first time a survivor is hooked, they enter the first phase. In this phase only, the survivor can try for a low (4%) chance of escaping from the hook at the cost of tremendously accelerating the sacrifice process upon failure to escape. Hooked survivors can also be rescued by fellow survivors. If the survivor escapes or is saved and eventually hooked a second time, they will enter the 'struggle phase', in which the survivor has to resist the Entity trying to stab them by rapidly pressing the spacebar, X, or A, depending on the platform, until they are either saved by an ally or killed by the 'Entity'. If the survivor is saved during the 'struggle phase' and is hooked a third time, they will die instantly with no opportunity of survival.
The killer, despite walking at a fast pace, is slower than survivors in most other movements: after striking a survivor, the killer will slow their movement to wipe the blood off of their weapon. The killer is also slower in vaulting through windows and cannot leap over pallets that survivors can throw down into their path (with the exception of The Legion), but instead have to go around the spot or spend some time destroying them.
The killer also has an aura-reading ability, constantly revealing the location of generators, hex totems and in case of carrying a survivor, hooks across the map. A new mechanic was added in Patch 1.5.0, which introduced 'Bloodlust'. 15 seconds into a chase, the killer receives a boost of 0.2 m/s to their base movement speed; 30 seconds into a chase grants the killer a 0.4 m/s boost; and finally, if a chase lasts for 45 consecutive seconds, the killer receives a 0.6 m/s boost. Bloodlust only lasts until a chase ends after which the movement speed boost will degrade at a rate of 10% per second spent not chasing a survivor, with breaking a pallet or injuring a survivor instantly removing it completely.
When dealing with the killer, survivors can make use of a handful of Items – searching chests inside buildings which will sometimes yield med-kits (which allow the survivors to heal themselves rather than wait for a teammate), flashlights (which can be used to temporarily blind the killer and rescue a survivor that the killer is carrying), toolboxes (which can be used both to repair generators faster and to temporarily sabotage hooks and bear traps), keys (do a variety of things depending on their add-ons and may be used to open the hatch), maps (which track objectives and reveal their auras). One resource that survivors can use are massive wooden pallets, which are placed upright, and can be pulled down when a survivor runs past them – if the killer is right behind them, the pallet will momentarily stun the killer if it successfully hits them.
Other technical advantages that survivors have include the ability to see the aura of downed and hooked teammates – thus easily drawing them to their location for a rescue – and can similarly see the locations of newly repaired generators and the exit gates for a short period of time once all necessary generators are repaired. When the killer is near, the survivors will hear a heartbeat, and eventually tense music, both of which increase in intensity with proximity to the killer. They can also see a red light (called the "red stain") emanating from the killer's head onto the ground, which reveals the direction which they are facing.
Objectives
Interacting with most objects and actions in the game causes random skill checks to trigger. Right before a skill check triggers, the player will receive a noise notification, and a needle within a circle will then appear on-screen. The player must hit the action button, when the needle is within a certain randomly chosen section of the circle before the needle passes it. The player can hit either a "good skill check" or "a great skill check". Hitting a good skill check grants 50 Bloodpoints, and a great skill check grants 150 Bloodpoints and an instant 2% bonus to progression on the objective. Failing a skill check has multiple consequences based on the action being taken.
Repairing each generator takes a lengthy period of time and makes a rather small mechanical noise during the process. Failing a repair skill check will cause an explosion that will set the progress of the generator repair back and make a loud noise alerting the killer to the survivor's location. Killers have the ability to damage generators, which will regress them over time.
Sabotaging a hook takes a significantly shorter amount of time than repairing a generator but is considerably louder. To sabotage a hook, survivors must be equipped with a toolbox or have the Saboteur perk active. Skill checks are more common during this action than when repairing a generator. Failing a sabotage skill check makes a loud banging sound, momentarily halting progress and alerting the killer. Sabotaged hooks will respawn after three minutes have elapsed. Special event hooks and the basement hooks cannot be sabotaged.
Healing yourself or your allied survivors can take drastically different lengths of time depending on multiple factors such as if they have a med-Kit, certain perks active, killer de-buffs and whether the survivor is healing themselves or an ally. Skill checks are as common as when repairing but have a slightly less severe consequence when failed. Failing a healing skill check still reduces the progress of the action but the wail made by the survivor being healed is quieter than the other explosions and bangs, but still alerts the killer of the location within a certain range.
If a Survivor is caught by the killer, they are picked up and usually carried to the nearest hook. During this time they can attempt to wiggle out of the killer's grasp before they reach the hook, and attempt to run away. If the killer succeeds in impaling a survivor on one of the many hooks in the area, a teammate can rescue the impaled survivor or, more rarely, the impaled survivor (with a 4% chance) can rescue themselves from the hook.
Once all generators are repaired, a survivor must find a switch next to one of two exit gates and hold it for 20 seconds in order to open the door. The game only ends when all survivors have either escaped or have been killed – thus, while some survivors may escape and finish early, those still inside must keep playing. Players who have escaped or died have the ability to observe the remaining players through the game's conclusion, or return to the menu and join a new game.
If only one survivor remains then repairing generators can become nearly impossible. An alternative escape method would be to use the black lock, commonly known as the 'hatch', which spawns in a random area after the number of generators repaired equals one more than there are survivors left alive in the game (i.e., three generators repaired with only two survivors still living). The hatch spawns closed but when only one survivor remains then it will open automatically. The killer can close the hatch, which triggers the "endgame collapse" phase of the game. While closed it can be opened if one survivor has a 'Dull Key' or a 'Skeleton Key' and will remain open for 30 seconds, allowing any remaining survivors to hop in and escape.[13]
Perks
Survivors and killers each have the option to utilize up to four perks in their load-out, which gives their characters special abilities. Note that you can not have more than 2 of for example exhaustion perks.
Each character starts off with a set of three perks that are unique to them and must first be unlocked before the other characters can use them. These perks normally aim for a particular play style for their respective characters and can be unlocked and upgraded in the Bloodweb using Bloodpoints and each Bloodweb can hold 1-4 perks. Perks differ between survivors and killers. Survivor perks can range from giving a burst of speed when running from the killer to being able to self-heal without a first aid kit, to unlocking the ability to sabotage meat hooks without a toolbox. Killer perks may range from seeing survivors auras, hindering their struggle time while being carried and locking down generators to prevent them from being worked on. There is also a multitude of 'universal' perks that are available to be used by any character.
Both survivors and killers are able to unlock items, perks, add-ons and offerings through the Bloodweb. Every action performed in a trial awards the player a number of Bloodpoints, and the sum are added to the player's total at the end of the trial. Each level of the Bloodweb is procedurally generated, and gets larger as the character gains levels. The rewards are connected to each other in a radial tree, and players must purchase rewards along the progression path to gain access to others. Once every reward on the tree has been purchased, the Bloodweb will generate a new level for the player to progress to, increasing that character's level. Once the character reaches Level 50, they will be given the option to prestige. While given the option, they will still be able to buy things from the Bloodweb, but will not further increase their level. Once prestiged, characters will reset their progression and receive one of their default customisation options in a blood-splattered variation. One can prestige their character up to three times.
The Bloodweb may contain items and their add-ons, offerings that can be spent at the start of the round to influence the trial's conditions, and perks that make the character more powerful. Offerings and add-ons may only be used in one trial, whereas items can be re-used until the player dies, uses up all the charges of an item or gives it to another player. Items can also be acquired from chests on the map, but this does not affect the character's Bloodweb.
Setting
Realms
The game takes place across fourteen realms which are based on the places the killers became murderers: The MacMillan Estate (Trapper), Autohaven Wreckers (Wraith), Coldwind Farm (Hillbilly), Crotus Prenn Asylum (Nurse, Clown),[14] Haddonfield (Shape),[15] Backwater Swamp (Hag),[16] Léry's Memorial Institute (Doctor),[17] the Red Forest (Huntress, Plague),[18] Springwood/Badham Preschool (Nightmare),[19] Gideon Meat Plant (Pig),[20] Yamaoka Estate (Spirit, Oni), Ormond (Legion), and Hawkins National Laboratory (Demogorgon). Over time, the evilness of their actions accumulated there until it attracted the attention of the Entity, an unknown force of darkness from a place with no name. Most realms are split into multiple maps with similar features but small variations.
Buildings
Every map except for Wreckers' Yard and Rotten Fields features a map-specific building or landmark that remains in the same place in the map every game. Every map also features a building known as 'The Killer Shack' which is the same throughout all maps and appears in one of a few predetermined locations in the map, with the exception of four maps; Léry's Memorial Institute, Gideon Meat Plant, Haddonfield and Hawkins National Laboratory. Every new game, a room known as the 'basement' is placed under either the map-specific building or the shack.
The basement is a special room consisting of one item chest for the survivors to scavenge in, and four cabinets for them to hide in. It is also home to a special four-pointed hook that cannot be destroyed or tampered with in any way by Survivors. The basement only has one way in, making it a very secure place for killers to bring their victims without fear of other survivors saving them. Because of this danger, survivors are awarded a small number of points for even venturing into the basement.
Plot
The Entity, a supernatural being hailing from the ancient blood web, is awakened from its slumber whenever it is summoned by actions of great violence and malice. The killers, mostly serial murderers, or victims of terrible tragedy, are pulled out of reality by it and convinced or forced to do its bidding. In order to maintain its existence, the Entity requires sacrifices, and demands that they hunt and kill the survivors so it can feed off their hope and steal a piece of their soul upon death. In order to continue this hunt, The Entity blocks off the Gateways of death and puts the dead into a dreamlike state that leads the survivors back to The Entity's world to get hunted again.
The survivors are pulled into the Entity's constructed world when they wander too close to the places the killers were taken from, disappearing from the real world without a trace. They end up at a lonely campfire, where they rest between trials, until a killer pursues them again. Each trial takes place in a series of realms constructed by the Entity of areas from where the killers were taken. The survivors' only hope of escape is to complete a series of generators scattered throughout each realm to power up large gates to escape. If the killer has killed all but one survivor, the Entity will offer the latter a final means of escape in the form of a hatch. Escaping from the grounds always takes the survivors back to the campfire, and offerings can be created to be burnt at it and appeal for the Entity's favour. Since the Entity feeds off the hope of the survivors to escape, it helps them just as much as the killers, acting as an impartial observer of the hunt, stepping in only to claim those hung on its hooks.
Downloadable content
Behaviour Interactive as of 2019 released 16 individual DLCs in total. Each DLC has included both a new survivor and killer, except for four where only one character was introduced (Bill for Left 4 Dead, Leatherface for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Ash for The Evil Dead, and Ghostface for Scream), and one where 3 characters were introduced (Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler and the Demogorgon for Stranger Things). The DLC's release with an average of three months interval between each one. Prior to the release of every DLC since the Clown, a Public Test Build (PTB) is discharged, which allows the developers of the game to test and receive community feedback on the major upcoming changes. Once the PTB has been out for roughly two weeks, it is disabled for further maintenance on the pertinent upcoming DLC, such as bug fixing, adding missing features, etc. before the DLC officially gets released. The estimated time span between the opening of the Public Test Build and a new DLC's release is approximately 2-3 weeks, and the DLC typically releases a few days after the shutdown of the PTB.
8 out of the 17 currently released DLC's have featured licensed killers and survivors from both popular horror franchises and other video games. The DLCs can be acquired in two ways; by either purchasing them normally through Steam, or non-licensed characters can be purchased through a shop within the game using an in-game currency called Iridescent Shards. This alternative way of obtaining the DLCs was introduced in the 2.0 update (Curtain Call DLC). Each DLC has its own trailer and a so-called "spotlight" that exhibits the killer and survivor as well as a new in-game map. The relevant DLC does not need to be purchased in order for any map to be played on.
Three DLCs, The Last Breath, Left Behind, and A Lullaby for the Dark, have been distributed for free.
Key
- † This symbol denotes DLCs that unveiled licensed characters, indicating Behaviour Interactive acquired the license to utilize said fictional characters.
The Halloween Chapter † | October 25, 2016 | The Shape | Laurie Strode | Lampkin Lane (Haddonfield) |
Of Flesh and Mud | December 8, 2016 | The Hag | Ace Visconti | The Pale Rose (Backwater Swamp) |
Left Behind † | March 8, 2017 | – | William "Bill" Overbeck | – |
Spark of Madness | May 11, 2017 | The Doctor | Feng Min | Treatment Theatre (Léry's Memorial Institute) |
A Lullaby for the Dark | July 27, 2017 | The Huntress | David King | Mother's Dwelling (Red Forest) |
LeatherFace † | September 14, 2017 | The Cannibal | – | - |
A Nightmare on Elm Street † | October 26, 2017 | The Nightmare | Quentin Smith | Badham Preschool (Springwood) |
The Saw Chapter † | January 23, 2018 | The Pig | David Tapp | The Game (Gideon Meat Plant) |
Curtain Call | June 12, 2018 | The Clown | Kate Denson | Father Campbell's Chapel (Crotus Prenn Asylum) |
Shattered Bloodline | September 18, 2018 | The Spirit | Adam Francis | Family Residence (Yamaoka Estate) |
Darkness Among Us | December 11, 2018 | The Legion | Jeffrey "Jeff" Johansen | Mount Ormond Resort (Ormond) |
Demise of the Faithful | March 19, 2019 | The Plague | Jane Romero | Temple of Purgation (Red Forest) |
Ash vs Evil Dead † | April 2, 2019 | – | Ashley "Ash" Williams | – |
Ghost Face † | June 18, 2019 | The Ghost Face | – | – |
Stranger Things † | September 17, 2019 | The Demogorgon | Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler | The Underground Complex (Hawkins National Laboratory)[21] |
Cursed Legacy | December 3, 2019 | The Oni | Yui Kimura | Sanctum of Wrath (Yamaoka Estate) |
Cosmetics
Along with the Curtain Call DLC that was released on June 12, 2018, the developers also released a cosmetics store which allows you to use Iridescent Shards or Auric Cells. In the store, players can use the Iridescent Shards or Auric Cells to buy cosmetics for their survivors or killers. They would be able to buy a set chosen by the developers for a discount instead of individually buying it. Although this procedure may seem like a way to make their survivors or killers more presentable, Auric Cells can only be bought with real money. If the player wants to use Iridescent Shards, it would take a longer time.
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | PC: 71/100[22] PS4: 64/100[23] XONE: 58/100[24] |
Publication | Score |
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GameSpot | PC: 6/10[25] |
Dead by Daylight received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.[22] GameSpot awarded it a score of 6 out of 10, saying "Dead by Daylight executes the concept of a competitive horror game well, but only to a point."[25]
Sales
As of May 2019 the game sold more than 5 million copies.[26]
See also
References
- ^ a b Herrera, Kayla (February 10, 2016). "Dead By Daylight Is Just Another Upcoming Slasher Horror Game—Or Is It?". www.cinemablend.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ "Dead by Daylight on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ "Behaviour Interactive Buys Dead by Daylight [Publishing] Rights". Games Industry. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
- ^ Tach, Dave (April 26, 2016). "Dead by Daylight is a horror movie where you're the victim (or the Killer)". Polygon. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ Sykes, Tom (February 6, 2016). "Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical slasher horror". pcgamer. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ O'Connor, Alice (April 22, 2016). "Dead By Daylight Bringing 4v1 Slasher Horror To June". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/19/20812070/stranger-things-dead-by-daylight-nancy-wheeler-steve-harrington-demogorgon-chapter
- ^ https://www.starbreeze.com/2018/03/starbreeze-sells-rights-to-dead-by-daylight-to-behaviour-for-usd-16-million/
- ^ Dodd, Adam (April 21, 2016). "New 'Dead by Daylight' Footage Introduces the Killers - Bloody Disgusting!". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
- ^ "Dead By Daylight Gets Halloweenie In New DLC".
- ^ Johnston, Rich (June 15, 2016). "E3: Dead By Daylight Wants To Kill You". Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movie, TV News. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
- ^ https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Endgame_Collapse
- ^ "Dead by Daylight - Manual". deadbydaylight.com.
- ^ "The Last Breath: Dead by Daylight". Dead by Daylight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "The Halloween Chapter - Dead by Daylight". Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "Of Flesh and Mud - Dead by Daylight". Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "Spark of Madness". Dead by Daylight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "A Lullaby for the Dark - Dead by Daylight". Dead by Daylight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "A Nightmare on Elm Street - Dead by Daylight". Dead by Daylight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ "The SAW® Chapter - Dead by Daylight". Dead by Daylight. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ Marshall, Cass; Haasch, Palmer (August 19, 2019). "Stranger Things is coming to Dead by Daylight in a new update". Polygon. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "Dead by Daylight for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
- ^ "Dead by Daylight for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
- ^ "Dead by Daylight for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
- ^ a b Gilroy, Joab (July 3, 2016). "Dead by Daylight Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- ^ "Video: Inside the massive success of Dead by Daylight". venturebeat.com. May 6, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
External links
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- Cannibalism in fiction
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