Friday the 13th: The Game Needs a Lot of Work (Review)

Gavin got a chance to spend some time at Camp Crystal Lake!

I'm a huge horror fan in regards to both movies and video games. I've been super excited for the release of Friday the 13th: The Game for quite some time. The game was supposed to be a fun 7 vs 1 multiplayer experience that was themed around everyone's favorite hockey masked killer. The final product, in short, is pretty terrible.

The game operates across 3 different maps with the main focus being the aforementioned 7vs1 multiplayer. You play as either the camp counselors trying to escape from Jason or you can play as Jason. The game is heavily unbalanced in this regard, and not in a good way.

I get that Jason is supposed to be an unstoppable killing machine, but he's an unstoppable killing machine. It makes the game almost feel a little pointless. Sure, there are a number of different ways that the counselors can escape and survive, but almost all of those ways are incredibly tedious. For example, gathering all the parts to start a car and then having to complete a mini-game to start the car, which is supposed to add tension, just ends up being a nuisance.

A large issue with playing as the counselors, besides escaping, is the feeling of the counselors never really having a chance. Again, that works great in the movies, but in a game, you want to feel like you have some sort of chance. Jason can be killed, but you have to jump through so many hoops to do it, and it's totally scenario based, that you'll end up just trying to call the police to escape.

The one thing that the game does do really well is playing as Jason. You feel scary and imposing. Jason gets a bunch of powers that let him teleport around the map to be a more effective killing machine. However, you probably won't be playing as Jason that much since a full game gives you a 1 in 8 chance of playing as him. When you do play as him, his kills are great and really makes you feel like a badass.

The biggest issue with the game, at least during this launch window, is that it is broken as f***. Matchmaking does not work on the Xbox One, the version I've been playing. Instead, you have to try to find private matches through either social media or the group settings on Xbox. It's just another hurdle placed in front of those trying to enjoy the game. I shouldn't have to try to beg random strangers to invite me to their game just so I can actually experience the thing I paid $40 for.

For all of the faults Friday the 13th: The Game has, there is some fun to be had. When I was finally able to get some friends together to play, there was a lot of laughing and joking while we all ran away from Jason. There is a good game in there, it just hasn't been found. Hopefully, with a few more patches and updates, the largest being the addition of a single player mode coming later this summer, this game can be what everyone was hoping it would be.