3 out of 5 stars

The most financially successful (but not necessarily the best) horror film series was developed into a survival horror video game. No, not the 1989 NES game, which is considered to be one of the worst video games of all time. Friday the 13th: The Game was developed by Gun Media, and the first game that developer Illfonic has created.  And it shows.

The concept of the game isn’t terrible at all. The game play is actually quite enjoyable. As a counselor, your main objective is to find items that will help you escape. You do this by repairing cars, calling the police, outlasting, or even killing Jason.

When you play as Jason, your mission is obviously to kill all of the counselors. Jason has several abilities to help him track down and finish off the counselors, though the counselors could use weapons to stun him.

That’s one example of a broken function in this game. Sometimes a counselor will hit Jason point-blank with a baseball bat (or at least it seems like it), and Jason avoids being stunned. An option to help you hit Jason easier is the wonky “combat mode.” Simply press a button and the camera will stay angled towards Jason. The problem with this function is that it’ll occasionally aim at other counselors, and then you’ll try to change it, but by that time it’s too late.

There’s also just too many small, knit-picky bugs and off-sync animations. When you use the radio to call Tommy Jarvis, the voice clips of the characters will just cut off at the end of the call. Also, every character basically says the same lines, they’re just done by a different voice actor. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if this game was made within a month.

The game provides 3 unique maps to play on. The names of them are Camp Crystal Lake, Higgins Haven, and Packanack. It’s almost like they made one map, and then to make the other two, they just puzzle-pieced it differently. They visually all look the same. The woods, the textures, and there’s even certain cabins that look identical throughout the 3 maps. The only unique feature on each map is of course, the layout, but also the larger, main cabin found in the center of the map, such as the Packanack lodge.

A huge controversy about the game when it first came out was its inability to find an online game in quick play. This made players desperate to form their own private matches instead of waiting 10 minutes to find one online.

Now, instead of bashing the game, onto some good things. The game does in fact offer a lot of strategic planning. Players must communicate with each other if they want to have a higher chance of winning. Sometimes, if all you need is a car battery, Jason can put a stop to your mission all because you can’t find a car battery.

Friday the 13th’s coolest feature is its proximity chat. Counselors, and Jason, too, will be able to hear each other speak only if they are in close proximity. Counselors can find walkie talkies to make this task much easier.

And, of course, the game has the same thrill as any moderately scary horror movie/video game, as well as the gore of a classic slasher.

Friday the 13th isn’t exactly the most quality video game, but it has some great ideas. The game honestly feels…unfinished. Of course, some empathy for the game developers, as they don’t seem to have much experience. Nonetheless, Friday the 13th: The Game is praised for its great concepts, but experiences problems at the same time.