This might very well be the best asymmetrical multiplayer game currently on the market. Not because it actually does anything all that different from its competition, but rather the simple fact that it's based on one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time. The faithfulness to the property alone made it more enjoyable for me than the likes of Evolve or Dead by Daylight, despite those also being decent games in their own rights. Yet, being better than the rest doesn't mean that Friday the 13th managed to escape all of the problems that these kind of games are accustomed to. So the amount of fun you'll have will still vary wildly from match to match.
I found playing as a counselor to be the more consistently entertaining of the two options. You're given a lot of different ways to survive Jason's onslaught. A bare bones tutorial means that you'll have to figure out most of this stuff on your own, but discovering how all the different things you'll come across in the environment can be used to aid in your escape or defeat of Jason can be very satisfying, tense, and rewarding so long as you aren't killed at the beginning of the match and get to participate in putting all of the pieces together at least a little bit. Which kind of leads to the biggest problem on this side of the game. Playing as a counselor is obviously designed with teamwork in mind, but as anyone with any experience with multiplayer games will tell you even while being chased by a nigh unkillable brute in a hockey mask it's often your own teammates that will be your worst nightmare.
Coming across a group of high level players that like to hog all of the good stuff for themselves while berating the less experienced around them who are just trying to participate is no fun whatsoever. Mix that in with the game's already steep learning curve and one or more bad encounters like that could turn away some newcomers. Now, not everybody will have this problem. There are those who will come across longtime vets who are more than happy to show them the ropes. Unfortunately, it will just come down to luck of the draw as the big trade-off that comes with going online in any form is that at some point you're going to come across a jerk or two. I'm not saying that the asymmetrical multiplayer genre is more prone to these kind of encounters, but when the most enjoyable experiences I've had with these types of games were in matches where nobody was wearing a mic and we were all largely doing our own things, well, that should tell you something.
With the offline option being plagued with AI so bad it's outright unplayable, those wanting to go strictly solo are going to have to hope they get selected to be Jason. While it can be a lot of fun to rampage your way through Camp Crystal Lake leaving a trail of bodies in your wake, I did find that this side had the more flawed gameplay. Asymmetrical multiplayer games require a delicate balancing act of meticulously designed and interlocking systems to ensure that things remain fair on both sides of the experience. So it makes sense for the counselors to have a significant speed and mobility advantage over Jason considering that he's basically a walking, invulnerable death machine, but I don't see why his movements and controls had to be so stiff and clunky. This is somewhat offset by the variety of abilities at your disposal that vary across the handful of film incarnations you can play as, but those are rendered useless when faced with a player that is content to cheese the game by jumping in and out of windows repeatedly or running around a table until the clock runs out.
At it's best the game is an absolute blast. A lot of attention to detail was put into recreating the look and feel of the films, allowing it to pull off the tension and thrills of a good '80s slasher flick a nice portion of the time. The problem is that the experience is so darn inconsistent due to things like the stiff controls, connection issues, glitches, or potentially getting paired with toxic players. Because of that I can't wholeheartedly recommend it no matter how badly I actually want to.
6.8/10
I found playing as a counselor to be the more consistently entertaining of the two options. You're given a lot of different ways to survive Jason's onslaught. A bare bones tutorial means that you'll have to figure out most of this stuff on your own, but discovering how all the different things you'll come across in the environment can be used to aid in your escape or defeat of Jason can be very satisfying, tense, and rewarding so long as you aren't killed at the beginning of the match and get to participate in putting all of the pieces together at least a little bit. Which kind of leads to the biggest problem on this side of the game. Playing as a counselor is obviously designed with teamwork in mind, but as anyone with any experience with multiplayer games will tell you even while being chased by a nigh unkillable brute in a hockey mask it's often your own teammates that will be your worst nightmare.
Coming across a group of high level players that like to hog all of the good stuff for themselves while berating the less experienced around them who are just trying to participate is no fun whatsoever. Mix that in with the game's already steep learning curve and one or more bad encounters like that could turn away some newcomers. Now, not everybody will have this problem. There are those who will come across longtime vets who are more than happy to show them the ropes. Unfortunately, it will just come down to luck of the draw as the big trade-off that comes with going online in any form is that at some point you're going to come across a jerk or two. I'm not saying that the asymmetrical multiplayer genre is more prone to these kind of encounters, but when the most enjoyable experiences I've had with these types of games were in matches where nobody was wearing a mic and we were all largely doing our own things, well, that should tell you something.
With the offline option being plagued with AI so bad it's outright unplayable, those wanting to go strictly solo are going to have to hope they get selected to be Jason. While it can be a lot of fun to rampage your way through Camp Crystal Lake leaving a trail of bodies in your wake, I did find that this side had the more flawed gameplay. Asymmetrical multiplayer games require a delicate balancing act of meticulously designed and interlocking systems to ensure that things remain fair on both sides of the experience. So it makes sense for the counselors to have a significant speed and mobility advantage over Jason considering that he's basically a walking, invulnerable death machine, but I don't see why his movements and controls had to be so stiff and clunky. This is somewhat offset by the variety of abilities at your disposal that vary across the handful of film incarnations you can play as, but those are rendered useless when faced with a player that is content to cheese the game by jumping in and out of windows repeatedly or running around a table until the clock runs out.
At it's best the game is an absolute blast. A lot of attention to detail was put into recreating the look and feel of the films, allowing it to pull off the tension and thrills of a good '80s slasher flick a nice portion of the time. The problem is that the experience is so darn inconsistent due to things like the stiff controls, connection issues, glitches, or potentially getting paired with toxic players. Because of that I can't wholeheartedly recommend it no matter how badly I actually want to.
6.8/10