Friday the 13th : The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Black Tower Studios
Published By : Gun Media
Category : Asymetrical Multiplayer, Horror
Release Date : August 13, 2019

While the last Friday The 13th movie released 10 years ago, Jason is still ready to slash his way into your heart. Quite literally.

Friday The 13th: The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game developed by Black Tower Studios and Illfonic.
It originally released on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One in 2017, but it has finally reached its way onto the Nintendo Switch.
If you have ever seen the movies, get ready to expect the unexpected from the killer wearing a hockey mask!

Quick! Call the police!

The game plays very much as Dead by Daylight, another asymmetrical multiplayer horror game: up to seven counselors will try to escape Jason Voorhees’ wrath, completing tasks such as repairing a vehicle or calling the police. And hey, you can even kill him, if you follow the right steps. But escaping Jason is no easy feat. He can hear you and once he sees you, your only choice is to run faster than him.

The game consists of two modes: online and offline, with the online one being the “core” experience where most of the fun is at.
Offline mode (which still requires a Nintendo Switch Online Subscription, for whatever reason), consists of three experiences: challenges, bots and a virtual cabin filled with trivia from the world of Friday the 13th.
There are 10 challenge maps in Challange mode: they act as mini-stories for the characters, where the player, in the role of Jason, must kill the counselors in a specific way in order to play more challenges.
Playing with bots is just playing a normal round against the counselors.
The virtual cabin is a first-person experience where the player can explore a cabin filled with trivia from the movies, the games, and other media.

Challenges are fun and entertaining, and they play just like the movie: you need to wait for the right moment to strike. Playing as Jason is always fun: he can teleport around the map, stalk his victims, blast trough doors, impale the survivors…you know the drill! Burn them! Electrocute them! IMPALE! The bloodlust is high in this one!
The only letdown is that the AI in the bots round is…laughable. They seem to not know what they are doing, and while it’s fun to see it doesn’t make the mode nearly as enjoyable as the online mode. And I wish that there was a way to play as the counselors instead of only Jason, as, personally, I enjoy being the victim more.

Talking about the online mode: get ready to run ANYWHERE. While playing as either Jason or the counselors, you will be looking all around the map for your object of desire: be it a head or the car keys. The game presents a total of 5 different maps, all iconic locations from the movies, such as Camp Crystal Lake or Packanack Lodge. Survivors are, luckily, not just looking around the map without protection: they can find weapons, such as axes or shotguns, healing sprays, pocket knives, maps, and even firecrackers!

Survivors have plenty of resources to go on. They can hide under beds or inside closets, stalls and tends, block doors or escape through windows. They can trap Jason with a bear trap or spot him with a flare gun. But watch out: they can get scared. Whenever their fear starts to kick in, their vision becomes darker, making it harder to see and to run.
But Jason has even more features. He can teleport around the map, he can trap survivors with hidden bear traps, throw knives or even grab them.

Since it’s an asymmetrical game, it’s made to be a collaborative experience. But how can survivors cooperate? Simple: voice chat! Amazingly, Friday The 13th features in-game voice chat, that can be used by everybody, as long as they are near somebody else or have a walkie-talkie on them. This feature is amazing and very needed in a game like this. As long as you have earbuds with a microphone, you are good to go.

This game also offers character customization! There are 14 available characters, some are available from the start and others will be unlocked through leveling up. All characters have different statistics, such as higher stamina or strength. You can even change the colors of their clothes or give them perks, that increase your odds of survival. The same can be said for Jason: there are 8 different Jason variants (9 if you count the retro skin), each with different weapons and advantages and disadvantages.

Sadly though, all that glitters is not gold. The game has some issues. The switch version has a low resolution and the models look bad, especially the hair. There are some bugs and glitches, for example, it occurred to me that I would not spawn in-game or that I would spawn with a different character than the one I selected. Other times Jason grabbed me but I just got stuck in the air and managed to escape due to that. While the framerate is not bad at all, it needs to be stabler in some parts of the maps. One thing that the game REALLY needs is crossplay. As of now, it does not feature crossplay with any other platform (luckily though, the developers said that they will consider it for the future).

Despite all of this, I truly believe that Friday The 13th: The Game Ultimate Slasher Edition truly is a great game. It’s a bit addictive, and if you are playing with friends it’s even better. It also includes all previously released paid DLCs and, if you buy the physical edition, it comes with an exclusive poster!

In conclusion, despite its flaws, Friday The 13th is a fun and entertaining game. The Switch port is done surprisingly well and, if you are looking for some neat collaborative game, this is a valid option for you.