What is Hide or Die? [New 1v3 Asymmetric Horror Game]
Hide or Die was a Kickstarter-backed 16-person asymmetrical horror game. You’d travel around with other survivors to gather supplies, establish power to different areas, and attempt to survive the darkness.
Over time it has adapted and evolved into what is the 1.0 May 1st release. Now, it’s a high-intensity first-person 1v3 asymmetrical game where 3 survivors take on verticality, mobility, and hiding to escape a deadly hunter.
Let’s enter Hide or Die by Vecfour Digital.
So which side are you going to choose? Are you the stealthy survivor or the hungry hunter?
As a survivor in Hide or Die, you get to fully customize what your survivor looks like. You choose the nitty-gritty of eye shape to jaw size and from shoes to hats. After all, if there’s a chance of death, you might as well look good doing it. Once you have the look, it’s time to jump into a match. You’ll be joined by two other survivors and the hunter.
Your goal, as a survivor, is to do the following:
Activate Extractors, keep them fueled, stay alive, and reach the exits — all within a certain amount of time.
Extractors collect the darkness around you so that your exits can be revealed. The longer you keep them running with fuel, while you avoid the hunter, the sooner you’ll reach salvation. As you run and sneak around the environment, you’ll discover that there are layers upon layers of places to traverse and hide in. The corners of rooms, below tables, and behind debris can all be options.
On top of these choices, there are specific items that are meant for you to interact with and enter in order to hide. These range from Porto-potties to dumpsters and trashcans. But choose wisely as the hunter can discover you in these specific items. Once discovered, these items disappear thus revealing you and reducing the number of these hiding spots for the rest of the game.
Beyond hiding, there are two facets that can help improve your rate of survival. The first is the use of scaffolds. If you’re being chased, you’ll be able to quickly slide underneath scaffolds, which will slow the Hunter down (as they can only crouch-walk under them or run around them). Be mindful though as Hunters can break the scaffolds and you’ll need to repair them in order to use them again.
The second facet is the use of items. Throughout the map, you’ll discover items such as smoke grenades and bear traps that you can use to slow or debilitate the Hunter. You’ll also be able to find painkillers and med-kits to assist with your health.
If these implements can’t assist you and the hunter catches you, you’ll be able to take 2 hits from the Hunter before dying for the first time. You’ll then respawn in a coffin somewhere on the map. It’s up to the other two survivors to find the coffin and revive you. Once revived, you and your savior will be temporarily invisible to buy you some time to run away. At this point, be extra careful as it will now take fewer times for the hunter to strike you in order to kill you.
If you’re able to capture all the darkness needed within the time allotted, 2 hatches will appear on the map. You’ll need to run to and open them in order to jump down to safety. If you don’t do everything within the time allotted, gas will be released onto the map that will kill you and your teammates.
Now, what if you want to be the Hunter?
There are currently four Hunters to choose from that you’ll be able to unlock over time by just playing the game.
There is Scientist, Fisherman, Stitches, and Sledge.
Each character comes with unique weaponry (such as an electrified bat or scissors), and unique attacks or abilities (such as smashing a sledgehammer in the ground to damage and stun survivors or using radar to pinpoint the locations of those survivors).
All Hunters also have one ability in common, and that’s the use of Darksight. In Darksight, you’ll see the general location of each survivor and be able to swiftly travel toward their direction to apply map pressure. Be mindful that even though you can quickly travel and appear in their location, survivors are able to hear their own heartbeat as you get closer to them. This indicator lets them know in advance that they should run or find a place to hide.
As the Hunter, your goal is to do the following:
Search for survivors, push them away from extractors, damage extractors to slow down progress, damage scaffolds to slow down survivors being chased, and, ideally, kill them all.
In the end, as the Hunter, you’ve either killed the entire survivor team, delayed the extraction process so the survivors run out of time, or had the team (or just specific members of the team) slip-away through the hatches.
When a match ends, each player will earn a certain amount of Dark Points (or DP). These Dark Points are used in the Dark Path to open different pathways that possess different perks, augments, and modifiers that you can use in your future matches. Your total Dark Points are account-based, not specifically Survivor or Hunter based. This means that you’ll want to try to invest your DP wisely on a specific Hunter’s Dark Path or on the Survivor Dark Path.
In the end, you’ll be able to create a loadout that works best for your playstyle while keeping each match dynamic.
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