Dead by Daylight: A Horror Anomaly
Against all odds, Dead by Daylight survives day and night
Honestly, it’s not often you see a truly one-of-a-kind game: a game that is genuinely the only one of its kind. It’s also not often you see many games remain one-of-a-kind even after five years. Hell, it’s not even often you see an online horror game continue to survive after its initial release.
Behaviour (the developer) must have made a deal with the Entity. Somehow Dead by Daylight (against all odds) not only continues to survive long after the break of dawn, but actually thrives. There is no ‘Dead by Daylight 2’ around the corner, but Behaviour keeps the player base satisfied with regular updates, fixes, maintenance and DLC.
Behaviour proves that if you treat the player base with care, while regularly keeping an open dialogue with the community, you’ll retain a loyal player base — and the Dead by Daylight fandom may be the most loyal. Despite the game sometimes being in near unplayable states for both Survivors and Killers (as with seen with the release of Legion and Spirit) or having an insufferable amounts of bugs, glitches and desync, it keeps us coming back.
A game that is truly fun if you play with friends or on your own offers not only an incredibly diverse range of playstyles, but a chance to make something new, something to keep coming back to. Similar to how every game of League of Legends or Dota 2 will always be different, which is enough to entice many in, Dead by Daylight lets you choose how it will be different.
So how does Behaviour keep old players coming back while still introducing hundreds of new players a day to their soon-to-be favourite game?
Killers and Survivors
In Dead by Daylight, there are two sets of players: Survivors and Killers. For Survivors the main goal (if you couldn’t tell) is to survive, complete five generators, open the gate/hatch and escape from the Killer. Avoid the hulking monster with a weapon, and you should be fine. Those are words to live by... literally. Survivors have a third person POV, allowing a wider FOV in order to keep an eye out for the Killer. Survivors also have access to items such as Toolboxes to help with completing the generators, or flashlights in order to blind Killers. There are also add-ons for the items that will add a helpful element or bonus to it.
The Killers, however, have a first person perspective with the goal to kill any Survivors spotted. To kill them, they must be hit twice (or be put into the dying state) and then placed ever so gently on a nearby demonic hook. Killers must keep an eye on the generators while also chasing and killing the Survivors on the map.
For Survivors, players can have up to three additional friends join them and decide whether they want to work in unison to complete generators as quickly as possible or whether they want to play mind games on the Killer, using perks that cause deception around the map. With friends this game is at its strongest; it will have players screaming at each other one second and falling over laughing the next. Dead by Daylight gives the players the tools they need to have a fun time and lets them decide how to do it. With well over 50+ perks that all influence the game in a unique way, you’re able to do an almost unlimited amount of experimenting.
For Killers, players are given a completely different experience. Instead of the usual third person POV, the Killer plays from a first person perspective, subtly changing the gameplay from looking around to looking forward. Much like the way animals’ eye positions have evolved, it is very much a game of watching out for predators vs hunting for prey. Although you have to play solo as Killer in online matches, you are given more versatility and variety. All Killers have a unique power that makes each one feel clear and distinct from another, while also having access to the another vast array of perks. This enables experimentation with builds, powers and perks in a unique way every game. In addition to this, similar to the Survivors, the Killer is entitled to a range of add-ons that will either provide game-changing aspects to the Killer’s power or weapon, or just slightly assist them.
Perks, Add-ons and the Meta
I don’t think the amount of creativity you can have with the perks and add-ons is correctly conveyed in what has been said. You can have anything from a Michael Myers who can kill you on the spot after slowly stalking you all game, or have a speedy old cowboy with a grudge and a gun. The perks and add-ons don’t only make it feel like a new game, but some builds will have you keeling over laughing.
With thousands of diverse builds being created daily, it’s almost hard to see how Dead by Daylight couldn’t have retained a player base. Personally, my favourite build is Head On, Deception, Quick & Quiet and Diversion, as with friends it can lead to much hilarity. For Killers, the perks can influence the game in extraordinary ways, slowing it down to a halt, making one Survivor’s life miserable or even just having fun and trying to farm as many Bloodpoints as possible.
Bloodpoints
Where do all these perks come from? Do I have to pay for them? No, faceless void-like entity speaking, you get them through Bloodpoints. Yes, keeping with the theme of horror, the currency is based off of blood. Never change Dead by Daylight, never change. Each character will have a unique Bloodweb that you’ll unlock by spending more Bloodpoints (which are earned from good performance in games), until you eventually unlock the character’s teachable perks, as every character has three.
Once each teachable perk is unlocked, it can be accessed in other character’s Bloodwebs, encouraging the player to use multiple characters, and make do with what they currently have. This is a genius way to give the player something to work forward for, while also teaching them the fundamentals of the game and each core perk. Soon, you’ll be flying through the Bloodweb, and onto the next survivor.
DLC
With every major update of Dead by Daylight, the community are treated with a well-priced DLC containing a new Killer, usually a new survivor or two, 6 new perks and sometimes a new map. With the latest DLC Killer, Pinhead, not only were fans of Clive Barker treated to their favourite Cenobite becoming a playable character, but also lore-themed perks.
Behaviour will either add a licensed Killer to Dead by Daylight (like Freddy Krueger and Leatherface) or a unlicensed killer, completely unique and an original creation of Behaviour. With their fantastic designs, each unique Killer has their own in-depth backstory alongside a new (original) Survivor that ties the two inexplicably together.
Furthermore, Killers will sometimes (but not always) have a map accompany them, as seen with the Resident Evil DLC wherein players received the Raccoon City Police Department as a map.
I love both aspects of the DLC: I adore seeing my favourite chili-loving, chainsaw-swinging cannibal as a playable beast, as well as also seeing how inventive the DBD crew can be. The lore is a personal favourite of mine, as it is always so deep, rich and innovative.
The Community
With many games, the community can let them down, and DBD has its fair share of toxic players that rest in the shadows of the Entity. This community, however, will shock you with how nice mass-murdering serial killers can be. I have encountered Ghost Faces tea-bagging with my other three survivors, and The Twins playing hide and seek. The community is vast, with many of their streamers promoting a great environment as they truly care about the game and wish to see it flourish.
With many people in the community hosting charity events, Behaviour has joined in by hosting pride events and recently helping struggling Twitch streamers by inviting them into their ‘Fog Whisperers Program’. For a game all about how to avoid death, this community has some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
It might be that horror has historically been the rejects’ genre, it may satisfy our fantasies of being the Killers that once terrified us, it may be that the gaming community is maturing, but Dead by Daylight is a game that will make you feel warm more often than not. It survives on the love of the community. It’s a one of a kind, not because of its genre, but because it’s the one of the only games whose players actively want to see it succeed.
