Officially licensed Friday the 13th game clears Kickstarter goal

By Danny Cowan Published November 11, 2015

Friday the 13th: The Game - Official Announcement Trailer

Gun Media has reached its Kickstarter goal for Friday the 13th: The Game, ensuring a release next year for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PCs.

In Friday the 13th: The Game, players can assume the role of a Crystal Lake camp counselor stalked by slasher movie icon Jason Voorhees. In a unique twist, the game also allows players to control Jason himself as he attempts to track down his victims.

Friday the 13th: The Game is an asymmetrical multiplayer game in which up to eight players try to survive a night at Friday the 13th film series setting Camp Crystal Lake. Seven players control counselors, while the eighth player controls Jason in an open-world killing spree.

Presenting its gameplay from a third-person perspective over the course of a single night, Friday the 13th: The Game opts out of the psychological approach adopted by many survival horror games, and instead places its focus on stealth-driven gameplay in which players will likely meet a quick and brutal demise.

“It’s a classic horror fan’s dream, no shaky cam, no found footage,” Gun Media assures. “We want you to know we’re revitalizing the golden era of slashers, and putting you at the controls of each horrific, blood-splattered moment.”

Gun Media doesn’t have a high bar to clear when it comes to licensed games based on Friday the 13th. An 8-bit adaptation for the Nintendo Entertainment System published by LJN is widely regarded as one of the platform’s worst games, and a 1985 Commodore 64 version didn’t fare much better.

“The biggest challenge is not screwing this up,” the team admits. “Too many times we’ve seen gaming and movie franchises jump the shark or take a beloved character and throw them through the mud. We’re working on a game that demands a lot of horror and tension, but we’re giving players the control to create those scenarios. That’s a lot of balancing, that’s a lot of testing and that’s a lot of immersion and depth. The biggest challenge is that we do it right and that we deliver a title that lives up to the expectations of all fans.”

Friday the 13th: The Game has met its initial funding goal of $700,000, and will launch next October for consoles and PCs.

Topics

Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

No Man’s Sky 4.0’s difficulty options make the space game feel new again

No Man's Sky warp drive

You’d think space was the final frontier, but 2016’s spacefaring exploration sim No Man’s Sky seems to keep finding new ways to expand and improve its eye-watering collection of features. What began as a quiet trek through a galaxy comprised of over 18 quintillion lonely planets is now a far more comprehensive game with a more sophisticated suite of gameplay options, including frontier towns to run, outlaw space systems to smuggle goods through, multiplayer missions to complete alongside your friends, and a fully-fledged story campaign to follow at your own leisurely pace.

It’s also recently been updated to its fourth major iteration as of October 7. That’s when developer Hello Games unleashed the 4.0 update, also known as the Waypoint update, coinciding with the long-awaited Nintendo Switch release. As a result of the 4.0 update, long-term No Man’s Sky fans were once again treated to an impressive array of improvements, including boosts to visual fidelity, better legibility within menus, and a noteworthy overhaul to inventory management that also left some players momentarily disheartened.

Gaming

I can’t wait to go back to Street Fighter 6’s excellent Battle Hub

street fighter 6 battle hub preview arcade cabinet

Fighting games live or die on their online communities. Of course, basic functions like rollback netcode and cross-play are essential to a healthy fighting game, but Street Fighter 6 goes further by creating an online hub that celebrates the series and gives players somewhere to hang out between matches. Call it a metaverse if you must, but in reality, the Battle Hub is one-third of the Street Fighter 6 package and will likely be home to the communities and tournaments that ensure people will play the game for years to come.
It was also the focus of the Closed Beta for Street Fighter 6 this past weekend, which gave me a second chance to go hands-on with the game after falling in love with it at Summer Game Fest Play Days. The core 1-v-1 fights are still a joy to play and the beta’s new characters -- Juri, Kimberly, Guile, and Ken -- all come with the exciting combos and flashy animations. But really, I came away impressed with the groundwork Capcom is laying for Battle Hub and its implications for World Tour mode.
What’s the hubbub about?
The Battle Hub is one of three options players can choose right from the main menu of Street Fighter 6, and when selected, it tasks players with creating a character avatar that will represent them. I didn’t spend too much time with these options, but they seemed quite in-depth for those who enjoy a detailed character creator. After creating a blue-haired and face-tattooed fighter, I was thrust into the Battle Hub’s futuristic arcade.

Multiplayer hubs as a replacement for simple menus aren't a new concept for fighting games (Bandai Namco games like Dragon Ball FighterZ have done this for a while). Still, for Capcom’s first attempt at one, the Battle Hub is full of personality and things to do. Its stark blue colors, a plethora of screens, and many gameplay cabinets make it feel like the high-tech arcade Capcom wants it to be.
As soon as I entered, I could walk around, emote, and perform classic Street Fighter moves the Hadoken with button presses. I was also near two kiosks. At one, I could register and view tournaments and Street Fighter 6 events, although none were available for me during this Closed Beta. The other one was the Hub Goods Shop, where I could buy clothes and other gear to customize my character further with the currency I accrued while playing.
The other kiosks on the main level weren’t available in this Closed Beta outside a screen that showed which player in our server was performing the best. I then headed toward the arcade cabinets, most of which form a circle around the center of the Battle Hub. One person has to sit on each side to initiate a Street Fighter 6 match. While it’s a bit annoying to sit and wait for someone to play with you, I could always find an opponent if I looked around at every cabinet. Hopefully, the final game will have an option to get into fights slightly faster for those who want to simply jump into it.

Gaming

The best horror games of all time

The deranged doctor gets ready to mutilate someone in Outlast

The best horror games all have something in common: The ability to deliver a feeling of unease that someone or something is on your tail -- with sinister plans to take you out. Games have only become more frightening as technology has evolved, and with so many excellent horror games, it's time to put a spotlight on the scariest games we've ever played.

Luckily, there's no shortage of titles designed to send you into a heart-racing and adrenaline-pumping frenzy, and we've highlighted a few of our favorites below. Some of them lean into action, while others are more focused on survival, with a few options in between. The one thing they all share is that they're designed to make you feel like anything could be lurking around the next corner.