Boasting a roster of over 40 playable survivors and 36 killers, Behaviour Interactive’sDead by Daylightstands tall as the king of the niche asymmetric horror genre. Players have been repairing generators and breaking pallets since the game first launched in 2016, a remarkable lifespan for a game of its kind, and it shows no sign of slowing down.Dead by Daylightis adding its first new game mode since launch, featuring two killers and eight survivors. But more than anything, the game’s long-term success can really be traced back to one thing: its licensed characters.
The game’s original characters are fun and inspired takes on horror genre tropes, but there’s no beating the big dogs of the genre. The game got its first big popularity boost by adding Michael Myers back in 2016, and the momentum never really stopped after that. Icon after icon has joined the ranks, from Sadako, to Pinhead, to Chucky, to the Xenomorph, and even a fewSilent HillandResident Evilantagonists,Dead By Daylight’s licensed characters have made it a true Horror Hall of Fame. There are some licensed killers that arguably never got the due they deserve, but there’s still plenty of time to finally fix it.
Freddy and Ghostface Still Don’t Have Their Most Iconic Movie Looks
Freddy Krueger is a name that needs no introduction. Freddy sits alongside fellow horror icons Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers as the Big Three of the slasher sub-genre. They are the figures most people associate with horror in general and are massive pop culture icons in their own right. When fans heard Freddy was coming toDead by Daylightback in 2017, they were overjoyed – until they heard it was the version of the character fromthe 2010Nightmare on Elm Streetreboot.
Reboot Freddy is a bit of a sore spot for the horror community. While Jackie Earle Haley did a commendable job with the material he had, the character was darker, less charismatic, and ultimately far less enjoyable to watch than Robert Englund’s wisecracking, charming performance that made the character a household name. Instead,the Freddy inDead By Daylightis a hollow, silent shadow of what people love about that character. For a game that’s becoming a Horror Hall of Fame, Englund’s Freddy is not a suggestion; it’s a requirement.
Freddy isn’t the only character suffering from this either. Ghostface is another licensed character that just doesn’t live up to his mosticonic appearances in theScreamfilms. Granted, the Ghostface mask is a legal entity all its own independent of the films, creating a sort of gray area when it comes to licensing deals. ButScreamis much too large of a franchise to simply ignore likeDead by Daylighthas been doing.
The first step to course-correcting two of Wes Craven’s most iconic creations is to give them screen-accurate cosmetics; a Robert Englund Freddy variant and a more movie-accurate robe for Ghostface should be easy enough. However, these killers are known for their gleefully sadistic dispositions; they take a lot of joy in taunting victims through their dreams and their landlines. WhenDead by Daylightfirst released, there was a hard and fast rule about characters being silent. Aside from a few stock scream sound effects, there was no speaking. In the eight years since launch, that’s changed drastically, with killers likeChucky and Albert Wesker being fully voiced charactersdripping with personality and blood in equal measure.
An original Freddy skin would have to have voice lines, ideally from Robert Englund himself, but ifEnglund wants to stay retired as Freddy, a soundalike could work. Ghostface, however, needs to be voiced by Roger L. Jackson, the veteran voice actor behind the voice on the phone in theScreamfilms. Jackson has voiced the masked killer in other games, notably the character’s appearance as an operator inCall of Duty: Cold War. Giving these two killers their iconic looks and voices will give these characters the respect they deserve as icons of the genre.
Dead by Daylight
WHERE TO PLAY
Ever wished to play as one of the characters from your favorite horror movies? Dead by Daylight is a 1v4 multiplayer game that draws from all corners of the horror world from a powerful slasher to a terrifying paranormal entity.Choose between playing an unstoppable Killer and one of 4 Survivors trying to evade a gruesome death. Each character has their own deep progression system and plenty of unlockables that can be customized to fit your personal strategy. Work together to escape, or stalk and sacrifice every Survivor.This Edition of Dead by Daylight gives you access to a roster of 7 Killers (The Trapper, The Hillbilly, The Wraith, The Nurse, The Hag, The Huntress and The Doctor) and 9 Survivors (Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Dwight Fairfield, Ace Visconti, Nea Karlsson, Bill Overbeck, Feng Min and David King). It also includes two cosmetic add-ons packed with outfits for various characters.
