Dead By Daylight is an asymmetrical, online-only survival horror game that has been pitting teams of survivors against crazed killers since 2016. The story sees innocent bystanders pulled into the world of the Entity, a supernatural being awakened from its slumber by the horrific actions of the cast of killers you get to play as here. Summoning them to its world, the entity charges these monsters with offering up human sacrifices in order to appease it. Players jump into a match as one of up to four survivors and attempt to escape the clutches of a single player-controlled killer by repairing a bunch of very noisy generators in order to open a great big door that lets them high-tail it out of the semi-randomly generated arena to victory and – we expect – some pretty heavy therapy.
Survivor characters, of which there are eleven included here (we’ll discuss DLC in a bit), all come with various traits that enable them to play slightly differently. Ace Visconti, for example, improves the general luck of the survivor team, whilst Feng Mi can hone in on the killer’s location more easily than others and is better at repairing generators. These traits can be augmented with perks and items; each survivor is able to equip one item and up to four perks as they level up and gain experience. Items include such things as healing kits to increase the speed at which you recover health and toolboxes which speed up the time it takes you to fix up a generator. You can also make offerings to the Entity which grant boons, such as the ability to gain more Bloodpoints, the game’s version of XP, which you feed into a randomly generated Bloodweb of upgrades and perks for each character.
Each killer you choose to play as – and there are nine included here – also has their own unique power with which to terrify survivors as you hunt them from one corner of a map to another. The Trapper can, perhaps unsurprisingly, throw down bear traps to snag survivors as they flee. The Hag can teleport around the map through portals she lays down, and the Clown sprays plumes of noxious gas that impair vision and movement temporarily, enabling him to move in for the kill. Killers also have perks which help them sniff out the survivors in a variety of ways, alerting them to a generator that’s almost fixed or heightening their senses temporarily to movement and noise.
Mechanically, matches take place pretty much the same way each round. As a survivor, you try to repair generators on a map without being spotted. As you make your repairs, a timed mini-game will pop up randomly which, if you fail it, makes the generator you’re working at backfire loudly, alerting the killer and leaving you to sweatily decide whether to press on with your maintenance or run and hide. There’s also a hidden escape hatch which opens when only one survivor remains as an alternative means of getting out of Dodge, but this can also be opened by finding a key whilst more than one survivor is still breathing.
The killer, once they’ve struck down a survivor, needs to take their prey to one of several hooks scattered around a level, hang them up and ensure they don’t escape in order to make a successful offering to the Entity. Of course, killer hooks can be sabotaged, players can struggle to escape or help each other off hooks, heal each other up and – depending on the team you’re randomly thrown in with – games can consequently turn into quite satisfying teamwork-based affairs.
Survivors can vault through windows, pull down obstacles and stun the killer temporarily with a flashlight as a means of defence, but they can’t physically attack, making each and every close encounter pretty terrifying stuff. Killers can all move more quickly than survivors and they certainly have the upper hand in each round, but they are hindered by a slower vaulting speed and a first-person viewpoint that sees them unable to ascertain as much of their surroundings as survivors, who see things from a third-person point of view. All these little gameplay wrinkles add up to a game that sometimes manages – despite its rather straightforward and repetitive nature – to create a pretty tense scenario that can be fun when you get a good bunch of people in a game, and as such, this is definitely a title that comes into its own with friends in a custom match.
Of course, as this is an online-only game, you'll often find yourself in matches with survivors who don't work together – which is fine, but you'll also often find yourself stuck with people who don't have a clue what's going on (including those playing the killer) and this is when things can break down pretty quickly. This problem is exacerbated by then having to wait to get into a new round every time, especially if you're intent on playing as a killer, where games are a little harder to find. There's very often quite a lot of downtime, perhaps something that's not overly suited to a quick portable session. This is also a game that by its very nature will live or die entirely depending on how well-populated its servers are on Switch; there's nothing to fall back on here, no bots or local multiplayer. It's all or nothing with regards to online being a success.
Controls can be a little clunky, as they are in all other versions of the game, and the constantly-timed minigames for generators, healing or sabotaging can really begin to grate. In reality, there's not all that much going on in a round of Dead By Daylight and, as much as it can be fun, we're just not sure how long it takes before all tension wears off as you grow overly accustomed to it all.
In terms of this port, Dead By Daylight arrives on Switch in a bit of a muted state. It’s never been the most attractive game in the world, but the graphics have taken a pretty big hit here; textures are blurred and muddy and often take a while to load in, character models look terrible and overall it’s not going to be winning a beauty pageant anytime soon. Menus also feel janky, with quite a lot of input lag as you flick through them, which can be especially annoying for newcomers who’ll spend quite a bit of time reading through pages of rules to begin with. There are brief tutorials to play through, but they leave out quite a lot of the finer details.
While concessions have certainly be made in order to get this version up and running on Nintendo’s console, what this does do is ensure that when you're in-game, things run surprisingly smoothly. In handheld it manages to pretty consistently stick to 30fps at a 720p resolution; there are wobbles from time to time – which are more pronounced in docked mode – but overall, the sacrifices made have resulted in a perfectly playable (if rather ugly) portable version of Dead by Daylight.
Even more importantly, the netcode seems rock solid and we had no issues finding a game almost immediately as a survivor. Deciding to play as the killer does incur a wait, sometimes up to around five minutes, but this is also the case on all other versions of the game and is to be expected given there’s only one killer player to each match. With both in-game performance and online working solidly, our biggest technical worries about this Switch port have been assuaged – however, this version has other issues that come down to decisions made regarding previously-released DLC.
Dead By Daylight arrives at a premium price on Switch but doesn’t include all of the DLC it has accumulated over the course of the past few years, and that’s a whole lot of stuff. A bunch of pretty cool licenced killers and survivors from famous horror movies have been added to the game since its release in 2016, each one coming with a new arena to play in, which, thankfully, you do have access to here; it just seems a bit much to expect players – especially returning fans – to pay a premium for what is easily the least impressive version of the game technically and then have them immediately hit up the eShop to get their hands on the likes of Ghost Face or Michael Myers. Some other extra content, such as the Freddy Kruger and Leatherface characters, also seems to be entirely missing from this version and not available to purchase from the eShop alongside everything else at this moment in time.
It’s also a huge shame the developers couldn’t manage to figure out a way to add cross-play with other versions of Dead By Daylight, as this could have been a real winner for folk who’ve pumped hundreds of hours into it elsewhere and just wanted to be able to go mobile with their characters from time to time. If all the DLC had made it into this package and cross-play had been included, it would be so much easier to overlook the graphical failings and slightly shoddy feel of this Switch port, but as it stands it’s hard to shake the feeling you’re getting the bare minimum and being charged quite harshly for it.
Conclusion
Dead By Daylight has been around for quite while now and has remained a pretty popular game on both PC and console over the years. It’s a straightforward and repetitive online affair that, if you're lucky enough to be matched with the right bunch of randoms or happen to be playing a custom match with friends, can deliver the goods in terms of frights and tension from time to time. However, it has also always been a pretty clunky affair, a fact which is amplified further here by the noticeable graphical downgrade, laggy menus and the exclusion of a bunch of DLC that we really feel should have been included for the steep asking price. Still, if you're a fan who wants a portable version to play on the go, this should satisfy your needs as long as you're happy to grind yourself back to where you were at and fork out for your favourite killers. For everyone else, this is the least impressive version of the game available to buy at its highest price.
Comments 37
"Graphics have taken a big hit in order to make game playable" Guess you've never played it on any other console then if you think it looks "good" anywhere else.
Behaviour should have negotiated to include a Nintendo IP-exclusive killer to sweeten the pot and draw attention away from the graphics downgrade. Pious Augustus from Eternal Darkness almost writes itself in terms of gameplay potential, and they could have twisted Geist's John Raimi into an antagonist as a result of the trauma of his forcible body separation.
No thanks nothing much here better wait for alien isolation port is only single player but the survival part is amazing
The game is ugly on every platform, but that price is ridiculous. This is not a $60 game.
@Sabrewing Waluigi as killer, Daisy as Survivor. V:
You know what else is ugly and expensive?
NBA 2020
Gotta admit this title surpassed my expectations. Sure, it's not pretty but the graphics are serviceable and it actually runs well. I'm a big horror fan and, for me at least, the gameplay really nails the hide-and-seek / cat-and-mouse elements of being stalked by a relentless killer. Personally I find the gameplay much more compelling and intense than Friday 13th.
@Azikira We all know Daisy's the killer in -that- scenario.
Bad port of a bad game. So no reason to ever buy the game.
@Rika_Yoshitake The author aknowledges this a couple times in the review. Guess you didn't read it through.
I walked into Walmart and bought 2 copies day 1 for $30 each. It was still for sale there a couple days ago too. My oldest son loves this on ps4 so we both have been playing it on switch.
The game looks terrible on other systems too and runs terrible.
Even PC version looks bad, this port was expected to be a mess.
I bought two copies and it is a blast. I also have two copies of Friday the 13th but think DBD is much more fun. $40 is more than fair for this game.
To be fair it’s not like it even looks good on PC.
This is probably the first review u guys have done that I don't agree with...this game cost me the same amount the day it come out on xboz...the only killers that aren't included are the ones that need a license (which is being worked on) the tiny lil glitches in this game is what makes it fun btw
@PcTV Now why would you expect them to actually read the review
I would like to see someone make a point-and-click adventure game where I get to play as these characters:
That's right I want to see a Zombie Land Saga video game.
This game is $73? WTF, it much more cheaper on other consoles.
Lol same as the title of this game, it will be dead by daylight. 🤣
I preferred Friday the 13th when you don't always have online play.
Meh port, seems like a poor effort game. At least the Witcher III will have the complete contents for its premium price, this one is just giving you less stuff with poor performance but want a premium price. Yeah heck no
Uglier than on PC is an achievement on its own.
With all the crazy $60 old ports on Switch (that all look worse on it) - this is the one that gets called out 🙃
@aresius I've played every big horror game, and Alien Isolation is still on top as the best one in terms of gameplay and atmosphere! I don't get why people complained about it being too long, it's more bang for the buck...
“Ugly and expensive on switch” that’s like every port on switch. I love my switch but it’s by far the most expensive way to play among the big 3 (sony, Microsoft, Nintendo)
@GutayS5 Nah, NintendoLife assures me that it’s a 9/10 and well worth the price. /s
Where are y'all purchasing this game that it's sixty? I'm away from my Switch so I can't check the EShop but all of the big American retailers have it listed for forty.
@Bomberman64 Longer isn't always better. Especially in terms of horror games I think there is benefit to brevity.
Lol it's on cdkeys.com £5.49
@Indielink
Yeah it is 40€
@Rika_Yoshitake why have you put “good” in quote marks? The review doesn’t suggest it looks good elsewhere in any way and in fact specifically says it looks a bit rough everywhere lol
@Indielink True, there are games that benefit from being shorter. My favorite example, which isn't a horror game, is ABZÛ. The atmosphere and the experience seems longer than the few hours it takes to finish it, plus it gives you the option to spend more time in exploring, kind of like Alien Isolation where many places open up for you to explore early on.
The problem with horror games, or games in general, when they become too long is that they tend to make you feel like you're doing the same routine.
Personally, I tend to judge a horror game by how dieing in it is handled. If I inevitably die often, then I lose the tension I had built up and the atmosphere drops completely, especially if they're cheap deaths. A good horror game is one that makes you always survive by just the smallest margins, though having the screen constantly blink red is just annoying...
Good concept but lazy/sloppy programming on any platform (really poor optimization) and lots of greed ruin an otherweise engaging experience.
Been loving this game. So much fun to play. Bought it on amazon for 39.99 Canadian. 60 dollar games are usually 80 here so don't know why people think it's a 60 dollar game. Lots of survivor/killer options to play with without buying more dlc. Everything about the gameplay suits the cheesy b horror esthetic and I love it. Doesn't even require good teammates to still survive.
@PJOReilly
What? There are more technical difficulties while in docked mode? That doesn't make sense.
Still a better deal and better game than ARMS will ever be.
i really love the game on switch. i also have the pc and xbox version. pc, of course, is the best one - the switch version does look like the initial release from the xbox one back in 2017. and for a unreal engine 4 game, it is impressive in my opinion. look how ugly fortnite looks and runs on switch, especially the shadow - draw distance in front of your face - or the upcoming dauntless - ugly af - same engine. behaviour did an awesome job, and i'll bet they will improve the graphics over time, now that also the mobile version is out (beta). but i really think, it is the best looking UE4 engine game on switch so far and runs way better, than the first release on xbox one back in 2017 ... on xbox that game had massive fps issues - very often below 20 fps all the time - switch version runs mainly at stable 30. and for a 35€ game, that is pretty good. the dlc prices are expensive, but the good thing is, you don't have to buy them. or not all of them. most of the dlc survivors you can unlock with ingame - currency, which you earn from playing the game. that will take a while, but it is possible. 2 weeks out - 150 hours played already on switch and i am loving it sure alot of bugs there, but they are on all plattforms hahaha
@Sabrewing you mean a Mario crossover where Mario, Lugi, Peach and Toad run from a crazy Bowser? That sounds like a Mario Party minigame!
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