In the 8 years since Dead by Daylight first haunted the Steam storefront, fans have been begging for more games set in that universe. While there has been a mediocre co-op roguelike very good dating sim that have done a decent job of bringing the Dead by Daylight universe to a broader audience, the core audience has remained largely unenthused by these spinoffs. This is, up until now.
Enter, The Casting of Frank Stone – an interactive horror game developed by proven stewards (if not masters) of the genre Supermassive Games (Until Dawn, The Quarry). I was given the chance to check out an early preview of The Casting of Frank Stone ahead of its full release, and I’m happy to report it’s pretty great! Rather than jamming the thing full of references and cameos from existing Dead by Daylight monsters, Supermassive has crafted a horror experience that effortlessly weaves itself into the fabric of the universe while standing on its own. I myself have never touched Dead by Daylight but I found myself consistently engaged and entertained during the hour or so I spent with this game.
I did catch a few references to iconic monsters and memes, and I’m sure die-hard fans will spot even more, but the core of the experiences seems decidedly singular. The moment to moment gameplay will be unsurprising to anyone who has played a Supermassive game before. These are essentially interactive horror movies where you get through narrative choices and skill checks to affect the outcome of the plot.
The preview took me through the game’s prologue, in which a mysterious woman talks about sacrifice and power, lamenting her inability to reach something called The Entity, until she finds Frank Stone, referring to him as “My key. My killer.” The demo continues from the perspective of a policeman named Sam Green as he investigates a missing person case.
After a brief encounter with a drunk steel mill guard during which you get to decide how Sam treats him, you investigate the mill further. Much as with other Supermassive games, you explore these areas from a third person perspective, stopping to examine details, clues, and interactive objects until something clicks into place and furthers the plot. Despite being largely linear and scripted, these slow-paced sections really instill a sense of ownership over Sam and the playthrough as you meticulously comb through the steel mill, examining every object you can find.
As you keep on exploring, it becomes clear that the steel mill isn’t really all it seems to be, and that something is deeply wrong with it. I won’t spoil what happens but the demo ends in spectacularly surreal encounter with Frank Stone himself, that perfectly sets the stage for what is to come. Visually, The Casting of Frank Stone is utterly gorgeous.
Environments are overflowing with detail and atmosphere, and character faces and animation are every bit as photorealistic as they’ve been since Until Dawn. At this point it needs to be said that while The Casting of Frank Stone has top tier atmosphere, scares, and visuals, it is very much exactly what you expect from Supermassive Games. If you haven’t really liked their prior offerings, it’s highly unlikely this game will change your mind, unless you happen to also be a really big Dead by Daylight fan.
Having had a small taste of what this game has to offer, I’m personally looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out when The Casting of Frank Stone launches next month..
