Is "Last Year" The Next Horror Competitor Alongside "Dead By Daylight" and "F13: The Game"?
Asymmetrical, PVP horror games seem to be all the rage these days, so it's no surprise that we have yet another title claiming to master the genre.
Introducing "Last Year," a game that pits 5 players controlling highschool kids against 1 player-controlled killer.
This game, like F13: The Game, is heavily inspired by slasher horror movies from the 80's and 90's. But, unlike F13: The Game and DBD, this game focuses more on jumpscare elements rather than the chase aspect.
In the gameplay video below, you can see how the Killer uses incredible map presence, speed, and the ability to use traps/trapdoors to separate and kill the unwary teenagers. It's worth noting that both the killer and the teenagers are all played in first-person, increasing the tension and immersion.
How is this similar to F13 and DBD? The teenagers must escape the map by finding a car and driving out. To do this, they must find keys, gas, and other items to get the car started. They can also call the police, and if successful, the first player to die respawns in as a cop to help the others escape. The killer can lay traps, break generators to darken the map, cut phone lines, and break down doors to get to the teens. Meanwhile, the teens can heal each other, repair broken phones/generators/items, find weapons that stun (and potentially kill) the Killer, and lay down traps of their own to stun and slow the Killer. LOTS of similarities found here.
So how is Last Year different from F13 and DBD? Once again, this game focuses heavily on jumpscares. Since the Killer cannot move faster than the Teens, he/she must resort to surprise tactics and traps. Since this game is entirely first-person, this lends to the great potential for terrifying, in-your-face jumpscares not seen in either DBD or F13.
From a gameplay perspective, another unique feature is that the Teens have character specific roles. The roles/characters are:
- Amber (Scout) - Can spot the Killer and display his position on the map for other players to see. Can also spot supplies on the map easier than the rest including flashlights and weapons. Weak against attacks from the Killer.
- Chad (Assault) - Offers protection to the other players and can melee attack/stun the Killer, giving the other survivors a chance to escape. Strong to withstand attacks from the Killer.
- Nick (Technician) - Fixes phone lines, generators, picks locks, hot wires vehicles, and anything else that needs to be repaired. He has a pet rat named Rasmus that you can play as. As Rasmus you can travel through small passages to unlock doors from the other side and provide spy-cam style intel on where the Killer is. Very weak against attacks from the Killer.
- Sam (Medic) - Heals wounded players to full health.
- Troy (Support) - Also offers protection and can also place traps for the killer which deals damage and slows him down. Can melee attack/stun the Killer same way as Chad.
So far, only 5 Killer characters have been announced (with the promise of more in the workings), but they all share one pivotal ability: Predator Mode. This ability turns the killer invisible and allows him/her to traverse the map at HIGH speed. This allows the Killer access to incredible map presence and control, while also giving him great opportunities to view the playing field while building up his/her strategy.
This mode cannot be activated or deactivated while any Teen is within line of sight, or if any Teen is within a certain radius (making it somewhat different from Jason's Shift ability).
Only 3 maps have been announced so far (a Summer Camp map, a High School map, and a Shopping Mall map), but the developers have stated that they wish to add more maps over time.
Those are all the big pieces of info I could find on this game. To me, it looks like a mish-mash of F13: The Game, DBD, and a touch of White Noise 2. What do you think? Could this be another horror multiplayer giant in the gaming world? What strengths/weakness do you predict this game might possess? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, and let me know if you have any further questions about Last Year.