Welcome to The Attic! Let’s have a horror smack-down!

I’ve spent a couple of weeks playing both Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13th, and my opinion on which is better may surprise you. While they look very similar from the outside, the differences are much more noticeable when you play them back-to-back. I want to break this battle up into what I feel are important and obvious categories. Hopefully, this will help some of you decide which is game is best for you. Let’s get into it.

Matchmaking

I want to start with one of the biggest issues that Friday the 13th has going against it. Matchmaking in this game can be very frustrating at times, and it might cause many players to shy away from making a purchase. They have definitely had their issues with servers, but keep in mind that Friday the 13th also has a larger capacity for players in a single game (more on that next). I’m sure that doesn’t help.

I have tried to use the quick match feature at times for twenty minutes in a row, only to be met with constant error messages. Even worse, sometimes you’ll be put into a lobby by yourself. Forced to sit and watch as one by one people trickle in, and immediately leave because they don’t want to wait around for a full party to build up. On the flip side, there are many other times where the wait is minimal and I’m in a full lobby. But keep in mind that unless they work on their servers and matchmaking service, this will continue to be a problem.

Matchmaking is a breeze in Dead by Daylight

Dead by Daylight has never given me any problems matchmaking whatsoever. Every time I have tried to enter the game, we had a full squad within a minute or two. This is definitely the category where Dead by Daylight shines. Matchmaking here is a pleasure!

Party Size

One of the most noticeable differences right off the bat is that Dead by Daylight allows for up to five people at a time. Four survivors, and one killer. Friday the 13th can house up to eight players! Which means seven counselors and one Jason. It definitely leads to more waiting around for people to ready up. Once you’re in the game, however, this really becomes a plus for me. There is something so enjoyable about a large group of people running around trying to survive together… or fend for themselves.

Running around Camp Crystal Lake is one of my favorite things to do

Maps

Dead by Daylight has just under twenty maps in which to play, set within seven different “realms.” This means that quite a lot will look familiar but will be laid out differently. Friday the 13th currently only has three maps to choose from, so the former definitely wins out in terms of map quantity. But what about quality? This is where Friday the 13th wins out for me. Three maps might sound mundane but they have much better atmosphere and are much larger than Daylight’s maps.

Having a larger map means it is easier to avoid the killer, and this is huge if you like a variety in play-styles. I prefer being as stealthy as possible, and escaping as quickly as possible. I’ve done this successfully without ever being near Jason. In Dead by Daylight, it seems like the majority of the time you are running in circles on a small map trying to shake off the killer. For me, this gets more repetitive than the smaller number of Friday the 13th maps ever could.

There are so many generators to repair in Dead by Daylight… So many.

Survive & Escape Options

Speaking of repetitive games, Dead by Daylight makes you do the exact same things, in the exact same order, to escape. Every. Single. Time. This got very old for me, and I’m sure it would for some of you, too. There is also no way to kill the killer, so it’s all about escape here.

Friday the 13th operates much like Monstrum (a game I highly recommend!) in that you have several options to escape. Each option requires a few components to get them going, and these components spawn in a different location each time.

You have the option to escape in a boat, one of two cars, by ”killing” Jason, or by calling the police (which opens up the escape routes). You can also simply survive for the twenty-minute in-game clock. At that point, the counselors that are still alive get the “you survived” prompt and the match ends. I love this aspect as well, because I’ve heard of some painfully long Dead By Daylight matches, which do not have timers.

Find the keys, a battery, and some gas to get the cars going

Voice Chat

Some will love this and some will hate it, but Dead by Daylight has absolutely no voice chat built-in. If you want to talk to your friends while playing with them, you’ll need to use your PC’s or console’s party chat systems. As someone who rarely uses her mic to talk in random groups, this is no problem for me. It does, however, become a problem when you really want to communicate something on a whim to another player.

Friday the 13th has, hands down, my favorite voice chat feature I have ever experienced. Proximity chat. I’m not sure if this has been a common feature in many other MP games before, but it’s my first time seeing it in action and I am in love. If you’re not familiar with the term, basically it means that even if you leave your mic on, only the players near you in-game can hear you speak. This also goes for Jason, though, so be careful!

Characters

In Friday the 13th, there are ten different counselors to choose from (many unlock at various player levels), and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. From composure, to stamina, to repair skill, and many others. Who you choose can be the difference between surviving any given situation, or being crushed to death in Jason’s grip. You can also earn skill points to choose additional perks to give these counselors, such as one that allows you to be quieter when sprinting.

Dead by Daylight has nine different “survivors” to choose from, but they don’t have their own stats. Instead, each character has unique abilities that can be unlocked over time. Both games encourage you to play a lot to unlock more characters and abilities. Overall I find that Friday the 13th allows for a better variety of experiences, so I prefer their system.

You might love Tiffany’s booty shorts, but don’t expect her to be good at repairing things

Killer Options

Want to play as Jason every match? Good luck! Friday the 13th lets you choose who you prefer to play as (counselor or Jason), but there is no guarantee you’ll get what you want. You can also leave it completely up to the horror gods, and keep the setting as “no preference” but regardless, you can’t always get what you want.

Unlike that “cross your fingers” system, Dead by Daylight lets you specifically choose whether you want to be a survivor or a killer. You can’t, however, choose the map, so at times they can become mismatched. But I’ll explain more on that under the franchise topic down below.

Which is Scarier?

“Scary” can often be subjective, but my thoughts are that Dead by Daylight is more stressful and frantic. Like I said before, you will be running around a lot. Friday the 13th packs a lot more atmosphere and building tension in its punches. Just like with horror movies, I will always prefer that over the former. If Jason gets his hands on you, nine times out of ten, that’s it and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

This feeling adds to the tension and makes you want to stick as far away from him as possible. It’s better to avoid Jason entirely as much as you can. Daylight’s killers cannot be avoided, so their presence becomes more tiresome. Some of Daylight’s maps are incredibly creepy, but nothing beats the 3 camps in Friday the 13th. They’re expertly crafted to transport you into some of the most iconic horror movies of all time.

I love the little touches they put into this game

Franchise Kings

Speaking of iconic, having a horror legend in your game is certainly a deciding factor for me in terms of which I prefer. Kane Hodder (The New Blood, Jason Takes Manhattan, The Final Friday, Jason X) did the motion capture for this game, and it really adds a classic touch to Jason’s stature and movement.

The killers in Dead by Daylight are pretty varied, and that’s a nice thing to have. But can anything beat playing (or hiding from) Jason Voorhees? Well, what about playing as Michael Myers? If you’re a PC gamer, then you can already play as the Shape in Dead by Daylight thanks to a Halloween DLC. It’s not available on consoles yet, but is scheduled to drop sometime in August.

Now before you get too excited, remember when I said that while you can choose your killer, you can’t choose the map? Well, this is where things can get a bit annoying. You might choose to play as Michael over and over, but what are the chances you’ll actually get to play him in the Haddonfield map that comes with the DLC?

Most players I’ve seen don’t want you to have the ability to choose the map, because it can lead to taking advantage of the ones that killers/survivors work better in. I completely understand that, but keep in mind that means if you wanted to play Michael in Haddonfield, you may be waiting for a long time.

You can play as Michael Myers in Dead by Daylights Halloween DLC

DLC & Additional Content

Lastly, let’s talk more about DLC and additional content. At first glance, many people argue that Dead by Daylight is the better option over Friday the 13th, because it’s currently half the price. But some of the additional content and characters in Daylight are stuck behind the additional cost of DLC. Yes, Friday the 13th is $40 instead of $20, but everything is already there. The single player campaign (playable only as Jason) will come in a free update sometime this summer thanks to the developers hitting that kickstarter goal. Happily, Kane Hodder has returned for the motion capture of the campaign as well. Overall, I’d have to say they’re both worth the price they’re set at, in different ways. If I had to choose, I’d pay the $40 for Friday the 13th any day.

There you have it! My apologies for being so long winded! If you’re still here, thank you! At the end of the day, with everything I have discussed, Friday the 13th is the winner in my eyes. Yes, it has its issues with matchmaking and servers, and that’s no small problem. Despite those issues, once I’m in the game, any headache slips away and I am having a blast.

It’s also worth noting that other Friday the 13th masters returned to help create this game. From the legendary Tom Savini (executive producer and cinematographer) to Harry Manfredini (composer), this game is backed by serious talent and skill. I don’t think any franchised horror game will ever be perfect, because it’s almost a kiss of death at this point. I can honestly say, however, that playing against (or as) Jason is one of my favorite horror experiences in recent memory.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess