Supermassive and Behaviour team up for a fun horror story, but not without several faults.
By Mark DelaneyTwitter on September 9, 2024 at 4:25PM PDT
Supermassive and Behaviour have each been instrumental in defining the genre over the past decade. The former’s horror games have come as cinematic choose-your-own-adventure stories where the fates of multiple playable characters come down to your choices, often made in high-stress situations. Meanwhile, the latter blazed a trail now well-trodden: asymmetric multiplayer horror. Dead By Daylight’s (DBD) Fortnite-like approach of swallowing up many major horror icons into one space has given it not just staying power, but a twisted Disneyland vibe. Now, with The Casting of Frank Stone, the pair combine forces to tell a Dead By Daylight origin story that will appeal most to fans of the PvP game, though I can say, as a casual DBD fan, I found it enjoyable on its own merits too, despite its issues.
Frank Stone plays much like Supermassive’s run of games that began with 2015’s Until Dawn. It is a gameplay-light, movie-like experience that you get to direct, in a sense. You’ll control several characters, form their relationships with others in the story, and, most excitingly, try to keep them alive through a story full of quick-time events (QTEs) and doomed choices that can get them killed off permanently.
Despite the repetitive formula, I remain enamored with it and could envision myself indulging in this type of game every fall indefinitely, despite variations in storytelling quality. The scripts from Supermassive, including that of Frank Stone, often falter under close examination, compounded by occasional scenes that mismatch the choices I make or don’t encounter due to the game’s branching narratives.
This common shortfall in horror titles like Frank Stone, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology could be more critical if they were purely films. Yet, the interactive components that define Frank Stone as a cinematic game, as opposed to a standard film, largely compensate for these imperfections. The thrill of influencing the story significantly and repeatedly ensures my continued engagement, much like with its predecessors. Although Frank Stone isn’t the top pick for me, Supermassive’s yearly efforts to recapture the thrill of Until Dawn are something I anticipate eagerly with every new release.
Experiencing the death of a key character early in Frank Stone was unexpectedly pleasing, as it underscored the real risks involved. This element kept me hooked, despite the storyline’s occasional lack of seamless integration, because it felt as though I had a genuine impact on the developments. I influenced character dynamics significantly, even forestalling breakups, though not without dire consequences—like inadvertently causing a character’s demise shortly after saving their relationship.
The gameplay involves not only Quick Time Events tailored to your chosen difficulty level—try the Hard setting for the most tumultuous experiences, but also ample dialogue decisions, typically binary unless expanded by exploring and collecting in-game lore. Searching for documents and other hidden objects to uncover backstory enhances gameplay, though it underlines a gamified issue where characters uncharacteristically scavenge for clues, diverging from the cinematic flow typical in movies. However, these concessions are minor when considering the overall pleasure derived from participating in such grim narratives.
Supermassive introduced a new combat-light system in Frank Stone, which marks a scarce inclusion of combat in its games. Unfortunately, this feature is not particularly deep and fails to engage. The game involves using an object to fend off the central monster, a mechanic so simple that it quickly turns tedious.
Additionally, Frank Stone suffers from persistent technical problems, a recurring issue in Supermassive’s repertoire. Despite its appealing visuals, the game often stutters during scene transitions, detracting from the overall experience more significantly than minor plot inconsistencies. This issue persists even though the game utilizes a more recent version of the Unreal Engine.
The visibility of these flaws implies a concerning oversight or acceptance by the development team. While occasional bugs are typically a minor nuisance, they become more significant in a game that relies heavily on its cinematic presentation, thereby undermining its main attraction.
In terms of narrative, Frank Stone combines various genres, much like its inspiration. The game starts as a slasher but soon ventures into supernatural and body horror elements before concluding. The design of Frank Stone, the character, particularly impresses, promising further development as the game progresses. The aesthetic coherence between him and the playable characters demonstrates the effective collaboration between the teams, ensuring fidelity to the original source material.
Set within Behaviour’s horror universe, the game is given the narrative freedom characteristic of this spooky setting. For those familiar with this lore, the significance is clear, while newcomers will find the latter half of the six to eight hour storyline filled with surprises better experienced firsthand. Regardless, the journey of Frank Stone proves to be engaging.
Understanding the DBD universe enhances the experience, uncovering numerous secrets and references to the multiplayer game. The core of this story seeks to unveil mysteries surrounding DBD’s principal antagonist, The Entity, which culminates excitingly for those invested in these longstanding queries. Newcomers to the game, whether fans of Supermassive or general horror enthusiasts, will find enjoyment as the game does not hinge solely on prior DBD knowledge; it merely adds layers for those familiar. The game also cleverly includes details that could elicit laughter, such as the reimagined skill checks from DBD that now appear in the game’s quick-time events—a creative touch I find particularly engaging.
Completing the game unlocks additional features that enrich a subsequent run through. These include a mode for collecting items akin to a detective mode seen in games like “Batman Arkham”, and options to explore alternate story paths by selecting any scene. These enhancements significantly reduce the repetition otherwise necessary and improve overall gameplay quality. Furthermore, an on-screen prompt from Frank Stone helps players avoid missing content by alerting them before moving past return points—a helpful feature I hope to see in future installments.
Longtime players of Supermassive’s interactive horror adventures will recognize the familiar elements in “The Casting of Frank Stone”. Though not a dramatic evolution of the established formula, it offers substantial lore for Dead By Daylight enthusiasts, serves as a friendly entry point for new players and provides enough horror content to please genre fans eager for a seasonal thrill. Despite its flaws, “The Casting of Frank Stone” presents a compelling, timely horror escapade aligned with the spirit of the season, suggesting a perpetual partnership with Supermassive in these suspenseful narratives.
