Developer: Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Publisher: Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Mobile
Tested on: PS4
Dead by Daylight – Resident Evil Chapter DLC – Review
Dead by Daylight (DbD), the asymmetrical multiplayer horror game, came out all the way back in 2016 by the hands of indie Canadian developer Behaviour Interactive Inc (BHVR). Since then, its original formula garnered so many fans that the game kept growing with each new content release, reaching its peak with the Stranger Things chapter. The latter lets you play as Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington against the iconic Demogorgon. The game’s story of success didn’t end there as five years after it was first released, it still holds a stable position in the top 15 games played on Steam (just above known titles such as Payday, Civilization or Rocket League). Now, the game’s newest chapter, which is a cross-over with the Resident Evil universe, has been released. We are taking a closer look to see what this new DLC has in store for us.
The new chapter of Dead by Daylight brings its players a well-known and beloved franchise that had been desired for a long time: the Resident Evil DLC. With it came a new killer – Nemesis – and two new Survivors – Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine – but also a new map, the Racoon City Police Station.
Or so should be the case, if the developers did not botch this release like they did many other times in the past. Just a few hours after the patch was finally released for PC and consoles, the new map was temporarily disabled due to reports of crashing, and has yet to be released at this point in time. This is not exactly a surprise for anyone who has been following BHVR’s incidents after every new patch (even after these have been subject to public testing for weeks) but still proves to be a very disappointing beginning for the game’s most anticipated chapter yet.
Fortunately, the new survivor and killer skins more than make up for this hiccup. The choice of Leon and Jill to represent Resident Evil in this DLC was very fitting, as they are undoubtfully the most notable characters of the franchise. Additionally, their choice allowed for the simultaneous introduction of both a new male and a female character, while also acting as reminders of both Resident Evil 2 and 3. BHVR went as far as obtaining two additional skins for the survivors. These are purchasable via the in-game store and represent the sibling characters Claire and Chris Redfield. This means that DbD players can fill in the shoes of four different characters in one single DLC, which offers a lot of variety. The free offer of the little Umbrella Corporation charm was another nice addition.
The new survivors brought with them 6 new unique perks into the game: Bite the Bullet, Flashbang and Rookie Spirit (from Leon); and Counterforce, Resurgence and Blast mine (from Jill). These represent a nice balance of utility perks (allowing for faster heals or faster cleansing of totems, for example) and what we could call more offensive perks, with new options to stun and blind the killer.
Speaking of which, Nemesis, the terrifying bio-organic weapon from the Umbrella Corporation, was the chosen killer for this new chapter. He uses a whip for his power, making a connection to the T-Virus lore, and his long-ranged attack can infect the survivors (now afflicted with a new status effect, “Contaminated”), who will have to use vaccines left around the map to cure their condition. Nemesis’ skin is very impressive and one of the tallest yet in Dead by Daylight. It’s fun to note that the surprises don’t end there as zombie NPCs were also introduced with Nemesis’ power, shambling around the map until they can get their hands on any unfortunate survivor that happens to cross their path.
Nemesis is accompanied by new chase music and his own terror radius, both nicely fitting the setting, but unfortunately, the developers forgot to test the additional sounds introduced for both the leveling up of Nemesis’s ability and the survivors’ use of vaccines which are so glaringly loud and acute that they affect gameplay.
Despite having disabled the new map specifically due to technical issues, a lot of players are still reporting in-game lag spikes that have nothing to do with their internet connection, directly affecting some of the most important aspects in this game (chases and generator repair). General server stability was also affected with multiple errors crashing lobbies, and a number of bugs seem to have been somehow introduced in the game as well (chief among which are glimpsing in and out of existence Dream Pallets, and the perk Mettle of Man not working as intended).
Conclusion
With this chapter, a horizon of new opportunities seems to be in stock for the game. The new killer’s power seems balanced and fun to play, and so are most of the perks from the two new survivors. Also, having shied away initially from any terror elements that were not directly related to an iconic killer, Dead by Daylight seems now more open to bizarre and interesting designs. The developers even seem willing to introduce new items with peculiar features, which are only available during the ‘trial’ where they can be obtained (Leon’s Grenade and the vaccines), opening up new opportunities for surprising plays. Unfortunately, players are still subjected to a variety of new gameplay issues, and bugs, with every new release, an experience that might alienate less patient fans. The problems connected to the new map which resulted in it being disabled also left a stain on the release of Resident Evil’s chapter, one that could otherwise have been the best yet for Dead by Daylight.
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