REVIEW
Written byDethyanFrom the archive
Dead by Daylight is an abusive relationship in multiplayer form: every time I decide I’m done, something pulls me back in. Save yourselves, honestly. Unless you have friends. Then come back, because this is still the best co-op game about running away from a killer, and the ridiculous moments can make the whole thing worth it.
The trick is to stop treating every match like a solemn test of skill. Run in circles around a pallet. Let the chase become a farce. Laugh when the plan falls apart in some silly, unexpected way. Dead by Daylight is at its best when the tension gives way to people being messy together. Playing with friends makes that easier, and the shared joke can matter more than whether anyone gets out alive.
That mood is a choice, though, not a cure all. The game has plenty of problems, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Its basic setup is wonderfully legible: Survivors try to escape while one Killer hunts them, with the two sides approaching the same space from very different perspectives. A chase can be thrilling, and the chance to turn a pallet into a little stage for a desperate loop gives Survivors a satisfying way to keep the Killer busy. But the same simple premise can also turn into a grind if you come in expecting every round to feel fair, fresh, or consistently thrilling.
Dead by Daylight asks a lot of you before it gives much back. You will have matches that are tense and funny, and others that make you wonder why you queued again. There is a gap between the game’s horror setup and the goofy social chaos that makes it enjoyable for me. I lean into the latter. The horror is a good excuse to get everyone together; the stories that come from a chase going completely sideways are the real draw.
There is a lot of variety in the different Killers and Survivors, and the shifting environments help keep encounters from feeling entirely rehearsed. That breadth gives the game staying power, but it also means the experience can be hard to read if you want a clean, predictable contest. The appeal is less about mastering a neat little game and more about learning to live with its unevenness. You can take it seriously, but I think it is much more fun when you can shrug off a bad turn and enjoy whatever nonsense the match produces.
I would not recommend Dead by Daylight to someone who wants a consistently polished, stress-free co-op night, or who will take every frustrating round personally. Its flaws are part of the package, and they can wear you down. But if you have friends, a sense of humor, and room for a multiplayer game that swings between nerve-racking and ridiculous, I do recommend it. It keeps dragging me back for a reason: there is still nothing quite like trying to get away from a killer while your friends turn the chase into a comedy routine.
— Dethyan / Noobsnoplay