Friday the 13th

Remember that Friday the 13th game I wrote about a little while back? Forget everything I said (except for the Last Year bitterness). It appears that Summer Camp, the asymmetric multiplayer horror game with little information thus far, is the Friday the 13th game. I actually had these games merged in my mind for a couple of months, before looking further into it. Turns out my subconscious mind was way ahead of me.

Technically, this doesn't really change the concept of either game, as everyone was always expecting a group of stereotypical teenagers to be hunted down by a killer, no matter what mask he might have been wearing, or whether Mrs Voorhees would be celebrating at his birthday party. On the plus side, I have one less intriguing horror to keep track of, and there's finally some information to share.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that all of the work on Summer Camp is still being put to good use. Rather than starting from scratch on a horror that features Jason Voorhees, Gun Media have the go-ahead to include the iconic slasher (and additionally iconic costumes, settings and kills) into their existing asymmetric multiplayer game. This will consist of seven counsellors trying their best to escape from or kill the one player in control of machete-wielding murderer, Jason. It won’t be easy to do either, but gamers will be able to make the most of the semi-open world to find weapons and items to help with both, such as calling the police, escaping in a truck, or setting traps for Jason.

Jason will apparently have a few tricks up his own deadly sleeve, such as being able to use a variety of weapons from the films, or throw counsellors to a spiky demise. Equally exciting is the fact that both the killer and the counsellors will progress as people play, unlocking different skills, weapons and costumes. I can play as multiple Jason Voorhees? I can die happy.

Also, with the inclusion of the Friday the 13^th license, it means that many of the people that have been involved in the slasher flicks are now on board, which can only be a good thing for the game. 

This includes Sean S. Cunningham, the director behind the original Friday the 13^th, and creator of the slasher in all of his glory; Tom Savini, who worked on multiple films and is helping to bring the brutal deaths to life in the game; Harry Manfredini, the composer behind the F13th soundtrack, which is almost as iconic as the killer himself; and last, but in no way least, Kane Hodder, the man behind the mask in several of the F13th films, bringing Jason’s hulking frame and movements to the game using motion-capture. It’s all sounding very positive, and fingers crossed that all of this passion makes it into the game’s release on PC and PS4 in autumn 2016.

Excited by the news? Back the game on Kickstarter, launched only yesterday and already slicing its way towards its $700,000 goal, or tell the 'Summer Camp' team on Twitter. I sure have been. Actually, I think I even tweeted them a while back to say I thought their game was the Friday the 13th game. Nearly ruined everything. Sorry guys. Either way, with Last Year completely silent, this was exactly what I needed to ignite the asymmetric horror fire inside my shrivelled, horror-loving heart.