I tried Dead by Daylight’s scary new spinoff and I’m already dying to dive back in

Despite being a horror juggernaut for eight years, the world of Dead by Daylight is fairly mysterious. There’s only so much we learn about the serial killer universe through its asymmetrical multiplayer matches. There’s an evil “Entity.” It requires blood sacrifices. Violence ensues.

Behaviour Interactive is finally looking to expand that story this September. Developed by Until Dawn studio Supermassive Games, The Casting of Frank Stone is an interactive horror movie in the same vein as The Quarry. It’s a classic slasher story about a sick killer terrorizing a town full of teens, with each player’s decisions affecting who lives and dies. It’s a tried-and-true formula for Supermassive, but how well does that adapt to a completely different studio’s established horror universe? Based on the prologue demo I played, it’s a natural (and bloody) fit.

The killer in me

The Casting of Frank Stone takes place in the small town of Cedar Hills, at small Oregon burg with a dark secret. A steel mill at the heart of town is home to Frank Stone, a vicious killer decked out in chains and a welder’s mask. The main story follows a group of teens trying to uncover the dark — and perhaps supernatural — mystery of Frank.

That’s not what I see in my demo, though. Instead, I’m dropped into a prologue set in the 1960s, one that both provides a tutorial onsome familiar narrative systems and sets up the story. I take control of a cop investigating a missing child report and head to a steel mill. I quickly meet a creepy groundskeeper and get a quick reintroduction to what Supermassive does so well. Detailed character models, spirited performances, and an eerie tone pull me in quickly. I immediately feel like I’m watching a tense horror movie.

Of course, I’m not a passive observer. All of Supermassive’s gameplay signatures are accounted for here. I choose dialogue options that can shape my relationship to the groundskeeper, explore the mill in third-person, pick up scattered documents that