''Killer Frequency'' is a 2023 first-person

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

developed and published by Team17. The game takes place in a small town in 1987, where players control a DJ who acts as an impromptu radio dispatcher when a serial killer returns to terrorize the town's residents. The player must take calls from the survivors and solve various puzzles to help them escape the killer. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

elements.

Overview

''Killer Frequency'' is a first-person

with

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

elements. The game takes place in 1987, and its aesthetics are heavily based on 1980s nostalgia, including neon color palettes and a wood paneled environment. The art style has been described as reminiscent of cell-shaded animation. The plot is inspired by slasher films, and the game includes references to numerous horror films including ''

The Fog ''The Fog'' is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and Hal Holbrook. It ...

'', ''Friday the 13th'', and the ''Scream'' franchise. Players take the role of Forrest Nash (

Josh Cowdery Josh Cowdery (born December 23, 1978) is an American actor. He is known in film for ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (2016) and in television for '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013) and '' Legends'' (2014). Early life Cowdery was bor ...

), a formerly popular DJ and radio host from Chicago who relocated to the small town of Gallows Creek after his career declined. Forrest must become an impromptu dispatcher when The Whistling Man, a serial killer, returns to terrorize the town thirty years after his supposed death. Throughout the game, the player character takes calls from victims of the slasher and instructs them on how to escape by solving puzzles and problems that they face. Players must successfully complete these puzzles using clues and information found around the studio to prevent the victims from being killed. Aaron Riccio of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' described its mechanics as "sort of reverse escape room where you provide the vital hints to help others get out alive." The survival of the victims and outcome of the game is dependent on the player's choices and ability to solve these puzzles.

Development

The game was Team17's first virtual reality game. On June 1, 2023, the game was released on PC,

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...

, Xbox Series X and Series S,

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

and Quest 2.

Reception

The game had a mostly positive reception and has a score of 81 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

indicating generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the game's balance of tension and

campy Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp aesthetics disrupt many of modernism's notions of what art is and what can be classified as high art by inverting aes ...

. '' Softpedia'' awarded the game 4 out of 5 stars, praising the quality of its voice acting and gameplay, but criticizing the final act as being "rushed". Reyna Cervantes of ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

'' praised the game's use of the slasher genre, comparing it favorably to horror films such as ''

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (also known as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2'') is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper. It is a sequel to ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', also directed and co-written by Ho ...

''. Rachel Watts, writing for '' Rock Paper Shotgun'', praised ''Killer Frequency'''s gameplay and puzzle elements.

References

External links

* {{Team17 2023 video games 2020s horror video games Horror video games Team17 games Video games set in the 1980s Video games set in 1987 First-person adventure games Virtual reality games Nintendo Switch games Xbox Series X and Series S games Windows games PlayStation 5 games PlayStation 4 games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Xbox One games Meta Quest games