The Casting of Frank Stone is the last word narrative-based journey for followers of the Lifeless by Daylight franchise, or those that can’t get sufficient of Supermassive Video games’ horrific endeavours. It wears its influences on its sleeve and isn’t afraid to have enjoyable, as Supermassive’s previous initiatives — Till Daybreak, The Quarry, The Darkish Footage Anthology — have proven us already.
It’s a brief, entertaining romp that doesn’t take itself too critically, and whereas I believe its finest moments will probably be misplaced on those that aren’t conversant in Lifeless by Daylight, The Casting of Frank Stone goes to point out that Supermassive Video games is, frequently, going from energy to energy.
It’s about time that Behaviour Interactive determined to broaden on Lifeless by Daylight’s lore — past Hooked On You: A Lifeless by Daylight Relationship Simulator we acquired in 2022 — and I used to be overjoyed to see that Behaviour had chosen Supermassive Video games to be the developer to take action.
For any horror fan, it is a match made in heaven; if any studio goes to correctly delve into the nitty-gritty, ugly lore of The Entity and the survivors and killers it has trapped inside its realm, it’s going to be Supermassive, and the developer is actually not one to stint out on gore and brutality. The developer makes positive you might be squirming in your seat, and that’s not simply by guaranteeing you possibly can by chance kill off your favourite character with ease. Sure, I did that. Greater than as soon as.
The gory spooks, and the truth that Supermassive’s QTE-laden, dialogue-driven gameplay pairs so properly with the Lifeless by Daylight gameplay loop. This wouldn’t actually be a Lifeless by Daylight recreation with no generator or two to restore and people pesky talent checks, and followers haven’t been let down. There are various nods, some specific and a few not so, that time in the direction of Lifeless by Daylight, in addition to Supermassive’s personal previous initiatives. In the end, followers of both developer have lots to sink their tooth into and get enthusiastic about right here.
The sport itself begins at a run-down, decrepit mill, the place Officer Sam Inexperienced is shipped to analyze the mysterious disappearance of a teenage boy, and finally ends up discovering much more than he bargained for. All through this prologue, the tone to your typical teen slasher is straight away set; you’re shortly combating the urge to scream at your display screen and inform Sam Inexperienced to show round and go residence. In spite of everything, who discovers a rotting carcass and dismembered ear, then thinks, “Hey, let’s not name for backup, and let’s maintain going, truly”. It’s right here that we first meet the eponymous Frank Stone and mysterious determine, Augustine Lieber; two characters pivotal to the chilling story that’s about to unfold.
After the temporary however thrilling prologue, you get to the actual meat of the sport, which is advised in several time intervals. You’ll first meet the likes of Madi, Linda, and Stan, who’ve all been summoned to Gerant Manor — a suitably spooky manor home that feels as if it has been pulled from The Girl in Black — to strike a deal; a deal involving handing over unseen-before strips of seventies movie, Homicide Mill, to your unsettling host.
That is the place our throwbacks then are available, as you journey again to the filming of Homicide Mill in Cedar Hills, the place a younger Linda and her companions — Robert, Jaime, and Chris — are on the helm. This isn’t lengthy after the horrific acts of Frank Stone have been dedicated, and when the group resolve to go to the mill the place all of it occurred to seize some last scenes, it comes as no shock in any respect that this group of meddling teenagers land themselves in bother. As they do, our characters within the current day wind up in a spot of hassle too.
It’s all very Alan Wake 2 at occasions with its flashbacks and cinematic pictures, and The Casting of Frank Stone seems wholly conscious of this. Lifeless by Daylight, in spite of everything, has been a recreation that celebrates all issues horror for nearly a decade now, so for a solo journey reminiscent of this to equally characteristic such influences — together with moments paying homage to P.T., Deadly Body, and extra — feels extremely apt.
Situations like this paired with the abundance of Lifeless by Daylight Easter eggs finally make The Casting of Frank Stone a lot greater than an growth of Lifeless by Daylight’s underarching lore; as a substitute, it seems like a celebration of a ardour for horror, and people who have had any love for DBD in any respect will significantly respect the entire recreation’s relics and homages to the previous that may be discovered by extra curious gamers.
On that notice, I can’t neglect to say the dialogue, both. Typically awkward and goofy, it did break my immersion at occasions, however at no level does it really feel misplaced on this slasher flick. Supermassive just isn’t making a B-movie right here, that’s for positive, however time and time once more, it exhibits off that it is aware of the best way to replicate one with high quality and elegance. These grand, cinematic adventures from Supermassive typically hail again to seventies and eighties horror cinema, and The Casting of Frank Stone isn’t any completely different in that sense.
That goofy, out-of-place dialogue works wonders in making the sport as amusing as it’s horrifying; one thing that I discover extremely essential on the subject of convincing non-horror followers to play these video games with me. This darkish, twisted humor in gentle of terrifying moments is what I count on from each Supermassive Video games and Behaviour Interactive, and as soon as once more, the developer has proven that it is aware of its viewers in and out, and has nailed the tone of its story on a number of ranges.
The Casting of Frank Stone’s finest and worst moments have been showcased throughout its ending; an ending that I felt had come all too quickly. It’s protected to say that I anticipated slightly extra from the closing sequences of the sport, although I did kill off a few characters (unintentionally!) throughout my preliminary run, and might think about the ending may be wholly completely different had I laid out completely different fates for them. That stated, it’s the ending of The Casting of Frank Stone that Lifeless by Daylight followers will actually rejoice in; it’s equal elements disturbing and amusing, providing becoming endings for its array of characters whereas setting the stage for these we encounter in Lifeless by Daylight.
Those that have at all times wished to know extra about how Lifeless by Daylight’s forged of characters got here to be trapped in a endless nightmare by The Entity will probably be wholly happy to lastly have some solutions, particularly if the DBD-stylised achievements and countless Easter eggs didn’t already have you ever foaming on the mouth. In the event you’re a fan of Lifeless by Daylight or The Darkish Footage Anthology, The Casting of Frank Stone is a completely must-play for you. Even then, these unfamiliar with the collection’ will nonetheless discover one thing to understand throughout this entertaining, albeit fleeting, expertise
The Casting of Frank Stone is obtainable now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Sequence X/S. The sport was reviewed on PC with a code offered by the writer.
