When it comes to the world of masked psychopaths murdering nubile 20-somethings, Jason Voorhees is considered the grand poobah. With his hockey mask and massive machete, Jason has hacked and slashed his way through twelve movies, thoroughly cementing himself in the pop culture pantheon as one of moviedoms greatest slashers. Now, an ambitious Kickstarter is hoping to bring Mr. Voorhees to the world of horror video games, and it’s only going to take $700,000.
While many gamers have fond memories of fighting back against the towering killer in the beloved Friday the 13th game for the NES, the fact is that the game wasn’t very accurate to the movies. But veteran developer Randy Greenback and the team at Gun Media are looking to give Jason the video game adaption he deserves with Friday the 13th: The Game.
Going live on Kickstarter today, Friday the 13th: The Game is looking to capture the feeling of the classic ’80s slasher movies by pitting the hapless counselors of Camp Crystal Lake against the relentless murder machine that is Jason Voorhees. This is done in a 3rd person 1v6 set-up, operating similarly to Evolve, casting five players as stereotypical slasher movie cannon fodder (i.e. the Jock, the Girl Next Door, etc.), and turning them loose in the woods to survive against the player inhabiting Jason’s size 16 boots.
But that doesn’t mean the counselors are just going to line up for slaughter. Counselors have a variety of ways to fight back, and can utilize weapons and the environment in an attempt to take Jason down. But fear can get the best of gamers, and Friday the 13th: The Games’ “Fear System” will cause counselors that try to take on the shambling spree killer alone to be struck by fear, causing them to question what’s real and what’s not, a la Eternal Darkness.
Gun Media is clearly passionate about slasher movies, and the pitch for Friday the 13th: The Gameshows this passion in spades. Starting life as a slasher movie homage game called Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp, the game morphed into a Friday the 13th title after being contacted by Sean Cunningham, the director of the original Friday the 13th and the current rights holder, who proposed a team up.
Once the developers joined forces with the slasher franchise, it was decided to make the game one big love letter to horror. Special effects icon Tom Savini was brought in as executive producer and lead cinematographer, originalFriday the 13th composer Harry Manfredini was hired to compose the soundtrack, and Kane Hodder, the man responsible for portraying Jason for four movies in the franchise, was brought in to mo-cap the towering killer.
While Friday the 13th: The Game sounds like the kind of game horror fans have been waiting for, $700,000 is no drop in the bucket. The developers hope to launch the game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. With 31 days to go, it remains to be seen if the game will reach full funding, but fans of the slasher franchise have their fingers and toes crossed. With fellow horror title Allison Road recently canceling its Kickstarter to seek traditional funding, Friday the 13th: The Game should eventually see the light of day in some form.
[“Source- gamerant”]
