FRIDAY THE 13TH: KILLER PUZZLE Review – A Unique Way to Experience the Franchise
David Gelmini
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Developed and Published by Blue Wizard Digital
Available on iOS and Steam
I’ll admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of puzzle games, although after a few minutes spent slaughtering campers in Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle, I constantly found myself coming back for more, and I’m sure you will too.
The basic set up is pretty much what you would expect from a Friday the 13th game: Jason Voorhees is told by his mother’s severed head to kill everything in sight. But there’s a catch: instead of just going up to his victims and stopping them from being alive, Jason instead has to navigate s series of increasingly complex (and sometime frustrating) isometric puzzle grids in order to reach his prey.
Even though there’s no really much of a story, one thing I will say about Killer Puzzle is that it’s hugely addictive. So whilst no explanation is given as to how Jason finds himself going from Camp Crystal Lake to an post-apocalyptic desert wasteland to an interstellar space station, you’ll be so engrossed in working your brain around how to tackle each individual obstacle coarse that you won’t even notice.
The puzzles themselves can range from being pleasantly perplexing to downright mind-boggling, so more than few of you will probably need to turn to online playthroughts to see how to reach the end on certain sections. If you find yourself getting stuck in a position where it’s impossible to progress, you will be able to restart the level, although Blue Wizard have wisely also included a rewind function which allows you to go one step back to the position you were in before you found yourself trapped. And believe me, you will find yourself getting stuck a lot, so I’m pretty sure I would have pulled my hair out were it not for this feature. In addition to getting stuck, Jason can also drown and be gunned down by the police, so don’t expect to reach the end credits in a hurry.
But don’t worry, because when you do finally conquer the maze and reach your victims, you’re rewarded for your hard work with some spectacularly gruesome kills, some of which are even accompanied by their very own cutscenes to showcase the inventive ways that Jason can commit murder with everything from a machete to a dead fish.
Now, we need to talk about microtransactions: Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is a free-to-play game, meaning that you can probably smell the pay-to-win elements form a mile away. But don’t worry, because while you can fork over your cash for loot boxes containing weapons, you won’t really need to, because whilst it will be cool to get your hands on some new instruments of death, not only can they also be unlocked by actually playing the game, but they are not a necessity in order for you to reach the end.
In other words, not spending any money on microtransactions won’t delay or hinder your progress in the game at first, and that alone is worthy of praise. However, after the credits role at the end of chapter eight, you’ll have the option to spend money to play the remaining four bonus chapters, and that’s where you’ll really have to decide if you enjoyed Killer Puzzle enough to want to pay to continue playing it.
And even if you don’t pay for the four bonus levels, the first eight still offered some of the most enjoyable hours you’ll ever spend in a free-to-play game. If you’re a Friday the 13th fan, and if you don’t mind the occasional frustrating mind bender, Killer Puzzle has a lot to offer.
Summary
Despite occasionally being frustrating, Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle will still offer fans a new and unique way to experience the franchise.
Categorized:Horror Gaming Reviews
