Like most slasher series, Friday the 13th has its share of ups and downs - and right now, it seems to be in a downswing. But that's only in terms of cinema.
Friday the 13th has also spawned a number of video games, and miraculously, the latest one is shockingly strong. Release last year, it puts four players in the roles of various survivors (and not-survivors) from the series, and a fifth player in the role of Jason Voorhees. The survivors must navigate around a range of maps inspired by the films’ mostly lakeside locales, searching for car parts in order to effect their escape, while Jason’s goal is simpler: use an array of movie-inspired abilities to kill absolutely everybody. If Jason prevents the survivors from escaping (through whatever means necessary), he wins. If the survivors escape (or miraculously manage to defeat Jason), they win.
Friday the 13th: The Game is a great multiplayer experience, especially for slasher fans, that not even an array of bugs can hamper. As with similarly-structured asymmetrical multiplayer games, like Evolve, Last Year: The Nightmare, or Dead By Daylight (the latter of which features Halloween, Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre material as DLC), it’s reliant upon communication, all but requiring a group of friends to play. Multiple members of this site's staff have enjoyed playing the game against (and with) each other. And now, you can too!
How's that? The reason I’m even writing about an 18-month-old game is that Friday the 13th is among the games that are available free this month with PlayStation Plus. If you’re unaware of how that works: PS+ is a paid monthly service for PlayStation consoles that, among other things, enables online multiplayer and offers a selection of titles for free each month - which remain yours as long as you stay subscribed. It’s ludicrously good value, increasing with added time as a subscriber - and this October, it’s in the Halloween spirit. Or at least, the Friday the 13th spirit.
Friday the 13th: The Game is available now, for free (well, “free”), via PS+. Maybe we’ll see you at Camp Crystal Lake.