“Killer Frequency”
Initial release date: June 1, 2023
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Series S|X & PC
Mode: Singleplayer, First Person
Genres: Horror adventure game, Simulation game, Puzzle game
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Step into the shoes of a former Big City DJ with “Killer Frequency,” where the player must make life-or-death decisions to save victims from a killer: released on June 1, 2024, and developed by Team17.
The year is 1987 in a small town called Gallow Greek, where the player takes control of Forest Nash a former Big City DJ who has settled down in the small town and now is live on air which turns out to be the graveyard shift of a lifetime. The game has real-time decisions and puzzle-solving, making the player only have split minutes to choose from.
The player will encounter many types of puzzles such as navigating through a maze while the killer is chasing them, helping the caller hotwire a car to escape the killer, or finding out where the caller is and helping them escape.
“Killer Frequency” starts with the player listening to the show’s host doing the intro to the show. “We’re now in the midnight hour and you’re listening to 189.16 – The Scream with me, Forest Nash”. While listening to the host the player can notice a female silhouette in another room across from them.
This is Peggy, the radio show’s producer and sound engineer, helping the player make choices when saving the callers from the killer. Notice that the game uses an interesting art style that most games do not, “Cel Shaders,” which is often used in comic books or some cartoons. The game uses this art style because it draws the player back to 1980s nostalgia with neon colors and a wood-paneled environment.
The story itself is unique, being based on the 1980s horror film plots. An example of this plot is hearing the killer on the phone, getting a strange letter in the door from someone, or hearing someone walking outside.
This game has an amazing environment showing how the art style fits and feels inside of the game, when the player walks around the building that they are in they may need to do extra tasks like go outside to find an item and check what’s making that sound. Sometimes the player may hear or even think that someone is watching them from behind, turning around and not seeing or hearing anything, questioning if the player is going insane.
In other words “Killer Frequency” is a brilliant slasher puzzle game that is worth the time to play if one wants to experience a game that perfectly combines the plot of a slasher film and puzzle-solving mechanics.
