A moment of silence for this titan of a game. Halted by a brutal legal battle and now breathing it's last breath. Although you'll be gone, you won't be forgotten.

-RIP F13

The story of Friday the 13th: The Game is a rather sad one and from the perspective of players who are pretty much forced to play Dead by Daylight instead, to which Friday the 13th - despite its numerous apparent shortcomings - is superior in every aspect.
The reason I mentioned 'from the perspective of players' is because I (/we) can't see behind the curtains, except for the ones involved: the developers and the owner(s) of the copyright to the Friday the 13th franchise. While understandably many people hold the developers accountable - especially how they moved over to a similar game of another famous horror franchise; it is important to note, that shortly after the game was finally released (being in early access for quite a while), just a year later, from June 11, 2018 they were practically not allowed to 'touch' (including releasing new content and fixing bugs) their own game.
Without making accusations - everyone loves money, even though some people MORE so than others - this is mainly due to the doing of the copyright owner, for reasons unknown.

A sad story it is indeed, since this game has had everything (and more) the Friday the 13th movies[en.wikipedia.org] had to offer. Yes, more, because let's be honest here: out of the 12 movies, 9 were utter garbage. Almost everyone knows the original, but while being good and atmosphere-heavy, it isn't really a true Friday the 13th movie: Jason Voorhees makes just a very short appearance and as we all know from the opening scene of the brilliant Scream[en.wikipedia.org] - the killer is Jason's mother. There was a remake in 2009 based on the first couple of movies and it wasn't bad either. This leaves us with the 2nd part[en.wikipedia.org], as the only truly appraisable Friday the 13th movie.
Thankfully, the developers knew this, so the game puts a heavy emphasis on building on the foundations of the 2nd part primarily.

But what is was the game like? We get the basic concept of a multiplayer survival horror game (why do some people call it 'asymmetrical' - are they expecting just killers chasing each other?) in its purest, highly enjoyable form.
There are 7 (+1) counselors (students in their late teens/early 20s, expected to be watching over little kids coming to the camp for summer) who have to survive for 20 minutes while Jason is hunting for them. The map is fairly big and 20 minutes isn't that long, so it doesn't seem to be that hard... or does it?
Well, since Jason cannot be killed, - not entirely true - can teleport around, hear and occasionally see the counselors from afar and kill basically just by grabbing them, it's by no means an easy task, even if the counselors are able to fight back quite effectively (just like in the movies :)).
The game also offers single player content: lots of trivia can be unlocked and we can relive memorable scenes from the movies.

While the maximum number of counselors in a match is 7, there are a total of 15 of them to choose from. They don't differ just in appearance, each have different statistics making them ideal for various approaches: either running, sneaking/hiding, repairing or fighting back. By equipping 4 perks/skills, we can further increase the effectiveness of the role we decide to play.
Other than these, our best bet is staying together since we can help fellow counselors break free if caught, waiting inside a house (they are well-defendable, since Jason can't enter through windows) or we can call the police, shortening the time we have to endure (we still have to reach the exits where the police car is waiting though). Additionally there are 2 cars and sometimes a boat we can use to escape, but they both need to be repaired and fueled up (it's still not a life insurance, since Jason can easily stop both vehicles).
QTEs - quick time events - (for repairs) work perfectly, without delay.

Jason always starts from the hut and his 4 perks (teleport, heat vision, shifting and stalking) can't be changed. We can however choose from his variations from the different movies along with his preferred weapons and accessories.

steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3396517623

The developers paid attention to small details and there are several seemingly obvious, but great ideas, such as looking for maps which we have to find first in order to avoid running around cluelessly or walkie-talkies that are required for in-game communications (we just hear the screams of nearby counselors otherwise). We also get spooked when being near to Jason, which affects our vision (not only it gets darker, but our HUD also disappears) and our character will become more likely to stumble.
If we get severely injured, our running speed decreases significantly, making our chances for survival almost 0.

Tommy Jarvis (a character who appears in 3 movies) can be summoned by making a call - just like in the case of the police - and with at least 1 counselor already dead (his control will be taken over by the dead player). He has superior stamina and arrives with a shotgun (just a single shot though). Again it's a fun way to draw back a player into the game (instead of just spectating or leaving) and Jarvis is actually useful for a unique move...

Obviously, given the circumstances, the game is littered with all kinds of bugs, some of them affecting gameplay quite seriously. The most annoying one is that Jason can be stunlocked by a well organized group: while practically hard to pull off - too many things have to match, having powerful weapons and no autistic teammates most importantly - it is possible and can result in all 7 counselors surviving. Counselors can also become invincible when hit during certain animations.
Some of the glitches originate from the detailed (not just 1- or 2 layered) relief, certain actions (like the 100+ different, often environmental executions) can only be performed on flat terrain.

The game was amongst the first ones which used Unreal Engine 4 and it still looks great. There are no unnecessary visual effects besides the obligatory mild fog here and there (raining can be turned on optionally for maximum ambiance), just clean, pastel-like colours and along with the locations they provide a realistic look, successfully recreating the visual style of the (first) movies from the 80s. The 5 maps while all look similar (they are centered around Crystal Lake from the first 2 movies) don't get old and are large enough to provide entertainment on the long run.

steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393684392

The original background theme from the movies is still effective and so is the echoing voice of Pamela Voorhees, which are all present here. The surround sound is amazing, although the minimap (which actually shows Jason's location) lessens its usefulness. The television noise effect when Jason teleports around us is also a nice touch.

Despite the semi-broken state it's in, Friday the 13th: The Game is still tremendous fun. Now that the game disappears, after its short, 1-year-long glory, I can safely say, it's going to be missed.

PROS
+ very enjoyable gameplay
+ lots of unique ideas
+ large maps
+ great sounds
+ co-operation is rewarding...

CONS
- ...when done right, it can make the game very easy for counselors
- lots of different bugs (no surprise)

RATING
7/10

Here lies

Friday the 13th

26/05/17-- 31/12/24

personal note: this game was my childhood