As a genre, asymmetrical games have evolved to a variety of different game types. Starting out as a more-or-less unpopular genre, it has gained quite a large player base after multiple titles have taken off, such as Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight. Now there is a new contending game called A Way To Be Dead by Crania Games that’s on Steam in early access. As a fan of this genre myself, I had to give this new title a chance and I have to say that it is definitely an interesting take, although still in need of some improvements.

Gameplay

In this 4v1 asymmetrical game, you have your typical setup of killer versus survivors. The goal of the survivors is to find the key that unlocks one of the two gates and then make it out to escape. As for the killer, their goal is to kill the survivors, of course. One factor that differs in this game that other titles in this genre don’t have are zombies which are out to kill everyone. However, most zombies will be inactive until after a selected amount of time (chosen in the game lobby) where the map has a blackout and all zombies become active threats.

In order to escape, survivors have to search various dead bodies around the map in hopes of finding a usable body part. If they find one, they have to take the body part to one of the multiple gravesites and put the body part in it. Some graves need one while others need two body parts to be completed. After completing enough gravesites, one will rise up and have the key to a gate lodged in its chest. If even one survivor escapes, the game is counted as a survivor win.

Killers start off with various weapons and items to start off the round with. If they run out of anything, there are lockers, fridges, and other locations that can be searched for more items. These same locations can be searched by players as they hope to find batteries for their flashlight, but if they find items for the killer to use they can hide them anywhere. While survivors can crouch under small holes in walls to get around easier, the killer can use an item that temporarily lets him mutate into a humanoid creature that crawls around on all four legs very quickly, making them more lethal and better at hunting. The killer can only win if they kill all survivors before any of them escape.

The last role available is as a zombie as well. This role is what happens to survivors after they have died a second time. The first time a survivor is killed, they are sent back to the starting beds and have to wait to be healed or pass a consecutive series of skill checks to revive themselves. If survivors become zombies, they are able to decide whether they will attack fellow survivors or attack the killer. There is no right answer to this scenario, so have fun with either choice you’d prefer to make in this scenario.

Each role and the decisions a player makes in them will earn various different points that can be used to buy power-ups for the respective role. These boosts can be purchased prior to a game start and are not permanent. This means they need to use their points wisely.

There are some strategic moves that can be made on both sides of this fight. Survivors can work together and slow down the killer by blinding them with a flashlight which will cause a seizure if the killer fails a skill check. While blinded, and especially if seizing, the killer will be incapacitated for roughly twenty seconds, which he will also attract zombies to attack him during. However, killers can avoid being blinded with clever movements such as running sideways or looking straight down (sideways is easier to work with).

Expectations

While the game is still in its early stages, the lack of survivor characters, killer options, and maps to play on is a huge hindrance to its replayability. Despite games like this hosting natural replayability to it for their players, leaving few options on all fronts is a negative aspect of any game.

Despite having a detailed tutorial for each role, it would be more helpful if they would play short videos or let the players do a playtest of all the different aspects each role has in the game. Pictures and words only describe so much, but it wasn’t until I played about three games that I actually felt like I understood how to play the game well enough to enjoy it.

I understand having a dark map for a horror game, but it is near impossible to see when you are inside the buildings. I hope they add lighting to the game without pulling away from the atmosphere. Things like flickering lights in more areas, brighter TVs left on static, and various other light sources that can be used to brighten the indoors of the map up. Even windows that let in moonlight would be enough. Of course, this would all be before the blackout point that triggers all the zombies.

Verdict

A Way To Be Dead is showing promise as a solid asymmetrical horror game, but there is still some work to be done before it can reach its potential. It’s interesting to see they took a gory style in the overall gameplay approach, but I like to see developers branching out to a wider range in their player base. I’ll have to keep track of future updates for this game as I look forward to seeing it grow while I try to land some more winning rounds as both killers and survivors.