Slayaway Camp Review

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Traditionally, when you’re watching a horror movie, you’re usually rooting for the victims. But remember all those times when you rolled your eyes when a group of people decide to split up when a killer is on the loose? Or when they decide to run up to the attic instead of out the door? Well, now you get to take out your frustrations on dumb victims in your very own horror flick in Slayaway Camp!

Slayaway Camp’s story revolves around Skullface, the protagonist who you control in the game. His love in life? Slashing his way through camp counselors, cops, and teen campers. But of course, serial murdering doesn’t come easy and you’ve got to strategically plan your way around your attacks.

The gameplay isn’t particularly hard. You can slide Skullface, and he goes all the way to the direction you indicate until he hits something. Sometimes, that something is a fence, a flower hedge, or a sturdy wall. Sometimes, it’s a rickety bookcase, a pit with spikes at the bottom, or sometimes you end up drowning in the lake if you’re not careful. This is where it gets tricky.

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As you progress, the game springs some extra challenges to keep you on your feet as you do your puzzles. Some levels require that you finish it in a set amount of moves. I find that this was quite interesting since you can’t just go back and forth trying out different routes without consequence. You’re now forced to finish your kills before helicopters arrive and a SWOT team drops down to take you out.

But if you’re worried about getting stuck all day, the developers have something in place for you: a hint system. Sick of re-doing the same moves and not getting any further? If you pay some coins, you can get the game to show you the next correct step to the puzzle. Don’t worry—you don’t have to pay real money for the coins. Each time you complete a level, you’ll be rewarded hard-earned in-game cash! 

You do have to be careful with how much you’re spending on hints though. The game has a shop where you can buy cool finishing moves for when you finish off your victims. You can also purchase new character skins for Skullface.

I found Slayaway Camp to be charming and a great tribute to good ol’ horror movies. Their nostalgic soundtrack is reminiscent of classic horrors, and playing out the old VHS movies through the game really makes you feel like you’re acting and watching a movie at the same time. For example, when you go in for that last kill on a level, you can be sure there’ll be slow-mo cinematics for your slashing enjoyment.

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At the same time, I found the puzzles to be quite easy. There’s also a rewind feature in the game, allowing you to easily rewind a few (or all) steps so that you can reposition yourself to solve the puzzle. About four “movies” in (I believe there’s ten “movies” in total which you can play through, each with about 20 puzzles), I still haven’t found a reason to consider spending my blood money on hints. I suppose at the same time, it was quite relaxing to play. Perhaps to a point where I got sort of bored a few movies in. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I started up Slayaway Camp. But perhaps I just needed a break. I know I’ll easily be able to pick up the game at a later date without much mental or physical fuss. 

Nonetheless, I enjoyed playing Slayaway Camp. It’s a fun and visually pleasing game that you don’t have to feel frustrated over. I had no idea characters in a horror flick can look so cute, but at the same time, get so gory. From its settings menu looking like an old-school TV menu, to classic horror tropes such as setting your victims on fire, there are lots of nods to retro horror movies. And that I can really appreciate.

Rating 7

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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