Adding to the original:

Like I said before, the single player is short but enough – especially for diehard fans of the franchise. Titled as ‘Michael’s Story‘, we follow Michael from the Prologue all the way to Chapter 5. The game covers the main beats of the 1978 narrative, while also filling in some gaps to offer a Unique Selling Point for both new and old fans (e.g – The Rabbit In Red and Michael indirectly pursuing Marcus from Chapter 1-3, seeing Michael in the hardware store acquire his iconic mask that felt like a slight homage to Halloween 4). I think while this is a good addition, it never feels like the chapters are long enough for it to be a strong aspect.

And we get the key iconic moments from the first film recaptured in high-fidelity graphics and mostly high-quality textures.

Bugs, bugs, bugs:

Was there bugs? Of course. I had a lot of lighting issues, noticed the game developer intricacies (e.g – loading characters out of the environment), and the chapter completion is bugged. When you complete a chapter, there is a chance that the chapter will just restart and make you replay it. To fix this, you have to restart your game. Something which I didn’t realise until my third forced replay on Chapter 1.

The physics are also a little buggy sometimes, with character ragdolls performing crazy, outlandish poses (this is also synonymous with my multiplayer matches, but I can excuse it since it creates funny moments when playing with my brothers). The AI can be incredibly stupid, like insanely stupid. There’s a challenge in Chapter 4 where you’re expected to match the film’s plot, but the AI’s wonky behaviour has made this difficult. I will cut them some slack because some moments are done so well.

But, these shouldn’t be in the game, and part of me wishes they had ironed out these kinks months ago, or given it more time in the oven to be worked on.

Rewards & challenges:

A big incentive for actually completing these chapters is the challenges and rewards. The chapters themselves each come with completion rewards, with my favourite being the iconic blue shirt Laurie outfit. These encourage you to carry out the tasks, so you can transfer this items to multiplayer and show off your new cosmetics or profile backgrounds. I haven’t completed all of them yet, but doing so grants you the Ghost skin (an homage to the original bedsheet costume that Michael adopts in the original, pretending to be Bob).

There is also the player reward of actually learning how to become The Shape. The general consensus is that the single player is supposed to be a Michael tutorial, showcased by the several UI prompts about his abilities and what he is capable of.

Overall, I think the story mode is worth playing, but if I want to re-experience the original story of the Boogeyman, I will always choose the original film.

This is where I’ve spent the majority of my time, as expected with this type of gaming experience. Currently, I am at profile level 48 and my highest civilian level is Laurie at Level 19.

Characters:

Let’s start with the characters themselves, specifically the civilians. The new ones created for the game are good archetypes (e.g – Eric Dunn the nerd, Rachel Calahan the outcast, Jennifer Aarons the girl with beauty and brains), and you can see the parallels between F13: The Game and this; e.g – Eric Dunn with Eric LaChappa, Jennifer Aarons with Tiffany Cox, Marcus Navarro with Adam Palomino, Thomas Armitage with Bugzy).

The gameplay mechanics are similar (e.g – survivors trying to escape the killer, looting for items, having the ability to hide and/or fight back), with the retro vibe working very well with both games. However, unlike F13, Halloween has expanded on customisation options via preset oufits, hairstyles, glasses and facial features/makeup.

As shown below, these are 3 styles I used with Laurie, highlighting the wide range of options available to personalise the civilians.

And I believe we should be getting some more upcoming DLC skins too. Very exciting.

The characters themselves each have unique starting items, which can change the course of a match entirely (e.g – Lynda’s pocket knife after reaching Level 10 with her, Laurie’s repair kit after reaching Level 15, etc); for each of my characters, I will always main a pocket knife on the off chance that Michael tries to even think of grabbing me on spawn.

Perk decks:

There are also perk decks, which I’m kind of mixed on. I like them in concept, because they have that gambling-lite experience of potentially receiving high-quality perks. What I don’t like is having to roll them throughout the match, since the game locks you in place as you choose one of three cards from your deck. I much preferred F13‘s approach to perks, structuring perks from poor to epic (which were colour-coded to make them really stand out).

It also allowed you to choose 3 perks that you would use throughout the game. While Halloween: The Game does have different perk colours, the distinction hasn’t been so clear of how good a perk truly is unless it’s Level 3 onwards.

I need to experiment with them more to figure out how good this system is, but so far I prefer F13: The Game‘s perk system.

Playing as Michael:

Michael plays more so like Part 6-9 Jason from F13: The Game, in that he can’t run. Even though headcanons do suggest he runs behind-the-scenes, Illfonic’s interpretation of his swift sudden speed is from Shape Jump; this is where Michael can transport himself away unseen if he was shrouded by darkness and can return in the shadows to strike his prey.

He has a vision icon that allows him to stalk victims, gaining bloodlust and increasing his obsession level. The uncomfortable breathing as he does so is a very nice touch. Other special abilities he has are Reality Tear, Detection Pulse, Shadow Strike, Blackout, Evil Presence and Shape Mines.

I think he is enjoyable to play as, but I’ve never been a huge killer-oriented gamer. Much prefer the civilian side of things.

Matchmaking:

Unless you’re in a party with other players, you can choose your matchmaking role as either Killer/None/Civilian. Rather than F13‘s mystery of the intro cutscene, where players would have to make educated guesses on who was playing as Jason, Halloween: The Game strips that mystery in favour of streamlining the process.

The civilian intro cutscene – while not terrible and is coherent with the supernatural edge of Michael Myers – can become a bit tiresome, especially when you see the same frantic pre-rendered animation on each character. It removes the unique immersion of a match in favour of simplifying the start.

Once you’re in, the game does offer a unique premise: save other civilians. Specifically, blue and yellow targets. You should always prioritise yellow targets – or the special ones – as they yield more XP for either the killer or survivor, depending on circumstances. As Michael, your goal is to eliminate everyone and escape Haddonfield, prioritising the yellow targets and killing anyone who gets in the way of your bloodlust.

And the rinse-and-repeat match formula does work, each playthrough slightly different because of player interaction and RNG (Random Number Generator | this algorithm is what causes randomised events/spawns; e.g – in Halloween: The Game, consider cellar spawn locations or civilian starting points). It’s this RNG that keeps the playthroughs fresh and varied, but also can cause frustration because of ‘bad RNG’.

If you die in Halloween: The Game, you don’t always die forever. The game encourages you through minigames that offer perk cards, beneficial for the spectated player, or for yourself (e.g – a police reinforcement card allowing you to return as police). You can also return as the memorable but crazed Dr Samuel Loomis, hell-bent on ensuring Haddonfield’s greatest evil is put back in Smiths Grove.

Locations:

Although we only have 4 maps, I think they’re good additions. The best is of course Orange Grove Estate, which has the iconic Wallace and Doyle house. Haddonfield Heights is also really good, since it features the ominous, abandoned Myers house. Haddonfield Town Center is a fun map. But, the weakest is East Haddonfield, and even that can be enjoyable a lot of the time. It just has a lot of open, empty spaces.