Friday The 13th Video Game Lets You Become Jason

The Friday the 13th video game teased earlier this year has finally been announced. The multiplayer horror game, powered by Unreal Engine 4, is now collecting funds on Kickstarter over the next month.

Friday the 13th: The Video Game is set at Camp Crystal Lake, the location of the first movie (and upcoming reboot. One player is Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask-wearing psychopath, while the other seven are camp counselors he must hunt down. The end result is obviously going to be a lot of dead counselors, though they have a shot to defeat Jason as well:

While Jason can be an immensely daunting, seemingly unstoppable force, he is able to be brought down with an ‘epic’ win condition. It’ll be difficult, require some teamwork, and perhaps a bit of ingenuity, but we’ll be giving you the tools and opportunities to realize the biggest win in horror gaming. That sense of relief at the end, knowing you stopped the biggest and baddest killer in the world is not something to take lightly… We hope that this becomes a proud gaming moment for everyone that achieves it, one worth sharing and boasting to the world about. Lest you be worried… Jason will always come back for more!

At the end of each match, the highlights will be cut together into an eighties-style movie trailer. Players can then share them with the world - a subtle way of encouraging players to either slay counselors or Jason in creative ways.

Creative gameplay also results in bigger rewards for the progression system. Players will be able to unlock new character models for Jason along with new camp counselors. Developer Gun Media says there are going to be plenty of other unlocks planned as well.

The Kickstarter campaign's initial goal for Friday the 13th: The Video Game is $700,000. If they raise more than that, they're going to expand the game in several ways. For starters, the team could add single-player scenarios based on the films. They also want to add Tommy Jarvis (protagonist for three movies in the series) as a guide for players. Other stretch goals will be announced as the fundraising campaign closes in on its initial goal.

Developers Gun Media previously produced strategy game Breach & Clear. For Friday the 13th, they've enlisted key people from the first film including director Sean S. Cunningham, composer Harry Manfredini and make-up effects creator Tom Savini. Kane Hodder, the stuntman who played Jason in four of the films, will reprise his role via motion capturing.

Right now Friday the 13th is targeting an October 2016 release on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Past Kickstarter successes changed their release dates once they started adding features from stretch goals, though, so we'll see.

Pete Haas

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.