Killer Frequency is a one-of-a-kind retro slasher horror adventure, with all the 80s campy features you would expect included. Drenched in nostalgia, Killer Frequency also features a unique way of experiencing the story.
You have a face for radio
Once a big city radio host, Forrest Nash is now forced to tie ends together at a local radio station in Gallows Creek during the graveyard shift. Realizing he has fallen from grace, Nash tries to make the best of his current situation when he suddenly, becomes the center of a slasher movie. Gallows Creek has been plagued by a serial killer named the Whistling Man in the past. Now many years later it seems he’s back. At the start of his new era of killing, the Whistling Man has taken out the police chief. This leaves the police force in Gallows Creek down to the person handling the incoming calls. She decides to call you on air and explain the dire situation. The plan is to redirect all incoming calls directly to the radio station so she can go to a nearby town to get reinforcements.
With this premise, you become the sole help for a lot of people in danger of being killed by the Whistling Man. At first, people are surprised to hear DJ Forrest Nash is on the other side of a 911 call but since most of them are fearing for their lives, Nash will have to do. This makes for a unique game experience because you are at the center of the events unfolding in Gallow’s Creek without physically being there. You are seeing this story unravel through each phone call. With the limitation of being “stuck” in a radio studio – and the surrounding offices – you’ll have to get creative to save the people of Gallow’s Creek and potentially discover the identity and motive of the current iteration of the infamous Whistling Man.
Puzzle and real-time decisions
Killer Frequency is a conversation-heavy adventure. Without actually seeing the horror you’ll have to rely on the descriptions given by those who need your help. This will involve a lot of branching dialogue options that can steer a situation in all sorts of directions. You can set the tone of the game with the way you interact. Some of these dialogue options have purely flavour implications while others will have much bigger repercussions. It’s – hopefully – your intention to help save everyone in danger but a wrong – often timed – response can mean you’ll hear the person calling being butchered on the other side of the line. This adds some replayability to the game if you want the honor of saving everyone. Beyond dialogue options, you’ll also use the resources available in the studio in a more puzzle-oriented way. For example, a woman was hiding in a car without having the keys. Luckily you can find an article about how to hotwire any car based on the serial number on the ignition.
Synth-wave
Killer Frequency is intended to be enjoyed as a homage to 80s slasher movies with all the classic tropes included. These nods to great 80s horror are everywhere to be found. Also included is the campy humor often associated with slasher movies. The characters calling in are often in life-threatening situations but the way they are voiced and the lines they deliver adds a lot of comedy to the mix. The way DJ Forrest Nash still maintains the flow of his late-night radio show throughout the horror unfolding adds another chunk of much-approved comedy. While the game is all about the story, you still have to choose the right music, announce the songs, and play advertisements adding another fun quirky thing to do throughout the experience. The synth-wave records featured in this game were top quality.
Clunky
Killer Frequency is released on about every possible platform out there. It is even optimized to play in VR on an Oculus Quest II. It seems the developers should’ve not only optimized it for VR. It feels like more care could be put towards making the controls optimal based on the platform it was intended for. The game felt unnecessarily hard to control on a console. This feels like the keyboard/mouse option is badly altered to “just work” on a console. I threw countless records on the ground because I couldn’t grasp the controls. With a little tweaking of the sensitivity of the controls in the options menu, I had a better experience but still, it hindered my enjoyment of the game a bit too much.
Conclusion
Killer Frequency is a unique way to experience a horror story and should be applauded for its inventive gameplay. The storytelling, the nostalgia and the humor all add to the experience. Sadly a bit more care should’ve been put towards optimizing the game for every platform it got released to. Preferably experience this game in VR or with a keyboard/mouse.
