KILLER SPOT LIGHT #1 THE SHAPE (AKA MICHAEL MYERS) 8.5/10 – BY ERIK PILLAR

The Shape has the form of a man, just a man. He is nothing special. He looks like no monster, and has no special weapons or apparent abilities. The shape is only what he is. And, what is he you might ask? Pure evil. Plain and simple, he is evil.

Abilities:

“The Shape wields a long kitchen knife and has low to no terror radius. You will not hear him coming. That is, not until his knife is at your back. This is only the beginning. The Shape, or rather the evil within, takes joy in its victim’s fear. The Shape watches, watches and follows. He always follows. As he follows, the evil grows. And as it grows, so too does the terror those who flee him feel. The Shape grows stronger as the evil delights. He is faster now, stronger, more a monster than before. Yet he continues. The Shape watches and feasts on the pain of those in nightmare. The evil spurns The Shape on, and it grows once more.”

“Their minds frozen in fear, those stalked by The Shape can only run and pray as the evil finds its true strength. The Shape is now the beast. It is faster than a man, stronger than a simple killer, and its strikes always aim true. You cannot fight The Shape at its greatest. All you can do is run, hide, and cower till the evil slinks back to rest. And then, even then, the evil waits to grow once more.”

The Shape has one core ability. It can stalk survivors to gain tiers of his main mechanic, the evil within. At tier one The Shape is only slightly faster than a survivor, and its attack will do wounding damage first, and downing damage second. There is one huge bonus to tier one though, and that is that The Shape’s terror radius is next to nothing.

Clicking the right mouse button will enter The Shape into stalker mode. This slows him down, and highlights survivors in outline to be easier seen. If a survivor is visible, The Shape will gain evil to progress to the next level of its tiers. Level two grants faster walking speed and a longer lunge with his knife. Tier three makes you even faster now, and attacks will instantly strike survivors to the ground – rather than the traditional two strikes required.

Artistic Design:

The developers of Dead by Daylight did right when they copied the villain of Michael Myers from the Halloween series of movies over to their video game. His telltale white mask is chilling to see in the fog of the fields he hunts, and his signature blue overalls look just as I remember from the films I had enjoyed years back. Part of the fear of The Shape (Myers) inspires is that he has the form and gait of a man, yet that mask he wears shows no sign of emotion or life. Anything could be behind the mask, anyone.

Final Verdict:

There is a true feeling of fear when you see The Shape standing in the distance, watching you. You know he sees you; you know he knows you see him. He is waiting, and the moment you move to run he will follow. That is what The Shape is in Dead by Daylight – inevitability. He will be around every corner, in the background of every scene, and always, always, just a step away from making his kill.

BUY INFO:

The Shape is part of a DLC pack for the video game Dead by Daylight. It can be purchased as an addition to the $19.99 base game for $6.99.