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The most original horror game I’ve played in ages - Killer Frequency Quick Review

2K View2023-06-07

Killer Frequency

9.7

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PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it if you’re even the slightest fan of horror games. Killer Frequency is an incredibly unique first-person horror game where you take on the role of a small-town night-shift radio DJ. There’s just one twist: A killer is stalking the town during your shift, and all of the town’s 911 calls are being routed through to your station. This means a lot of the “action” is just standing behind a desk, picking which tunes to play and trying to keep innocent people alive with your words alone. Don’t let the limited setting fool you, though; this is a deeply creative game that kept surprising me with new challenges.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve made it three hours into my graveyard shift on 189.16 - The Scream. In that time, I’ve fielded a number of calls, started exploring the radio station, and managed to save three people who were being hunted down by the mysterious killer. From reports from other players, the full game takes around five to six hours, so I should be a good chunk of the way through already. I can’t wait to see how things wrap up and what else the game throws at me.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Incredible concept. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the clean, simple brilliance of Killer Frequency’s concept? A small radio station in the middle of the night is a slightly unsettling location by default—take it from a guy who ran the midnight to 3 a.m. shift for my tiny college radio station for four years. But add on to that the masked killer and the uncertainty of whether your next call will be someone else in mortal danger, a random townsperson requesting a song, or maybe even some local teenagers playing a poorly timed prank, and you’ve got a wonderfully unique game that’s unlike anything I’ve ever played before.

• ’80s nostalgia. Though you may not be getting out and exploring much, Killer Frequency’s radio station setting still brings a heavy dose of satisfying nostalgia with it. Set in 1987, the game’s music is a mix of disco, dance, electronic, and butt rock that feels right at home with the era. Moreover, the slasher movie villain could have stepped right out of a Wes Craven flick. If you love the ’80s, chances are you’ll find something to love here.

• Clever puzzles. The actual challenge of Killer Frequency consists of answering phone calls and trying to walk the citizens of Gallows Creek through escaping the killer by using the limited information at your disposal. With one caller, that meant flipping through a car magazine and telling her step-by-step how to hotwire a car. With another, I had to guide them through a building using a faxed map of the layout. And in every case, I needed to make very fast choices that would result in death if I wasn’t careful. It almost reminded me of a brilliant, single-player take on Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes.

• Consequences. Speaking of death, one thing I love in Killer Frequency is that more often than not the game put other characters’ fates in my hand rather than my own character’s. This meant that making a bad choice could lead to a character dying, but that didn’t necessarily mean game over. And while the game allows players to save and reload whenever they want, I liked forcing myself to stick with mistakes. Or I imagine I would, if I ever made any mistakes. 😎

• Writing and voice acting. For a game that’s all about talking, it would really fall apart if the writing wasn’t good. Thankfully both the writing and the voice acting are about as sharp as the murderer’s knife. From the kind of jerky but helpful main character Forrest Nash, to the disembodied voice of producer Peggy, to random townsfolk like the panicked 911 operator Leslie, Killer Frequency does a great job of sketching out characters that fill common horror movie stereotypes but have just enough additional depth to be really likable.

WHAT SUCKS

• Limited gameplay and setting. Your mileage may vary on this one, as it completely worked for me, but it’s worth pointing out that Killer Frequency is a very small game. True to its concept, I very rarely ventured outside the radio booth, and the vast majority of actual gameplay consisted of scouring the radio station for specific clues or items for me to use, and then answering calls and choosing dialogue options. If you’re looking for a deeper gameplay experience or a game that will have you exploring a wide variety of locations, this isn’t the one.

💬 Will you be calling up 189.16 to make a request, or are the days of radio gone for good as far as you’re concerned? Share your thoughts in the comments!