Forest Hills: The Last Year developer Undaunted Games hopes to do something not many companies have been able to do before: release an asymmetrical horror game that stands the test of time. Game such as Prop Hunt, VHS, Evil Dead, and Friday the 13th have come and gone.
Time will tell if games like Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Killer Klown from Outer Space, and Hunt: Showdown will last. Undaunted Games will try this by doing something that has never been done before. The company seeks to resurrect a video game that died in 2021. It is time to take a walk down memory lane.
Developer Undaunted by the Past
In 2014, a campaign for The Last Year on Kickstarter was created by James Matthew Wearing. The developers asked for a modest $50,000 CA. 4,099 backers raised a whopping $114,711 CA. This was around the same time Dead by Daylight went into development.
In 2016, the Alpha for the game was released under Elastic Games. 2018 saw Last Year: The Nightmare release exclusively under Discord’s gaming platform. After the failure of the platform, Last Year: Afterdark was released on Steam to little fanfare. By 2021, Elastic Games closed its doors.
When one door closes, another one opens. April 1st, 2023 the Official X (Twitter) account of Last Year announced the game would return as free to play on Steam under the oversight of Undaunted Studios. Undaunted Games is currently working on a resurrection of the game called Forest Hills: The Last Year. The studio called itself Undaunted as the problems of the past are not deterring the group from working on this IP.
Forest Hills: The Last Day’s Gameplay
This asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game would boast five survivors vs. one killer. The killer’s main objective would be to kill while the survivors would need to escape in a truck after fulfilling certain objectives. The gameplay focused on choice rather than chase.
As killers were designed to be slower than survivors, trying to chase a cheerleader down a cornfield would not work as well as in the movies. Rather, killers would use predator mode to despawn/spawn in shadowy parts of the map to either pick off survivors one after the other or try to kill them all at once.
Survivors gather several items to get the escape truck to work properly. Fighting back is also an option. While defeating a killer is difficult, the Survivors can craft weapons to kill them. The killer can hinder the Survivors’ progress in a few ways. A generator powers the map. If the generator is damaged, the entire map goes dark and flashlights are needed to see well in the dark. Only one class of survivors can fix the generator. Does the survivor class go alone and risk death or do they stay grouped?
Forest Hills: The Last Year will see an upgrade to the previous game’s content. Previous versions feature only five survivors and four killers. Survivors could play as Scout, Assault, Technician, Medic, and Support. Each class is represented by a trope of what one would find in high school. Forest Hills will feature seven survivors and seven killers. The Last Year featured maps taking place in a school. Forest Hills takes place on maps across the town.
The team also boasts a roadmap leading well into 2026 which means more maps, survivors, and killers in the future. To help make this dream come true, developers have the help of Sean Schemmel, known for his work in the Dragon Ball series, working as a voice-over director. Andy Belanger, a comic artist and professional wrestler, and Frank Tieri, the comic artist, are working on the game as well.
The Problem of Toxicity
Multiplayer games all deal with the problem of toxicity in some form or fashion. The developers of Forest Hills: The Last Year know this all too well and are working on a way to stop the hate before it can start. The first is through the tone of the game.
Most asymmetrical games lean into the serious side of horror. Forest Hills seeks to capture the feel of 90’s campy horror movies. This is seen by the design of a few survivors. One female character boasts an oversized retainer on her head. The characters also continue the high school tropes from the first game.
The second is through levity. In an interview with Gamespot, Brooke Eyler said, “We’re leaning into that humor [and] levity. And hopefully, the levity is able to buoy it above any kind of toxicity that might be laying underneath.”
The third is how the game is set up. While comparing Forest Hills to other asymmetrical games, Brooke referred to killers having to do whatever it takes to kill the survivors. This can take the fun away from the survivors and the ones playing as killers. Playing as a survivor means working in cooperation and competition. The hope is these three choices will help squash any toxicity before it can begin.
Forest Hills: The Last Year is in a good place. Asymmetrical horror games are becoming more popular. Multiple alternatives to Dead by Daylight are already on the market. The previous Last Year game had a cult following which saw players make a mod to continue playing together after servers were shut down. Developers are working to keep toxicity out. Most importantly, the game sounds fun to play and learn.
In horror movies, one should never assume the killer is dead. The Last Year may no longer be with us but do not assume the game is dead. No, it is currently being raised from the dead in the form of Forest Hills: The Last Year. Everyone knows this makes a killer more dangerous. Forest Hills: The Last Year will be available in October 2024 with a console launch in 2025.
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