Dead by Daylight: Chapter XVI: Silent Hill Review (PC DLC, 2020)
(This review is based off the PC release of Dead by Daylight. I actually do have it for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, as well, but I invest in DLC for PC only at this point).
Dead by Daylight’s newest DLC “Chapter XVI: Silent Hill” is inspired by Konami’s iconic horror series. The new killer The Executioner is based on Pyramid Head, a villain any 90s horror fan will have forever stuck in their head. The new survivor is Cheryl Mason, star of Silent Hill 2, though there are some interesting wrinkles in that lore even in Dead by Daylight. The new map is Midwich Elementary School, complete with the clock tower, music room, and things hiding in the lockers.
Y’all, I’m going to be real with you straight away. The Silent Hill chapter made me fall in love with DBD again. This feels like the first time everything has come together in a long time. There are major adjustments to graphics that literally address one of the major issues I pointed out in my 4 Year Anniversary post. No, they haven’t added color blind mode yet. They did overhaul the lighting. I can confidently say that I can see where I am on every map now. The lighting pass also changed how the Clown’s gas attack looks, meaning I don’t get a migraine after being hit with one bottle. The game looks haunted and feels scary again.
Let’s start with The Executioner. Pyramid Head’s power is Rites of Judgement. There’s a lot going on, but it makes sense when you play as him. Basically, Pyramid Head can drag his Great Knife on the ground, leaving a trail of bloody barbed wire that puts survivors in the Torment state. Torment is a permanent status effect until a survivor is removed from a Cage of Atonement.
When a survivor suffering from Torment is put in the dying state, they can be sent to a Cage of Atonement instead of a hook. This is a cage randomly placed on the other side of the map. The survivor cannot signal to their teammates at all. They cannot free themselves. When you would go into phase two on the hook, you have to hit skill checks to stay alive. You cannot just let go and leave the game. A survivor who would die on the hook can be killed instantly with the equivalent of a mori, only much quicker.
The Executioner’s other special ability is Punishment of the Damned. This is a ranged attack. While using Rites of Judgment, you can hit the attack button to shoot out a ground level attack directly in front of you. If a survivor is in the path of the attack, they get hit. If multiple survivors are in the path of the attack, they all get hit. It’s a little tricky to get the aim just right, but it’s quite satisfying when you knock down three players healing at a hook using one of Pyramid Head’s new perks.
That perk is Trail of Torment and I don’t imagine a situation where I will not use the perk from now on. When you kick a generator, you become Undetectable for 16 seconds. That means you give off no terror radius. Any killer can essentially become Tier I Michael Myers or The Pig or Ghost Face in their special ability with no other restrictions. You stand upright and move at your normal speed. You can use all your own special abilities. The varying factor is cool down time, allowing Trail of Torment to be used every 80/70/60 seconds depending on the tier of the perk.
Deathbound is playing on a similar theme. When survivors heal each other more than 32 meters away from the Killer, they will scream. This reveals their location to the killer. For 60 seconds, the survivor/survivors who healed someone else will suffer from Oblivious (the survivor side of Undetectable: they cannot hear the terror radius or abilities of the killer) if they are further than 16/12/8 meters away from the survivor they healed. Deathbound tells the killer where at least two survivors are and punishes them for altruism. I see this pairing well with Hex: Devour Hope and gameplay styles where the killer wants to leave the hook.
Forced Penance also punishes altruism. Basically, if a survivor takes a protection hit, they are Broken for 40/50/60 seconds. This prevents survivors from healing back to normal health. They will be one hit away from going into dying state for up to a minute because they helped their teammate. This is not my favorite kind of perk, but I imagine it will be useful if you recognize that you’re going up against a survive with friends squad. Those are the groups that tend to be overly altruistic and are more willing to take the protection hits to try to get their whole team out of every game.
The Executioner plays real smooth. I was confused by his abilities on paper during the Public Test Build and didn’t get a lot of chances to play as him then. The killer queues are super long during PTBs because killers are the main attraction. I have played quite a bit of Pyramid Head since the DLC launched on Tuesday and it just feels right. Drag that great blade to the ground and leave the trail as you go at key locations. You can’t surround a hook or an exit gate, but everything else is fair game. I’ve been running him with Trail of Torment, Whispers, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Barbecue & Chili. Two perks give me location data, and two perks punish survivors for not finishing gens.
Cheryl Mason introduces a new mechanic to the game. Legendary cosmetics allow one character to swap out for another. Right now, Cheryl Mason of Silent Hill 2 can become Lisa Garland of Silent Hill/3/Origins/Shattered Memories. You might better know her as the Red Nurse. While it’s not technically called a Legendary cosmetic, you can also play as Alessa Gillespie, the schoolgirl with telekinetic abilities behind so much of the horror in the Silent Hill series. The 4th Anniversary Event teased a Heather Mason cosmetic, as well. I’ll give you my friendly reminder that all survivors play the same regardless of appearance, though the idea that maybe we’ll one day get to swap out for other characters related to Saw or Halloween is quite exciting. Many in-game cosmetics can be purchased with Shards (a free currency), though the licensed content always requires Auric Cells (the cash-based currency you purchase through the store).
Cheryl’s perks are connected to altruism in different ways. My favorite is Blood Pact. This perk does a lot. First, if you or the Obsession are injured, you can see each other’s yellow aura on the map. That gives you information on where the killer is and the ability to meet up and help each other when needed. If you heal each other, you gain Haste (a speed burst: this one is 7%) for 6/8/10 seconds. You can go for a riskier heal near the killer and pretty easily get away. Most important to me is the last effect: you are less likely to be the Obsession. If you don’t run an Obsession perk and are selected as the Obsession, that means the killer has a perk that’s going to target you in some way throughout the game. I don’t see Blood Pact going into all my builds like Trail of Torment is, but I have gotten some good use out of it so far.
Soul Guard is an interesting perk. When you are healed or recover from the dying state, you gain Endurance for 4/6/8 seconds. This is the same effect as Borrowed Time: you can take an extra hit without going into the dying state, but you gain a Deep Wound (where you have to mend or you go into the dying state). More interesting to me is the other effect. If the Cursed symbol appears on your screen (the killer is using a Hex perk and it’s been revealed to you), you can recover from the dying state on your own. It’s No Mither’s best aspect without having to risk going down in one hit the entire game with the benefits of Borrowed Time brought on by your own actions. That Endurance effect is super useful and I can see a lot of players using Soul Guard for that. I haven’t had much luck with it in game so far, but I also rarely have luck with Borrowed Time or Unbreakable; they just don’t work with my playstyle.
Last up is Cheryl’s most specific perk. Repressed Alliance lets you block a generator for 30 seconds. You have to work on generators for 80/70/60 seconds to be able to activate the ability. This one’s an odd perk that I’ve gotten use out of under certain circumstances. It’s pretty clearly designed to help out in a three gen situation (the final three gens are all close to each other, allowing the killer to do laps and slowly pick everyone off one by one). Activate Repressed Alliance and the killer can’t kick the gen and regress the team’s progress. A chase can easily last more than 30 seconds, so as long as your teammates hop on the gen once it’s unlocked, you can get out. It’s highlighted in a white aura when you activate the perk so all the survivors can see it. For me, I’ve been using it on the “complete [x] gens” challenges in the Tome. Those totals are typically cumulative, though it becomes funky to track how far you’ve come when you only finish a 1/4 of this gen and 2/3 of that one. I’ll lock that gen right in the killer’s face and lead them away so I can finish the gen later or die trying.
Right now, my Cheryl build is Blood Pact, Inner Strength, Adrenaline, and Diversion. My typical kit is something that tells me where my teammates are, something to heal myself, something to boost my end game, and something to track the killer. Yes, I use Diversion. I have good reason. I’m a solo queue survivor and it gives me information on where the killer is in relation to me. The pebble effect is useful for getting the killer away from where I’m working or helping my teammates when they’re stuck in a loop of being chased away from a gen. I use Inner Strength to incentivize cleansing dull totems for the eventual self-healing in a locker effect, Adrenaline to heal before end game and run for the gate, and Blood Pact to get information on the killer and one of my teammates. Blood Pact is also good for altruism as it gives me the aura of one teammate I can heal for some points.
The new Midwich Elementary map is huge. Unlike the maps in Red Forest, there is a lot to work with no matter where you go. The Midwich map is a two level school with a courtyard in the middle. The rooms connect with doors and windows and have plenty of hiding spots. The visuals are varied by subject matter—the music room is different from the library which is different from the science labs). There are also plenty of ramps and holes between the second and first floors. The courtyard is a more traditional layout of L and T walls. I will say I find it hard to locate the exit gates on this map. They’re connected to a second room and not as clearly separated as other indoor maps. The second room does add some interesting possibilities for end game chases if you can find the exit gates.
I highly recommend you pick up Chapter XVI: Silent Hill. Cheryl and The Executioner add a lot of value to the game with their perks and The Executioner is a fun challenge to play as. Even if you don’t pick up the DLC, the new map and graphics overhaul make the game scary again. Imagine being chased by Leatherface under the gray light of a full moon, or hiding from Freddy Krueger as a fiery sunset dances across a ghost town. Good lighting is key to good horror and Behaviour has struck gold with the new chapter.
Dead by Daylight: Chapter XVI: Silent Hill is available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. You can get the base game on PC for 64% off and the Silent Hill chapter for 10% off at Humble Bundle. Using those links gives me a percentage of the sale.
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