Dead by Daylight: Five Nights at Freddy's Review (Paentimexi)
Only For The Sake Of The Name
You are looking at this DLC for 4 reasons:
- Joining in on the FNAF fun!
- Animatronic Killer gameplay
- The Perks!
- A lot of folks are new - so - Learning how to have fun with DbD!
Firstly. Yes! I can absolutely say that picking up Springtrap is a nice and novel experience! We've been waiting for a long time to see the franchise make a debut appearance in the universe and it's very, very nice to be a part of it! If you're a fan of Five Nights At Freddy's then it's an absolute joy to get into the game and chase survivors as Springtrap. It's a fun treat for fans of the series!
Gameplay!
Eh.
Just eh.
Everything sounds good on paper and has a unique feel, but the general balance encourages survivors to NOT ENGAGE with the more interesting aspects of gameplay - while also providing enough jank to feel a bit less satisfying than other killers. Benefits of Springtrap include being able to teleport across the map all the time - pressure up! Ambushing survivors unawares! Slay from a distance with a powerful anti-loop axe! AND you can do a cool GRAB animation! Woohoo!
It doesn't quite work that way.
Survivors will abandon initial generators and spread out even more than normal, making the initial teleport rounds less powerful than you might think. Catching survivors unaware in the safe room mid-teleport is exceedingly rare, because survivors NEVER use it - especially when they suspect Springtrap might. I believe I've seen survivors use cameras against the Animatronic in less than 8% of the matches I played, and it was only ever for trolling purposes. The Axe sounds like a powerful ranged addition, but its slow ready time, punishing arc, and awkward hitbox make for a very particular companion in the field - and it's often more furtive to rely on M1s rather than trying to tease out results from the unreliable axe flinging. Grab animations with the axe are also relegated to the back seat of mechanics - the prompt only ever appears when within touching distance anyway, and can sometimes lead to accidents where you M1 the air and miss out on a hit because the survivor pulled away in a split second.
Being able to keep up map pressure and ambush survivors as a stealth killer are nice aspects, but other Killers can do this just as reliably if not better.
So why do people do this? Why do survivors go into the safe room? Why do they use the cameras? Why do Killers try to use the axe and get the grab? Because it's from FNAF! Enjoy the novelty! But do they add a wealth of gameplay finesse? Absolutely not. You can get some sick hits with the axe, get a good teleport interrupt, or ambush someone who's looking at cameras - but none of it is for gain, it's all for fun and fades very quickly. If you want to play well, you have to ignore ALL OF THE COOL NEW STUFF
The Perks!
They are doodoo. Very much doodoo caca.
Phantom Fear is the only halfway ok one, but it only works SOMETIMES. Unlike the other two perks, it has some synergies and can be added to some other builds - but it's not a very good information or disruption perk. Ignore the hype videos on YouTube - this is gonna be unused in no time.
HAVING FUN LEARNING DBD AS A NEWCOMER?!?
Absolutely not.
With about 3,000 hours in the game, I can say with complete certainty that Springtrap is NOT a good character to start out with to immerse into the Dead By Daylight playerbase. I usually play this game to relax and unwind - and yet the Animatronic made me feel frustrated, disempowered, and managed to make me feel confused.
If you want to have some fun in DbD try Wesker/Mastermind, Nemesis, Oni, Pyramid Head/Executioner, Unknown - Hell, Huntress is the best one to learn with and she is free!
If you start out your DbD Journey with Springtrap as your starter, you're going to have a harder time learning things such as tempo, sightlines, mechanics, and chase... because your kit awkwardly expects players to behave CONTRARY to typical match behavior.
Did I actually have fun with the DLC? Yes! Big yes! But that's mostly just for me - someone who owns and has reviewed ALL of the DLC. I can say that there were good times - but I simply cannot recommend.
Springtrap has a convoluted amount of ingredients baked into his kit, but doesn't really shine in any aspect. Ranged ability is meh. Teleport is eh.
There's some cool stuff to play with! But if you play with the cool stuff, you don't play DbD. If you start playing DbD, you stop engaging with the cool stuff almost completely.
all in all
It's $5 if you're a FNAF fan. Otherwise forget about it.