Playing the Friday the 13th: The Game beta over the last few days, we’ve already picked up some great tips that will help you survive the clutches of Jason Voorhes, or if you’re one of the counselors, give you some vital ways to evade his axe!
Friday the 13th: The Game is unlike any other game we’ve played. As a counselor it relies on stealth and quick wits, and playing as Jason it requires pure menace and deviousness! In this Friday the 13th guide, we’re going to give you some tips and tricks to kill effectively and help you stay alive.
Related: Watch Friday the 13th gameplay
How to avoid Jason in Friday the 13th: counselor viewpoint
At the start of the game, you’ll be split up from your fellow counselors and need to think quickly in order to survive. Here’s some Friday the 13th tips to help you get started:
- Jason can hear you and if you’re too noisy it will flag up on his stealth meter. Crouch to move silently.
- You can run, but it depletes your stamina gauge. Keep a careful eye on it and only run when you really need to.
- Manage your fear factor. When you’re scared you can’t perform actions efficiently, which gives Jason more time to slaughter you in cold blood.
- Reduce your fear factor by staying close to your fellow counselors, and a friend may even help you out if you’re in a spot of bother.
- You can also reduce fear by hiding in lit buildings, but watch out! Jason can cut the electricity and turn the lights off.
- Jason can’t climb through windows so use them to your advantage and make a quick exit out of a building.
- Keep an eye on your map to find the locations of buildings where you’ll find weapons and items that will aid you. A small knife, for example, will enable you to stab Jason when he grabs you giving you time to flee.
- Lock doors behind you and barricade them if you have time to keep Jason off your back.
- Hold your breath while hiding.
- Find CB radios in cabins to call in Tommy Jarvis the Hunter. This calls in a player a player who has escaped or who is dead, and they’re now equipped with a a powerful shotgun.
- Repair vehicles and the phone box to reduce fear.
- Use distraction items such as firecrackers and turn radios on to distract the serial killer.
- Grab a bear trap and place it strategically. Then lure Jason towards you!
- The more objectives you fulfil in the game, the more experience points you’ll earn which can then be spent on better perks to aid survival.
- Find gas and batteries to fix cars, which provide a quick escape, but listen out for the visual cues when Jason is near otherwise he could be right behind you.
- If you manage to start a car, don’t leave your friends behind. More of them can fit in the car to escape the clutches of evil.
There are three ways in which you can survive and win each round:
- Start a car and drive it off the map.
- Call the police, wait for them to arrive and head towards them before Jason catches you.
- Kill Jason.
Related: Read the Friday the 13th interview
Playing as Jason: How to kill effectively
It’s a lot of fun playing as Jason, but with so many counselors running around Summer Camp you’ll need to think on your feet.
You’ll start off with four special skills:
- Morph
- Sense
- Shift
- Rage
Understanding how each of these powers work is key to a swift and successful kill, but only use them when you really need to because each power is on a cooldown timer.
- Use morph ability to transport long distances. The map will appear on screen and you can choose an area to warp to. This is a great trick if you’ve been wandering around for ages without spotting anyone, or you see a counselor running away in the distance. If you know where they’re heading, you can beat them to it!
- Use the sense ability for a short period of time to flag up locations of counselors in red. If they’re in a building it won’t tell you exactly where they are, but it’s fun hunting for them! Remember the sense ability has a cooldown timer too so try to use it in short bursts.
- Shift short distances. This is like a very fast sprint where you catch up any counselors that are ahead. You can stop sprinting at any time, so time it carefully to spring up right behind or in front of them.
- Use your rage mode to burst through cabin doors and even through some walls. This takes a long time to power-up so use it sparingly.
- Enter combat stance to target a counselor which helps to block attacks, and allows you to attack them more efficiently.
- Destroy electrical boxes to turn lights out and raise the fear meters off your targets. You’ll also gain XP, which allows you to purchase new kills and perks.
- Look under beds and in closets if you know your prey is in a building but can’t locate them.
- Level up by carrying out actions, and in the menu screen you’ll be able to get new deadly perks!
The Friday the 13th: The Game release date in Spring 2017, and it’s available to preorder on PC and PS4 from the official Kickstarter page.