Halloween: The Game PS5 Review. Asynchronous multiplayer titles are starting to spread around like an infectious case of cooties. The trend started with Friday The 13th, and since then other classic horror franchises have dipped their blood-slathered knives into the survival multiplayer arena, such as The Evil Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Halloween is the latest horror franchise turned into a dread-fuelled buddy up and staying alive simulator composed by Illfonic, but is there any new ground Halloween can break, or is it just a broken mess?
Revered as one of the greatest horror film franchises ever made, Halloween and its twisted and psychotic antagonist Michael Myers are set to make a killing in video game form.
Halloween: The Game Review (PS5)- Mired In Frights
Unlike similar asynchronous multiplayer offerings, Halloween: The Game features a short story mode that fills in the missing gaps of the original film. Myers starts things out by busting out of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, murdering orderlies and returning to his slaughtering grounds in Haddonfield, Illinois. From here, he begins his killing spree and it’s up to the unsuspecting neighbours of Haddonfield to save each other from Michael’s malicious murdering bloodlust, and notify the police of his whereabouts.
The story mode is nothing short of a tutorial for the multiplayer features with subtle insights given about what Myers was up to when he decided to come home. If you’re looking for deeper intrigue and something entirely new and lengthy, you definitely won’t find it here. However, if you want a slaughter-filled multiplayer experience based on the Halloween horror franchise, then come on in!
There’s no skirting around it, Halloween: The Game is a janky product you may find difficult to get to grips with. When you start the story, you aren’t going to find something lavish and indulgent; you’ll be met with a presentation which resembles the multiplayer, so very clunky and cumbersomely slow. When Myers breaks out of the sanitarium on a dreary storm-battered night, he starts walking in an imposing, but monotonously slow fashion as the security from inside blare out warnings of Myers’ escape.
Shonky Story And Stealth
Of course, security sounds the alarm specifically for Myers because he is an extremely dangerous psychopath, but why are security guards and orderlies spread out all over the place waiting to be executed if Myers is such a huge threat? Indeed it’s because the game’s teaching you about the game’s myriad of mechanics, especially one early on where you need to perform executions with a button sequence.
Stealth kills in modern games are usually swift and cerebral, designed in a way to dispatch enemies quickly so you can move onto the next target. Halloween: The Game however, implores you to get up and close with a victim, jab a few buttons, and watch a sickening execution. Watching as a guard’s neck is snapped or mercilessly stabbed until blood spurts uncontrollably out of their head, is grossly pornographic in a way that mimics the 1978 film to a tee, but the deliberateness doesn’t mesh well with what we’ve come to expect from modern stealth-at least in the campaign.
Well-Synchronised Multiplayer
Once you’ve polished off the story mode, your readiness for the 1 versus 4 multiplayer frightful delights will be complete. The divisive mechanics from the story remain, but this time you can unleash everything you’ve learned and more in the PVP arena, and upon frightened neighbours who’ll have no choice but to work together in order to put Myers back in the slammer.
If you’re familiar with the other asynchronous multiplayer titles already outlined in this review, Halloween will inject a similar level of dread and suspense, which can be very thrilling for both the players who don the Mike Myers mask, as well as the panicked neighbours trying to rescue themselves and ensuring the masked psycho is returned to the nick or the nuthouse.
When playing as Myers, you’re granted unique abilities to help you stalk and butcher residents of Haddonfield. Killer Sense is a quintessential mechanic, allowing Myers to survey his surroundings and gain a sniff of any leads towards potential victims. Once he has located innocence, he can then stalk them, which may open up pathways for unique executions once he grabs ahold of his target with nowhere left to run.
All Shapes And Serial Killing Surprises
One frightening addition to Myers’ repertoire are the shapeshifting abilities. Shape Jump gives Myers a frighteningly unpredictable advantage, as he can lurk towards unsuspecting targets unseen as a floating dark silhouette. Neighbours best keep their wits sharp and their awareness on full alert because Myers could be right behind them, and they may not even know it!
The Shape Dash mechanic is another wrinkle added to the murderous intent of Myers. Typically Myers is slow and walks at a very slow and methodical pace, he needs a way to catch up to his victims, particularly when they’re running away. Neighbours will definitely think twice before believing they’re safe.
Executions are grisly to say the least, but the satisfaction of pulling them off is immense and greatly worth the effort made in the lead up to them. Strangling, impaling, burning alive, object choking, vivisection, crushing and garrotting are all viable means of finishing your prey off. The variety and meticulousness of each form of murder is straight-up sick, and will likely remind you of Rockstar Games’ Manhunt and Manhunt 2. Oddly, there are no forms of decapitation, but you won’t miss them because what’s here is more than brutal enough to satisfy.
Myers operates under the cover of darkness, and he’ll need to shut off or shatter any light source that’ll protect his victims. Neighbours are better off when they work together, ensuring they stay within the light as much as possible, but their safety can be compromised at a moment’s notice, and whatever advantage they have can be snuffed out if they aren’t careful and refuse to proceed with caution.
Neighbours In Need
Neighbours are vulnerable, but with careful planning and with a deluge of support, they can keep Myers off the streets. The numbers game is Myers’ kryptonite, so overwhelming him is the best way to send him back to the sanitarium.
Neighbours will need to find escape routes, places to hide and passages to sneak through if they want to survive. Not all neighbours have the same capabilities, so working together to utilize each of their individual strengths is paramount to success.
These attributes pertain to capability, athleticism, resourcefulness and personality. With capability, you’ll be good at flogging Myers whenever he is visible, but you’ll still need to gang up with a few pals to incapacitate him-remember he cannot die! Athleticism governs speed, allowing you to outrun Myers and dodge threats. Resourcefulness is all about effective planning, as you can capably read maps to find the best escape locations, an ability to effectively use firearms and get behind the wheel of vehicles, and personality will serve you well when encouraging civilians to follow your lead, call authorities for assistance, and you’ll garner some resistance from the fear Myers presents.
All of these attributes and the quantity of them depends on each individual character and what they’re good at. Neighbours and civilians are individually far weaker than Myers, but when each skill is chained together through teamwork and acting fast, then thwarting Myers becomes far easier.
While it is definitely more empowering to play as Myers, the collaborative strengths of playing as a neighbour and working with others to overcome his threat is in some ways far more rewarding. The challenges you’ll find with Halloween’s multiplayer are numerous, and there’s plenty more meat on this title’s bones than you might initially expect.
Shockingly, there’s more to Halloween: The game than the shoddy two-hour story mode would have you believe. While the story is a suitable primer for the multiplayer thrills, it really could’ve been a full-blown main course with proper substance, but alas it’s merely a starter. The asynchronous multiplayer is crazy though, with vicious murder and stalking on the Michael Myers side, and careful strategizing, influence and steep uphill climb from the neighbours side. What easily could’ve been unexciting and banal, the 1 versus 4 PVP along with the abilities and teamwork make Halloween: The Game a treat, but be sure to excuse its clunkiness to get the most out of it.
Halloween: The Game will be released on September 8, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.
Review copy was generously provided by the publisher.