Our Verdict
As a Dead by Daylight fan, The Casting of Frank Stone had me squealing with joy at its easter eggs, hints, and lore. This combined with its mysterious plot and engaging dual-timeline structure kept me invested even through the most hands-off sequences. Still, I was left wanting more interactivity, and the game’s conclusion is likely to go over non-DBD players’ heads.
The Casting of Frank Stone, a Supermassive game set in the world of Dead by Daylight, is a tough game for me to review. I’m a huge, almost obsessive, DBD fan: I play nearly every day, watch streams, own the comic books, and know the perks, the characters, and the lore. On the other hand, I’ve never completed any of Supermassive’s previous releases. They’re widely loved, but their interactive movie style and hands-off nature bore me. Knowing that a series of quick-time events would be the extent of the action, I was apprehensive going into The Casting of Frank Stone.
Having barely made it past the prologue of games like The Quarry and The Devil in Me, I was surprised to find The Casting of Frank Stone’s opening scenes quickly had me invested and eager to continue. The horror game’s prologue takes place in 1960s Oregon where a spate of missing teenagers and children sends a caring young cop’s investigation to a local steel mill. This opening ends on a tense stand-off with our eponymous villain, setting off a thrilling supernatural horror story influenced by deep Dead by Daylight lore.
The rest of The Casting of Frank Stone plays out across a dual-timeline narrative in 1980 and 2024. It switches frequently between the two in a cohesive way that keeps the mystery alive right to the end. The groundwork laid in the ‘60s and ‘80s sequences helps to build your relationship with the characters in the present day while contextualizing their dire situation. The narrative’s structure also keeps the brisk story engaging without any time period overstaying its welcome.
Despite the lack of interactivity, The Casting of Frank Stone’s pacing only truly sags during the more protracted sequences where you might not even press a single key. Even worse, the game has a habit of suddenly springing a skill check on you minutes into a scene, which can impact your outcome in a way you may not have wanted. While you can go back and replay scenes, it’s frustrating when your first run is compromised by a rogue QTE.
The more active sequences are immediately engaging, especially as your decisions and mistakes decide the story’s trajectory and the fate of your characters. This is particularly true in the final few hours, when the new 8mm camera view mechanic comes into play, both adding to the story while injecting an element of combat – at least by Supermassive standards. Looking through the retro video camera unveils things not visible to the naked eye and allows you to deter the evil hunting you down. These scenes look fantastic and grant you a level of control often lacking elsewhere in the game. The Casting of Frank Stone also does a bad job of fooling you into thinking you’re doing more than you often are. For example, using a key might trigger an additional ‘unlock’ and ‘open’ prompt, as if your intentions weren’t clear enough from simply using the item in the first place.
Another expected Supermassive quirk is the occasionally awkward face models, but the scenery is beautiful throughout and the atmosphere is appropriately gloomy. Most of the characters are also instantly likable, which makes up for the janky faces and inevitably affects your decision to let them live or die. The horror is slow to show itself, but it’s satisfyingly gruesome when it arrives. Without saying too much, the climactic foe is the pinnacle of this action, being both horrifying and among the best-looking monsters I’ve seen in a recent game, reminding me of the hideous mutants from Sons of the Forest.
Sadly, the writing pulling everything together isn’t always elegant. One character is shocked by the discovery of a secret passageway, which is surprising given they’d previously found not one but two others. Meanwhile, a promising sapphic love story never gets off the ground and feels like a real missed opportunity. In terms of the cast, my personal favorite was Linda, who crosses both timelines and is easily the game’s most developed character. I found it easy to get behind her, often basing my decisions on her well-being over anyone else’s. With four playable characters across the two timelines, Supermassive has created a balanced, memorable core cast.
The Casting of Frank Stone also attempts to broach the morality of making entertainment off the back of tragic real-life events, though it’s not done with any sincerity. There are moments when it questions the principles of extreme horror fanatics via one-liners from the whiny, jealous boyfriend, but it’s all a bit throwaway, meaning the game works best as a straightforward mystery-horror yarn, with anything beyond that feeling like a real stretch.
The Cutting Room Floor is a new feature for Supermassive that lets you replay chapters more seamlessly than ever before. I love the premise of games with branching storylines, but I get FOMO for all the eventualities I’ve missed. Rather than having to suck it up and play through the whole game again from top to bottom, The Cutting Room Floor shows you a timeline of branching events. From here, you can jump into any chapter and experience alternative outcomes. You can either keep going from there or come and go as you please, as your secondary, tertiary, or other branches are added alongside your original choices. You can also jump back in to pick up any The Casting of Frank Stone relliks or trinkets you may have missed.
As for the Dead by Daylight crossover, there are multiple references to the asymmetrical multiplayer game from the off. These DBD easter eggs are everywhere you turn, from collectibles and scenery to the sound effect for picking up an item or hitting a quick-time event. But these nods aren’t essential to enjoying The Casting of Frank Stone, as Supermassive has struck a good balance between its older games and Dead by Daylight, meaning most horror fans can comfortably get stuck in.
That is until the story reaches its climax and the references to Dead by Daylight lore come even thicker and faster, resulting in a final few scenes that might be lost on non-fans. For DBD diehards, however, it’s incredibly exciting, and I can’t stop thinking about the character of Frank Stone days after rolling credits. I also can’t wait to see Stone, The Champion, and some of the game’s survivors in Dead by Daylight down the line. So while I felt fulfilled coming out of this one, I’m not sure how much of that is down to the game itself or its wider implications for DBD.