The Casting of Frank Stone is an odd name for a horror game. It almost implies we ought to know who Frank Stone is, or why his “casting” (whatever that means in this context) is notable. But after playing the game’s prologue, I still feel out of the loop. Supermassive, famous for cinematic horror games such as Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology, has been handed the reins to Behaviour Interactive’s Dead By Daylight (DBD) franchise for a cinematic spin-off that plays much like its other popular games.
That’s an exciting prospect in itself. Supermassive’s playable horror movies routinely make for terrific party games. But my prevailing impression after an hour with the game is that DBD fans will get more out of this than those who come in without knowing the PvP horror game well, but also that such an arrangement actually seems okay for both groups.
It would be self-defeating to make a horror game intended for general fans but write its story in such a way that it’s impenetrable to anyone but fans of its source material. I don’t feel that’s what is going on in the case of Frank Stone. However, the demo I played contains a handful of moments where I couldn’t tell if what was happening was mysterious to everyone who may play, or just those who haven’t jumped into DBD.
I’ve not spent enough time with it to consider myself an expert, but I happen to enjoy DBD. My dabbling with the game also means I’m not very caught up on the lore. It speaks of an Entity that inhabits the bodies of various killers over many years, and this story conceit is also why DBD enjoys the unique position of being Spooky Fortnite, as I call it, with a plethora of horror icons like Ghostface and the Xenomorph supplementing a roster that features a ton of original monstrosities, none of whom, however, are Frank Stone.
One popular theory in the DBD community is that Frank Stone is the first person to become possessed by this Entity, and so in playing The Casting of Frank Stone, Dead By Daylight fans will get to witness a prequel to all they’ve seen in Behaviour’s mainline game. But if you’re among the uninitiated, I don’t think there’s any reason to worry. For you, like the demo was for me, The Casting of Frank Stone may just be an intriguing supernatural horror story–no strings attached, and no homework required.
Exploring the demo, I did see at least one definitive DBD Easter egg in the form of a doll resembling one of the game’s killers, but if anything else was directly tied to the game, it went over my head–or was perhaps shrouded in darkness.
But the story beats, as best I can tell, don’t require any additional reading. The demo takes place decades ago in the fictional Cedar Hills, Oregon, and casts players as a young cop investigating the disappearance of a little boy. That brings him to a steel mill and in the presence of a strange old man and his dog, who guard the place overnight. As the officer explores the mill, players will solve minor environmental puzzles and choose dialogue options, which in turn shape his relationship with the caretaker.
Players will also find lore items that expand on the story and perform frequent quicktime events (QTEs), which have been given a clever audiovisual makeover to look just like DBD’s skill checks. As mentioned, the demo serves as a prologue, and so these characters won’t be the ones players control in the bulk of the full game, but it allows for a kind of tutorial while also setting up the story.
Failing QTEs early on in Supermassive games can result in minor penalties, like a character tripping over themselves. But as the game goes on, failing these button presses, or making the wrong decision in the game’s twisting, choose-your-own-adventure narrative can often result in playable characters being killed off permanently. From a gameplay standpoint, Frank Stone is as familiar to Supermassive’s returning players as it is simple enough to learn if you are new to the developer’s catalog.
The end of my time with the demo saw me fend off an attack from a killer, presumably our titular villain, before a gruesome death occurred. As the camera panned back slowly, either unveiling some clue that was lost to me or just being generally cinematic in the way Supermassive often is–I can’t say for sure–I found myself wondering if I would recognize the setting if I were a bigger DBD fan, but I also felt like it didn’t ultimately matter. Surely even DBD obsessives aren’t intended to understand the game’s story after one chapter, so if this dramatic shot meant a bit more to them than it did to me, I’m cool with that.
For me, Frank Stone may be the latest spooky romp through an interactive movie in which all of the playable characters can die (or live) by the end of the game, depending on my decisions. That’s a formula that I love returning to every time, even as the end results surely vary. For bigger Dead By Daylight fans, there’s certainly an additional layer to enjoy, perhaps creating new DBD fans too–which is the point, of course. But what both groups have in common is its central mystery: Who is Frank Stone and, furthermore, why is he homicidal?
These disparate groups of players may have different motives, but they’re largely asking the same questions, and if the game can satisfyingly answer those questions, Supermassive will have its next hit on its hands, while Behaviour may have a new path to expanding its already-impressive horror universe.
The Casting of Frank Stone launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and at $40 (or $50 for the Deluxe Edition), may be cheaper than you’re expecting.
