Dead by Daylight, the hugely popular multiplayer slash-em-up, marked its fifth anniversary by revealing that it has now achieved 36 million players (across all platforms), as well as a new Resident Evil crossover that will be released on June 15. The news was accompanied by the above CGI clip, which depicts Nemesis, the dictator from Resident Evil 3 and the new killer in Dead by Daylight, hurling a poor person into a vehicle.
The Resident Evil ‘chapter,’ as DBD refers to DLCs, contains Nemesis as a new murderer, Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine as two new survivors, and a stunning new environment that recreates the Raccoon City Police Department. Resident Evil 2’s map and Leon are both present, although Resident Evil 3’s Nemesis and this version of Jill are absent. Finally, and maybe most intriguingly, Nemesis is the first Dead by Daylight villain to be accompanied by AI companions: zombies.
Nemesis isn’t the most recognizable big baddy in the Resident Evil franchise, but it’s easy to understand why he was chosen: his powers are a perfect fit for Dead By Daylight’s experience. Nemesis (who will be named ‘Tyrant’ in-game) can fling his magnificent arm-tentacles forward, giving the character a vast melee range, and when he hits a survivor, they are ‘infected’ with his ‘killing power’: the T-virus. Subsequent blows will start to pile damage on top of this.
Survivors infected with the T-virus may cough, vomit, and overall make more noise, making them easier to locate (and of course more vulnerable to tentacle damage). When there are infected survivors on the map, Nemesis’ strength grows: the tentacles lengthen and can begin to strike through pallets and certain walls. Each level has a limited quantity of antidotes for the survivors to discover, but once they’re gone, they’re gone.
The AI zombies are the T-last virus’s flaw. When Nemesis is the murderer, zombies will appear at random points around the map and attack players. Obviously, being zombies, they’re not very quick or difficult to control. However, if they grab a survivor and bite, they will get infected with the T-virus, and further bites will begin to deliver damage and further power-up Nemesis.
The most significant point is that this murderer appears to be a perfect fit for Dead by Daylight, offering something truly unique in terms of powers and approach. The game’s creative director, Dave Richards, defined the design strategy as having Nemesis “feel like the ultimate pursuer.” After all, the whole point of Nemesis is that he’s the dictator that follows you around all the time.
The new survivors each have their own set of extraordinary powers. One of Leon’s is a flashbang, which may be made in a locker when he’s fixed a specific amount of generators: it may be dropped or hurled, blinds the murderer, and can get comrades out of their hands. Meanwhile, Jill has the ability to booby-trap generators, which means that when the murderer arrives to give them a kick, they receive a kick straight back.
The Raccoon City Police Station layout looks fantastic and being the heart of Resident Evil 2, it’s about as nostalgic as gaming landscapes come. The reproduction is not exactly as-is, but it is as near as possible given Dead by Daylight’s environment restrictions, as well as additional horrifying components from the game’s creatures. It even has the S.T.A.R.S. office: sold.
“It was crucial to have what is considered classic in the realm of Resident Evil, which is why we decided for the remakes of the previous games: the emotion, the recollection of these titles we played when we were younger or that fans have experienced more recently,” explains Dave Richards.
But the nine-foot-tall hat-wearing elephant in the room is, of course, Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil: Village. To be fair to Behaviour, it must have started working on this project long before this character became a bit of a meme hit, but the obvious issue is if it intends to capitalize on this and have a Lady D costume ready for the murderer in the future.
“I can’t answer that today,” Richard responds. What are you doing today? Okay, then.
The AI aspects brought by Nemesis, on the other hand, may have the largest effect on Dead by Daylight’s future trajectory. “Like anything we develop, we develop new tools that we can utilize in the future,” Richard explains. “So, yes, AI characters will be able to assist other killers in the future. The zombies, on the other hand, will remain with Nemesis. When we employ the AI pieces again, they will be different.”
The Resident Evil chapter of Dead by Daylight will go live on the game’s test servers in the next hour and will be available on June 15 for $11.99.
