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The Chucky Chapter brought a whole new perspective to Dead by Daylight, literally. Before The Good Guy’s release, every killer in the game had been confined to a first-person perspective. Looking through the eyes of the killer certainly made this horror game more immersive, but it also came with some serious drawbacks. Survivors soon learned to take advantage of the killer’s limited field of view to hide, dodge, and perform other crucial survival maneuvers. Those tricks simply don’t work against Chucky, and seeing him in action, there’s only one conclusion to draw. Dead by Daylight needs more third-person killers.
FOV Techs and the Third-Person Advantage
Manipulating the other side’s perspective is a big part of counterplay for both sides in Dead by Daylight. While killers can moonwalk during chases to hide their Red Stain and mind-game more effectively, survivors have a larger arsenal of tricks. Careful survivors can position themselves at specific “check spots” from which they can spot the killer, no matter which direction they take around obstacles. Survivors can also take advantage of the killer’s first-person POV by hiding in corners or beneath windows, using the killer’s blindspot to disappear. It’s a bag of tricks that works well against every killer in the game. Except for Chucky.
Chucky basically has the same camera that survivors do, which means he has the same third-person advantage. This pint-sized killer can use check spots, deny window techs, and otherwise track his prey in ways no other character can. Losing a talented Chucky player in a chase can be all but impossible without certain perks or a bit of luck. Combined with his small size, the third-person camera allows Chucky to hide from survivors while collecting information on their whereabouts. Though the camera may not be mentioned in his power’s description, it’s every bit as important as knowing how to Scamper or Slice & Dice.
The Case for More Third-Person Killers
Though it’s a dramatic change for the game, giving Chucky a third-person camera was mandatory. He’s a bit over 3 ft. tall, so if you played him in first-person, you’d wouldn’t see much more than grass and rocks. High loops would destroy his line of sight, making him easier to evade than every other killer in the game. Just because third-person was added for Chucky doesn’t mean more Dead by Daylight killers shouldn’t get it. Coming up with new and exciting ways to set killers apart is challenging. That’s clear from the large number of teleporting killers. Giving more killers the Chucky cam would help set new members of the cast apart.
Though Behaviour already plans on reworking Shadowborn and implementing a FOV slider in a future update, the dev’s experiments with POV shouldn’t end there. Killers who are already in the game should be left alone. Yet the devs should at least consider making some future additions to the roster third-person. Other than powers, there are currently only three stats that set killers apart: Movement Speed, Terror Radius, and Height. With Chucky bringing third-person to the game, there are now arguably four. Possible programming challenges aside, Behaviour has every reason to take advantage of this new feature. We need another option to weigh other than just the best perks.
Potential Balance Issues
Adding more third-person killers to Dead by Daylight is a definite balance issue. The game wasn’t designed with them in mind. That said, a roster that includes both Blight and Trapper isn’t exactly balanced to begin with. Behaviour should consider more killers this camera along with appropriate weaknesses to compensate. Giving Chucky a reduced 110% Movement Speed may have been intended as a nerf to make up for his reduced size and hitbox, but it helps account for his camera advantage as well. Other third-person killers don’t necessarily have to be slow, however. Considering this ambitious new direction, there are a lot of reasons to be excited for Dead by Daylight‘s future, despite its concerning roadmap.
Dead by Daylight is available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,
