The Casting of Frank Stone Review: Supermassive’s Best Game Yet

The Casting of Frank Stone at a Glance

The Casting of Frank Stone answers the question: “What would a single-player game in the world of Dead by Daylight look like?” with a sinister amount of glee. For the 12 hours I spent with the game, I stumbled, tripped, and screamed through the events that made up The Casting of Frank Stone as happy as a Spirit player whose Haunted Ground totems just got cleansed right in front of them.

Dead by Daylight is the biggest asymmetrical horror game in the world, with several collaborations across multiple horror franchises like Halloween, SAW, and, most recently, Castlevania. It has its own board game, comics, dating sim, and a movie in the works. Yet, despite my love for the horror giant, which only continues to get bigger and bigger as days pass by, I can’t deny that the one thing I’ve wanted from it has seemingly been out of reach: a purely narrative-focused game.

Supermassive is well-known for balancing gameplay with cinematic storytelling, having done so previously with games like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and their The Dark Pictures anthology. And they once again showcase their narrative excellence in their portrayal of the world of Dead by Daylight.

Violent Perspectives

Unlike Dead by Daylight, Frank Stone takes an adventure game approach to its gameplay. Source: Aimee Hart via Techopedia

Instead of throwing down pallets, hiding in lockers, and tea-bagging the Killers at the exit gate as your favorite Survivors like Dwight and Claudette, players are introduced to a new cast across multiple timelines – and their fates are in your hands from the get-go. Most of the action takes place in the 1980s when teens Chris, Jaime, Linda, and Robert set out in the dead of night to go film a movie with nothing but their imagination, fake blood, and a location set on the grisly grounds of an Oregon steel mill in Cedar Hills where Frank Stone’s, our titular character, legacy looms large.

Because of review guidelines, I’m unable to get into gritty details of The Casting of Frank Stone’s plot – an odd choice considering that’s what the majority of Dead by Daylight fans going into Frank Stone is there for. That said, I believe I can get away with saying Frank Stone’s legacy is foreboding as all hell. Like a spring of blood, his past seeps throughout Cedar Hills, marking those who lived through those tumultuous times in unchangeable ways.

Characters who grew up there know of him, and an uneasy silence follows each time he’s mentioned. On the other hand, other characters see Frank Stone as the missing piece to fame and inspiration for their movie and are willing to cash in on his real-life victims to benefit themselves. This quickly becomes a source of tension, perfectly capturing the ongoing discussion about the ethics behind true crime in a way that works even without the Dead by Daylight backdrop.

To Be Frank

With such a build-up of Frank Stone, it pains me to say that, as a character, he is the weakest part of this puzzle. The Casting of Frank Stone isn’t just a nifty title because some kids are making a movie; it’s a direct confirmation of what Augustine Lieber pretty much spells out to you in the prologue:

Perhaps then, it was intentional for Frank Stone to be inconsequential, a flavorless tool, but that doesn’t stop me from being disappointed that he is. There are so many expertly written and designed Killers in Dead by Daylight, like The Artist, The Doctor, The Huntress, etc., that Frank Stone feels underwhelming by comparison.

The movie-making aspect (and how it interlinks with the gameplay) also feels half-baked. It features very sparingly, and when it does, the game is already halfway from being over. There’s no using it to see things in the dark (that’s what the flashlights are for), and while it can be used to ward and capture things, I was surprised at how poorly utilized the camera was until the very end. When you do use it, great! When you don’t, it feels as though it should be used. All in all, a very forgettable feature. Unfortunately, The Casting of Frank Stone gameplay feels lacking.

As for choices, the biggest draw for Supermassive fans and adventure game fanatics alike, there’s plenty. There are so many different variations in The Casting of Frank Stone that it’s hard to keep track of, even with the cutting room floor feature that lets you go back and replay all the bits you missed.

What’s more, there are a number of collectibles that not only directly reference the multiplayer game but actively paint a picture of the lore that’s been presented in Dead by Daylight’s tomes, story snippets that give lore enthusiasts an idea of what goes behind this crazy omniverse. As an avid lore-liker, I found that The Casting of Frank Stone’s story was easy to comprehend and understand. On the other hand, I wish that I had learned something new about the universe instead of feeling as though Supermassive had retread on old ground. Even so, I can’t deny that the presentation of Dead by Daylight’s lore is plenty attention-grabbing.

Having played Dead by Daylight as long as I have, it’s easy to forget the earlier days, and how scared I was each trial in case it was a stealth Killer or The Clown. In this game? Fear lingers behind the things that neither the human eye nor a Super8 film camera can see, and death? Death is not an escape.

What is clear is that while new players who have never touched Dead by Daylight can undoubtedly enjoy the game, The Casting of Frank Stone is ultimately a love letter to fans. I yelled with delight when I picked up Hillbilly’s horrendously ugly doll collectible from the gutter, and seeing a pallet of any kind made me look at an invisible camera and smirk as if I was in on some sort of joke.

The best part, however, is the audio and sound design. Picking up an item will play the same sound as when you do so in the multiplayer game, and the familiar heartbeat of a Killer gaining on your location brings a familiar dread. Even hearing the opening notes to Dead by Daylight’s main theme – a significant part of the story I wish I could talk more about but can’t – made a shiver run down my spine.

The Bottom Line

As our The Casting of Frank Stone review proves, the game had job: sell the story and world of Dead by Daylight to its fans and new players. I’d argue that it has done that and more, providing us with an in-depth, narrative-focused look into a world as fascinating and complex as it is haunting and surreal. If you’re a connoisseur of Dead by Daylight’s lore, this is the gruesome gateau you won’t mind digging into again and again.

Now if there’s any good in the world, Supermassive and Behaviour Interactive won’t stop there when it comes to single-player games set in the Dead by Daylight universe. We’ll have to wait and see. The Casting of Frank Stone price is $39.99, making it considerably more expensive than the base Dead by Light game, but on par with the expansion bundles.

The Casting of Frank Stone release date is here, with the title officially released on September 3, 2024. You can pre-purchase the game over on Steam, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 right now.

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