Killer Frequency Nintendo Switch Review 9.5/10 "Who doesn’t like jumping into a horror game?" 🔪 @KillerFrequency #IndieGames #GameDev

Who doesn’t like jumping into a horror game? Changing it up from racing, shooting, sports games – or even the hundreds of Battle Royale titles that continuously seem to get released.

KILLER FREQUENCY. A puzzle-horror based in 1987, in which you play as the radio host Forrest Nash of KFAM 189.16 who, due to unforeseen circumstances, becomes the 911 hotline in a little town called Gallow Creek.

In the beginning, an introductory section shows you getting dropped off in a back alley where you become the first victim to the so-called “Whistling Man”, our killer of the story! From here, the story shifts to late-night radio DJ Forrest Nash, who appears to be the only person that can solve the mystery and assist those needing help. All the while playing records to entertain his listeners and of course, ads to keep his show on the air.

The visuals in the game are very strong; having a mixture of art styles giving it a Telltale Games-like look, making it visually appealing without being too esoteric. The radio station is the main location of this story, and gradually you explore more rooms as you progress through the narrative, unravelling the mysteries. Furthermore, there are also moments when you might need to have a little breather before entering an unexplored room.

As a small aside, Killer Frequency has a mini-game whereby you throw crumpled pieces of paper through a basketball hoop, which was a lot of fun considering that it is something so simple.

I have also got to give high praise to the voice cast, both performances from Josh Cowdery (Forrest Nash) and Naomi McDonald (Peggy Weaver) were very convincing, making you believe that this was just a radio show at the end of the day. It also had diverse supporting roles with different accents and dialects which fit the game's structure. Since it is set inside a radio station, you are given multiple choices to play a small range of songs from the record collection, which spans several different music genres, this selection was perfect for the time period in which the game is set.

As I played Killer Frequency on the Switch, there was one issue that did crop up - the Joy-Cons. The proprietary Switch controllers just don’t have the smoothness of the PlayStation dual sense controller, it would take multiple attempts to click ‘play’ on the turntable or pick up particularly small objects. This didn’t stop me from enjoying this incredible game, but was a nuisance nonetheless.

Killer Frequency takes roughly five hours to complete, with a story featuring twists and turns to keep you guessing, whilst also keeping the characters realistically grounded in that are ‘just’ a radio host. Each character that you meet has a unique problem, keeping you intrigued throughout, this avoids the issue that similar games in the genre struggle with, which is a sense of repetition.

The developers have added small flourishes, such as finding hidden records and cassettes on your exploration throughout the radio station. At your booth, you have a soundboard (which I had a little fun even in the most serious of moments), and one specific caller who loves to promote his business; it was fun and changed the game's pace.

SUMMARY

To wrap this review up, I strongly believe Killer Frequency is a game that you should reach for! Featuring just the right length of gameplay filled with incredible characters and stories, It will probably be a while before another horror grabs me quite like this.

I would even go so far as to say that this is in my top five games of this year so far.