Video Horror Society — The Frustrations of Early Access

Will it hit or will it miss?

I have relentlessly continued my search for more CBOGs, and more often than not, I’m left empty-handed. I guess it’s just not really a popular topic, but about CBOGs… I have been playing Dead by Daylight for almost a year now, and I can’t have enough with the game, even though I don’t play a lot nowadays. But at least two games a day and it’s basically my digital coffee. It’s as the proverb goes: “Two games of Dead by Daylight a day keeps the doctor away.” I swear I did not make that up just now.

The game is largely unopposed in the genre of asymmetrical games, as there are only a few other examples that can be compared to it, even though the game is far more popular on Twitch than any of its lookalikes. However, there is one asymmetrical game which, by its theme alone, makes for an interesting alternative to Dead by Daylight. The question is what will become of it?

Video Horror Society, or VHS (get it?), is an asymmetrical game that takes place in the 80s, so it’s already cool. The player assumes the role of either a stereotypical 80s teen or a horror movie monster. Basically, the theme is all 80s, and that alone was worth checking out. In terms of gameplay, it’s mildly different from Dead by Daylight and could be a potential alternative to it once it gets out of early access because of the spoilers. The entire point of this article is to describe the atrocities of early access in the hopes that others won’t have to suffer as you do. That’s exactly what I’m doing right now. Another thing to consider: is the game a worthy CBOG (Character-Based Online Game)? Probably, and if it makes it to its fifth anniversary, then there will be something to consider. Until then, don’t do early access. Here’s why…

I dedicated an entire day of research to this

I was curious about this game because of its potential as a CBOG and an alternative to Dead by Daylight. Still, this is currently in early access, and anyone who ever played early access, including me, should know well enough to stay away from it. But every once in a while, there’s this game that makes you say “what the hell”, and you do it anyway because it’s worth the curiosity. Anyway, this is my experience with the early access of Video Horror Society…

For one day, I played something like 7 games of Video Horror Society, an asymmetrical game currently in early access, but that was already obvious. I waited an average of 17 minutes every time I queued for a game. Upon finding a team, I heard some weird things in the background because the voice chat is automatically turned on, and sometimes they played really loud music that burst your eardrums and made you wish everyone were mute by default. In any case, the game begins, and everything is choppy because it’s early access. Characters walk around as if they had a stick up their ass, but that’s early access, and it’s bound to change eventually. I move around as a teen, and frankly, up to this point, it doesn’t feel too different from Dead by Daylight, and frankly, that’s how I felt most of the game, up until the part where I could fight back against the monster, but even then, I couldn’t help but compare it to Dead by Daylight.

All in all, VHS feels like it could place if it is given a chance. I can’t predict what will happen with it right now since there aren’t a lot of competitors in the asymmetrical game genre, but at the same time, there isn’t a demand for more. If there’s anything that MOBAs taught me, it’s that most people will settle for 3 different games, and all the other ones are replaceable knockoffs. But if it does work, it would be nice to have a CBOG with an 80s theme and a collection of flamboyantly dressed teens and vintage monsters to collect.

Final Thoughts…

I’ll be frank, I’m not the right person to explore an early access game, especially one with really long queue times. When you entered the game, I couldn’t realise what bugs there were because of how awkward the animations were, and I’m saying, “when are they going to get the animations right now?” because that’s the only thing that interests me (not quite but… sort of). The UI was also problematic and uncomfortable. As you can tell, I have one too many complaints because I have to play an unpolished, unfinished game that hopes to make it big, and I hope it becomes one too. Regardless, I can’t play early access games; there are just too many issues to deal with, and I don’t have the eagerness I once had to play every game that existed… those times are gone.

However, I said this already and I’ll say it again; it does have a nice theme to it. I just don’t know if there’s room for more of the same. There’s already Dead by Daylight. So, who knows what’ll happen to VHS from here on out?

I think I’ll wait for the full game to come out instead of playing a buggy mess. But take it from me: don’t do early access… it would be better to just wait for the full game to come out.