Elastic Games’ Last Year: The Nightmare has been on my radar for a rather long time, as I’ve been following its development since very early on. As a huge fan of both slasher movies and video games, the concept of the game was quick to get my attention. While not the only asymmetrical horror game on the market, I was eager to play a new game in this style that had something unique of its own to offer. That’s certainly what I got when playing Last Year: The Nightmare.
LYTN feels kind of like a playable slasher movie from the ’90s. Five players control a group of teenagers who’ve woken up alone in an alternate reality version of their hometown. They’re tasked with finding a way to escape from the local high school campus with a supernatural force trying to kill them. The entity takes on the form of stereotypical movie murderers, with the goal of killing every teenager on the map until there is nobody left. As a self-aware parody of B-movies of the era, the game can be just as funny at times as it is scary to play.
The cast of characters in the game is great, and their dialogue is often times rather hilarious. Character models all look fantastic as well. Each of them represents different victim stereotypes from horror movies, such as the jock, popular girl, and social outcast. One small detail I loved was that once you choose a character, nobody else can pick that same person, ensuring everyone is controlling somebody different. It helps give the game more of that horror movie vibe, while also encouraging players to try the other characters. No matter who you pick, you can still choose your own class with unique perks, based upon how you like to play. This includes Assault, Medic, Scout, and Technician.
Conversely, there are three different killers featured in the game. If the teenagers manage do defeat the murderer, the killer player can come back as one of the other maniacs. Of course, they each come with their own abilities as well. The Strangler can throw a chain to hook potential victims, dragging them slowly back towards him for the kill. As it sounds, the Giant is gargantuan and can throw teenagers through walls with ease. The Slasher is the most balanced of the three, using an axe to carry out his slayings on the campus. Even after playing many rounds, it never fails to terrify me when one of the killers grabs me from out of nowhere.
LYTN really needs to be complimented on its maps, which do a lot to give the game a really creepy atmosphere. The empty school setting manages to conjure vibes of Scream and similar horror movies from the ’90s. A huge part of the fun in playing this game came from exploring this unique setting, as the attention to detail in the environment is incredible. As of launch, there are only three maps, but it seems certain more will be added in the months ahead, along with other forms of new content.
That brings me to my gripes, which definitely weren’t deal breakers but are still worth mentioning. Mainly, the game feels too unbalanced in the favor of the teenagers. More often than not, the team of teens will be the ones winning the game, for a few different reasons. For example, if one of them is killed, they can soon after be resurrected by a teammate freeing them from a locked room. While this keeps players in the game for longer, it does slightly lessen the seriousness of the character deaths.
Sticking together as a team almost guarantees survival for the teens as well, as an armed group can always make quick work out of an attacking killer. Winning as the killer seems to require experience and a proper strategy to separate the members of the group. One thing that works to the killer’s advantage is that the group chat includes all six players, meaning the killer player can hear the others devising their strategies and even speak to them at any time. Some players might prefer it this way, but for the sake of better immersion, I’d personally rather have a proximity chat feature instead.
As of now, there aren’t a lot of incentives to keep players going after spending a fair amount of time on the game. There are no additional characters, classes, or outfits to unlock, and it’d be great to get new areas to explore as well. As is, you’ll likely be left wanting more after playing enough rounds on each map. However, the developers are promising plenty of new content to be added to the game over time, as similar titles of this nature have.
Despite its minor flaws, playing Last Year: The Nightmare is ultimately a very fun experience. It serves as a nice alternative to some of the more established asymmetrical horror games presently available. With Elastic Games continuing to add new content and features in the months ahead, this seems to be a title I’ll be playing for a while. You can find out more info at the official website and purchase the game on Discord!
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