Pretty decent decision based game that tries its best to reconnect to 80s slasher films and pop culture.

Pros - interesting storyline, decisions are better than most where you can use items you find around the station to help, there are quick time events that may affect the gameplay or just be progressing the dialogue.

I liked how some small talk ends up foreshadowing the story or helping offer clues. It really takes work to solve the puzzles.

Some of the events have a little forgiveness if you don’t get the option right others are immediate fails. There’s 20+ people to save (or not save if you are going for the everyone dies ending).

Cons- The studio feature could have been better. You have so few albums, commercials, the preset sound effects and other features are really never used for anything helpful. My last play through I was bored enough to get over 125 paper baskets.

Some of the clues are pretty meh. Like one you find a friendship quiz the helps you determine who can help w tasks for your caller. It’s just one of those weird things to find in the radio station for one but deciphering the quiz with the tasks were a bit of a challenge.

Some tasks felt like luck like determining a take out place based on the best beer deal that can be easy to miss Forrest murmuring it to himself especially if you miss asking Peggy for help.

And the fact you pretty much don’t leave the studio makes the tasks repetitive. It can be a little slow / boring to wait for a call / event to play out since you are just listening to events over the call.

Another con is there’s only a handful of voice actors doing several voices. So there’s not much variety other than terrible accents - which I am guessing was a purposeful choice.

Anyway. Since I platinumed the game I found the differences in saving everyone or not affected the story a ton. So I feel the writers really tried to make a complex decision based game. Like I said some of the puzzles were challenging to figure out.

However by the 3rd play through I missed the option to skip the dialogue I already heard and it took me 11 hours or so to beat. A speedrun may take just over 3 hours a play through bc you cannot skip anything.

It’s worth a play through if you like these games. Maybe wait for a sale - would say this is worth 10 bucks.

The game is fun in general, the discoveries throughout the story make you want to really understand what is happening and the fact that you just listen and can set up the scenario however you want in your imagination makes the game even more interesting to play. to play. The biggest point of this game is the setting, which is surreal, even in moments when nothing is happening, you understand that something is wrong and it always leaves you with that chill down your spine wondering what the next event will be!

Loved this game! I wasent expecting it to be so charming and funny but it was, it's a very light horror game that's mostly played as a comedy. But it's fine because they did a great job with it. The 2 leads are very likeable and have great chemistry and vocal performances. I was convinced it was Troy Baker as... Nash I think his name was? It's Josh Cowdery who I'm unfamiliar with, but he did an excellent job.

The game has a great style and an awesome soundtrack. And it was fun slowly exploring the station and seeing things very slowly escalate into more scary conflicts. One thing I also liked is that you can pick up anything and just dump it into the main room, so if you see something you might need later you can bring it with you.

The puzzles are clever in design. The whole premise in general is just so fun. It's rare for a game to start and I'm just immediately grinning going "oh hell yeah I love where this is going." It's silly but they know it is, they run with it. That's why it works.

I think there are some moments that are too hamfisted? And I think it could have been scarier. It's great as is, but the mix is a bit off.

Otherwise, I liked it a lot! I think it's an awesome title for people who want to get into horror with something light.

Killer Frequency is a super neat indie game that puts you in the shoes of a late night 80’s radio DJ in a small town that’s being plagued by murders. Seeing that you’re the only one available and qualified to take calls, you're tasked with answering 911 emergencies when the police department becomes indisposed of. As a rogue whistle-happy killer descends on the town it’s up to you and your producer Peggy to use your wits and quick thinking to solve puzzles, suss out lies, stop the killer, and ultimately lead people to safety as you simultaneously put on an equally killer radio show. The gameplay mostly consists of choosing dialogue options while at your desk, inspecting clues, and occasionally going outside your room to explore the radio station or retrieve an item.

The radio layout is delightfully comfy, and the DJ setup is fun to interact with. I do wish they leaned more into it. Implementing some more radio mechanics and giving more to do than clicking the call button and putting on records would have been ideal. Not to say it should have been a realistic simulator game, just a bit more underlying connection to the actual work of a radio DJ is all. The soundboard was a start, but entirely cosmetic and easily forgettable. What we did get I loved, but it left me wanting slightly more, indie game or not. Even without that though Killer Frequency did a good job of immersing you into the mind and world of late-night hosting. It’s less a dysfunction of the game’s offerings and more so my own desire to get greater engrossed in the world.

I’m particularly impressed by how Killer Frequency is able to instill a sense of persistent isolation, with all the lone wandering you do around the station ratcheting up the tension effectively. I especially like the pace in which it slowly reveals more and more questionable parts of the locale in an organic way, going from benign to increasingly sinister. All in the purview of a small radio station at the dead of night. Each room is a new place to investigate, even letting you find hidden records and clues early if you look hard enough. In its totality the game is neither big nor a Sherlockian challenge, but it does a great job at making you feel like it is. Barring one exception, the game is remarkably proficient at hitting above its expectation in mood and pacing. We’ll get to that exception in a minute.

The story, writing, and voice acting give light to the rest of the game, making it more of a dark comedy soup than a horror title. The actual mystery and killer themself are given a proper breadth of seriousness, but folks like Ponty of Ponty’s Pizza and jazzy Sandra are there to break it up with some much welcome comedy. That’s to say the game is legitimately superb with its comedic timing, and quite well voiced all around. Every character knows when to be silly and when to be serious. It never feels kitschy or ill-timed, playing perfectly into the 80’s over-the-top slasher aesthetic. The dialogue choices also let you play into the comedy or go for a more straightforward approach, giving you a degree of control over the tone of the story. Of course that doesn’t mean the dialogue options are superficial, you’re just not punished for making light of the situation unless you’re doing so during a time-sensitive choice.

The actual bread and butter of the game, its puzzles, are just the right amount of accessible. One could argue they hold your hand a little too much in finding clues, but you’re just as likely to find them beforehand anyway, and you could always decide to not accept hints for where something is. The puzzles themselves range from straightforward to moderately tough, a scope that works well here. Thankfully, you’ll never be asked to memorize something unreasonably long or constantly make timed choices, but I’d advise reading everything twice to make sure you’re getting the full picture. A lot of choices come with hidden caveats and clues that can be easy to miss, and in a game where every choice may be life or death it’s important to dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

This leads me into the only disappointment I had with the game. All throughout the game there’s a constant invisible threat of the killer showing up on your doorstep. With little to defend yourself with and having to venture out further and further away from your safe broadcast room, it’s all but spelled out this would lead to confrontation eventually. I thought for sure there would be at least one tense situation where you’d have to evade the killer as you sneak from hidden corner to hidden corner. There were more than a few clear moments where this could happen near the end but the time never came. The focus on dialogue and puzzle-solving is fantastic, yet I really think they missed an excellent opportunity to capitalize on the tension building with a little one-on-one traditional encounter.

Nevertheless, when push comes to shove the strengths of Killer Frequency far outweigh its weaknesses. While it won’t take longer than a day to finish it’s more than worth the pickup. I finished it in one marathon sitting around the same time of night the game takes place, no doubt helping immerse myself even more into the world. Truly all you need to have a good time is an appreciation for groovy music, snappy dialogue, and succinct puzzles.