Killer Frequency

***Killer Frequency*** is a first-person horror adventure that was developed and published by Team17. It was released for the PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Meta Quest 2 on June 1, 2023.

## Synopsis

The year is 1987, and as the clock strikes midnight in small-town Gallows Creek. Big city radio DJ Forrest Nash, a radio talk-show host working the night shift with his producer on the local radio station: 189.16 - The Scream, a struggling drab radio show, is live on air in what will turn out to be the graveyard shift of a lifetime as he tries to help his callers, who are being stalked by a mysterious killer. As the gruesome night unfolds, interact with callers using a variety of conversation options while listening carefully for clues and information, solve puzzles around the studio that could help prevent each caller’s grisly demise, and keep the show going with tunes inspired by the decade. Players can also explore the studio building, and interact with authentic items from the era, including a working turntable and a cassette player.

Where every call is life and death, can you save the inhabitants of Gallows Creek?

## Plot

The game opens with a brief scene where an unnamed character moves through an alleyway at night, interacting with various objects, until they reach a building. On entering, they see a masked figure in front of them. The lights go out, then go back on, and the character is murdered by the figure.

You play as Forrest Nash, a radio DJ that was moved from Chicago to take over the late night radio segment in Gallows Creek. The game opens with an optional set of audio checks that function as the tutorial segment, where you are introduced to your producer, Peggy.

After completing or skipping the checks, you get a caller on the line; the town's 911 operator Leslie Harper has discovered the dead body of Sheriff Matthews, and an unconscious Deputy Martinez, who has been locked in a cell with the keys thrown in after her. A whistling noise is heard at this point, and it is revealed that the murder suspect is wearing the mask of local serial killer the Whistling Man, who was chased into a river by police and has been assumed dead for thirty years. The Whistling Man destroys Leslie's car and the player may help Leslie to save Deputy Martinez as she attempts to escape to one of the patrol cars in the parking lot.

Leslie then drives to the nearest town (with or without Deputy Martinez) and tells Forrest that she is transferring the local 911 switchboard to the radio station, as they are the only people in town with experience handling phone lines. She also says that the drive will take two to three hours each way, so they will be on their own until around 5am.

After this, the player receives a mixture of regular call-ins, pranks, and emergency calls. The player can save Sandra Sharpe, Maurice Russell, Virginia Sullivan, Eugene Stine, Murphy, Carrie and her friends, Chuck Brody, Roller Ricky, Teddy Gallows Jr., and finally Peggy and Forrest themselves - or cause them to die at the hands of the Whistling Man.

## Characters

* **Forrest Nash** (voice Phil Brown) - A radio talk-show host working the night shift with his producer on the local radio station live on air in what will turn out to be the graveyard shift of a lifetime as he tries to help his callers, who are being stalked by a mysterious killer. He is the main protagonist of the game.
* **Peggy Weaver** (voice Nikki Piazza) - Forrest’s radio producer and sister of Marie. Peggy assists Forrest throughout the game with her being able to explain where things are located and how to use things such as the turntable.
* **"Dawn"/Marie Campbell** (voice N/A) - The killer and main antagonist of the game and also sister to Peggy.
	+ Henry Barrow (voice N/A) - The son of Marie Campbell and the second Whistling Man.

## Gameplay

The player plays as Forrest Nash. The player is situated mainly in KFAM's studio. The player is given a record player, a cassette recorder, a boom mic, a telephone unit, and several vinyl records and cassette tapes. The player is also able to pick various objects around the studio - while the player can hold one object in each of their hands, he can only use the object if it is held in his right hand. There is a pile of crunkled paper on the DJ table that the player can try to throw into a toy basketball hoop on the other side of the studio. There is an infinite supply of paper and the game will keep track of the number of shots made in the pause menu.

Most of the game takes place within the studio unless the player is required to explore the building to retrieve an object. The game will prevent the player from leaving any given room until they have completed all possible story-related actions in their current room.

When the player is talking with another character, they will be presented with a list of dialogue options. These importance of these dialogue options range from simply affecting the type of response a player receives to having actual life-or-death consequences for the characters in the game.

Throughout the game, characters will call in to the station, usually (but not always) being hunted by The Whistling Man. The player must, through the use of clues found around the KFAM building as well as information gathered through previous callers, figure out how to save each caller. The player must input the correct responses in the dialogue options to the caller. Too many incorrect choices will result in the caller dying. There is no time limit on how long a player can take to think of a response, the caller will only die if the player does not choose the correct dialogue options.

After completing one call, the player will need to play music on the record player, or an advertisement in the cassette recorder. During this time, Forrest and Peggy will discuss some of the lore of the game and describe what they plan to do. The events of the game will not proceed until the player answers the phone again, allowing the player to take a break. During certain sequences, the game's save function will be disabled.

The goal of the game is to save as many callers as possible.

## Reception

The game was released on the Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Meta Quest 2 and for Microsoft Windows PC. These five versions are all similar and have a Metacritic rating of 81/100. IGN gave it a 8.5/10 with a pretty good rating.

## Trivia

* Throughout the game The Whistling Man tends to hunt down and try to kill specific people, these people being everyone who participated (or was related to) the prank which caused George Barrow (Marie/whistling man's boyfriend) to fall off of a cliff named whistling point.
* As an exception to the rule of the Whistling Man's killings above, The Whistling man also attempts to murder Eugene Stine in the Maize maze. She does this because it is "The next best thing" due to Eugene's parents (who supposedly wronged Marie) dying in an accident before the plot of this game unfolds. This is also why she targets Peggy due to the latter being Marie's sister.
* Marie does not limit her murders to just the high school students however, she attempts to murder Sandra Sharpe, Maurice Russel, Eugene Stine, Peggy Weaver, Forrest Nash (In The Game's Bad Ending), Murphy, (Who is only targeted for challenging the whistling man), Virginia Sullivan, and a few others.
* Sara Martinez and Murphy are the only two characters that have no relation to the George incident but were still targeted.
* The original version on Gamejolt had a much different layout, the room was smaller and the player/Forrest was unable to stand and move around

## External Links

* Official website
* Killer Frequency on Steam