Dead by Daylight is a pretty divisive game that players either love or hate. It’s an asymmetrical multiplayer game that really did bring the asymmetrical multiplayer genre to the forefront. There have been countless clones, but none have had the same impact. It’s also a game that has had years of support. Hell, it even got a dating simulator spinoff. So, what should we expect from the newest non-DbD game by the same developers? Let’s check Meet Your Maker out and see if it will be able to have the same kind of lasting impact.

It’s set in the far future, where a virus has wiped out most of humanity. You play as a custodian gathering Genetic Material from other players to feed into your Chimera Project, in the hopes of creating a cure for humanity. At least, I think that’s the premise. I’ll be honest, I have no idea if I’m even right on this. The game only gives you a little bit of context and then tells you to go raid bases for resources. It’s paper thin and utterly pointless, which is a shame and, unfortunately, a bizarre trend in these online games, but it’s the gameplay that we are here for, and for the most part it’s solid.

Meet Your Maker is split into two very distinctive components. First of all is the raiding, which will allow you to go into player-created maps to try and reach the end. These maps will be littered with traps and enemies that are designed to stop you in your track. You won’t survive, but with every run, you will learn more and more about the outpost that has been crafted. The various traps, shortcuts, and exploits that can get you around key areas, ysing each of your abilities in exciting ways.

You will either find yourself creeping through these outposts, checking each corner twice to check for traps before you realise you’ve accidentally triggered one that you didn’t see. With quick reactions though a quick crossbow bolt will take care of it. Or if you feel riskier you can use your wrist-mounted grappling hook to quickly move through a room dodging traps or maybe even potentially activating some strategically. Activating a bomb trap for instance could inadvertently activate more. You will also have access to a variety of gadgets, the grenades can be useful to clear out small clusters. Whilst the defensive shields will protect you in those pesky kill boxes that would once seem impossible.

Where most games would rely on procedural generation, Meet Your Maker cleverly users user-generated content to keep things refreshing. Every level as a result feels distinctively unique, however. You are bound to run into some that have a lot less care and attention than some more experienced builders. Some rely on cheap and unfun spam to easily farm raider kills. Whilst others are much more thoughtful with brilliant level designs that test your reflexes, and planning.

Then there are those that pay serious attention to the small details, not only creating a fun gameplay experience but making it artistic with a theme and some light personal environmental storytelling in them. Thankfully in my experience, I’ve encountered more interestingly designed maps than flat-out bad ones; especially as you move into the third difficulty tier. The worst case is you just abandon the map and don’t give it any commendations.

Once you’ve done some raiding you will also get the chance to take part in the second major component, and that’s building the outposts yourself. The editor is simple and intuitive and that’s because it works on a block-based system. Everything you place is based on blocks. Buying an outpost takes a few resources but once you get it you will realise that there are some things set in stone. Some of the geometry can’t be removed and the GenMat and tombs are in fixed locations. Tombs are basically small resource caches. Some creators will make these inaccessible just because whilst other creators will basically hand these out for free since there’s no loss to the creator. It’s a neat little bit of etiquette that the community has largely gone with.

From there you will have to manage your outpost budget to give you the best chance. Clever trap placement is the way to go. Throwing your opponent off-guard and using what you have learned from raiding to get as many kills as possible before raiders steal all the GenMat from your base. On-top of this you will discover some interesting features. Traps can be modified with different behaviour; the biggest of which is only activating once the raider grabs the GenMat and moves the base into its second phase. As someone less interested in the creation side I was still having fun with the creation tools.

Once your base is ready you are good to upload, but keep in mind once it’s uploaded your work on the base isn’t over. Every attempt on your base is recorded and you will see the replays. Seeing what trap works, what traps don’t and allows you to take it offline at any moment to adjust. On top of this if you are confident with your base you can put it into overdrive mode where kill will generate more GenMat for you but if someone beats it will take some away from you.

As you raid and kill raiders through your own outposts you will collect a variety of resources that can be used to upgrade your gear or augment your traps with even more devious modifiers. It’s a pretty bog standard progression system but one that rewards you greatly. With more weapons and tools that will help you raid bases. And sweet upgrades to your traps that can completely modify their behaviour getting you more and more sweet kills. The biggest disappointment is that there really isn’t a lot of customisation here. You get two suits that feel pretty similar and a small handful of weapons and gadgets that you will need to switch between depending on the maps you are raiding.

These two components gel together to make for a rewarding and compelling overall experience. However, some flaws are really blatant. First of all, is the community-designed maps, whilst you will see some really fantastic map designs. There’s often. A curated list would really help with return visits or even developer-created maps to really show the intent behind this game. Also right now longevity is a genuine concern. Behaviour’s history with Dead by Daylight promises some of the strongest support in gaming but it’s hard to judge that so early in the game’s lifespan.

Meet Your Maker on a technical perspective won’t blow you away but does look solid enough, sometimes. With great designs that show behaviours and strength. The problem is that a lot of this game is user-generated content and often times the creators are much more interested in an interesting gameplay experience rather than one that looks flashy. You will see halfway with the same repeating textures throughout. Though not every creator goes for this and there are some that can make fantastic visual use of the tools.

Likewise, sound design is also pretty decent as well. Each trap has distinct audio queues and audio as a whole plays an important With that being said, it can sometimes be messy with some hard-to-distinguish sounds that can get grating after a short while and an unremarkable soundtrack.

Meet Your Maker‘s well-realised and unique concept combines two distinctive gameplay styles together. Building bases and raiding others’ creations is a lot of fun, but I do question the longevity of the game thanks to its lacklustre story and progression system. What we have available right now is indeed interesting, with an addictive gameplay loop that is off to a promising start, but it’s a bit lacking in variety. Only time will tell if Meet Your Maker will be able to carve its own niche with fans or if it will be forgotten like countless other multiplayer outings available right now.

Graphics: 6.0 Whilst the art direction is typically solid, the creation tools will often lead to maps that look flat out ugly.	Gameplay: 7.0 Meet Your Maker‘s core gameplay of building and raiding bases leads to a lot of fun, even if it isn’t particularly varied.
Sound: 6.5 Decent enough sound design, but nothing too memorable.	Fun Factor: 8.0 A wonderfully creative concept that comes together for a unique gameplay experience, but it has its issues.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Meet Your Maker is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 2060, Ryzen 5 3600X and 16GB RAM. Game installed on SSD. Also tested on PS5.

A copy of Meet Your Maker was provided by the publisher.