During his lengthy career, Nicolas Cage has starred in a number of horror films, from The Wicker Man to 2021’s Willy Wonderland. This week, the actor is taking centre stage in the horror video game world.
Cage is playing himself as the newest survivor in the juggernaut horror game Dead by Daylight. It marks the first non-fiction character to enter the entity’s realm.
The actor previously mentioned how one of his family members is a Dead by Daylight fanatic, and this influenced him to pursue the role in the game.
Firstly, this article will delve into Cage’s lore and how he wound up in the entity’s realm. Secondly, we will outline Cage’s three unique perks that have added a completely new mechanic to the game.
Nicolas Cage’s Lore in Dead by Daylight
In Dead by Daylight’s lore, Cage was sent a script for an upcoming movie. The story moved him to the extent that he immediately flew out to an island in the Pacific for filming, despite the warnings from his agent that the financers of the movie were suspicious.
Nevertheless, filming commenced, and Cage performed in the ruins of an ancient temple. As he read out the lines and painted on the walls with red ink as the script detailed, the walls began to glow and black fog soon spread. First around his arm, and then it enveloped him completely. Soon enough, Cage found himself within the Entity’s realm, alongside the familiar cast of survivors and killers.
Nicolas Cage’s Three Unique Perks
As always, Dead by Daylight is providing their newest character with 3 new perks. I’ve got to say that these perks are some of the most interesting and unique perks the game has added in a while. Rather than just slightly changing numbers, each perk comes with a reward and its own consequence. Let’s get into them.
Dramaturgy
First up is Cage’s perk Dramaturgy. This is basically Dead by Daylight’s version of Russian Roulette. Whilst you are healthy and running, pressing the active ability button will grant you 25% haste for 2 seconds. Following this, the perk randomly chooses one of the following effects:
- Another 2 seconds of haste.
- Automatically receive a randomly selected rare item equipped with a random set of add-ons.
- Scream (without notifying the killer).
- Become exposed for 12 seconds.
As such, the perk can either provide a strong benefit, or a rather deadly consequence. This should make using this perk engaging and entertaining. It is also important to note that this is an exhaustion perk, and the same random effect cannot happen twice in a row.
Scene Partner
Next is Scene Partner. This is a new aura-reading perk which sounds pretty useful. This perk activates when you are within the killer’s terror radius. When you look at the killer, you scream but reveal the killer’s aura for up to 5 seconds.
Then, there is a 50% chance that you will scream again and extend the aura by 2 seconds. The cool-down for this perk is 60 seconds!
Whilst the killer will briefly know where you are due to your scream, it is arguably more useful to see the killer’s aura for 5-7 seconds.
Plot Twist
Finally, Plot Twist is Cage’s most explosive and consistently useful perk. If you are injured and crouched, you can press the active ability button to voluntarily enter the dying state. This will be silent, but the killer will be able to see this on the HUD if they are observant enough.
In the dying state, your pools of blood and grunts of pain will be non-existent, and you are now able to fully recover. If you fully recover, you will heal straight to healthy, and the perk will de-activate.
Importantly, when the exit gates are powered, the perk re-activates. This will surely come in handy if you need to heal yourself in the endgame if the killer is blocking the gate.
And that’s a wrap! I still can’t believe Nicolas Cage is in Dead by Daylight as Nicolas Cage. He was originally announced in the Anniversary Livestream alongside a bunch of other fantastic news for fans of the game. Maybe this means that other horror icons might come to Dead by Daylight in the future.
Nicolas Cage is playable on the Public Test Public now, and will be released to the live game on July 25th!