Key Highlights:
- Halloween: The Game tracks four progression levels across the player profile, Michael Myers, individual Civilians and weapons.
- Progression unlocks new Civilians, Michael abilities, starting items, executions, cosmetics and higher challenge tiers, with prestige available at max level.
- Civilian perk decks use earnable Perk Points, with players rolling for cards of different rarities and temporarily upgrading owned cards.
With launch less than a week away, Halloween: The Game has revealed how its progression, challenges, perks and character customisation work across multiplayer and the six-chapter single-player story.
IllFonic is dividing progression into four separate levels: Profile Level, Killer Level, Civilian Level and Weapon Level. XP earned from matches and the single-player campaign feeds into those systems depending on how the player spends their time.
Profile Level tracks all XP regardless of role. Killer Level progresses while playing as Michael Myers, while each playable Civilian has their own Civilian Level. Weapon Level is tied to Michael’s individual equippable weapons and increases by killing victims with them.
Raising those levels unlocks more than cosmetic rewards. IllFonic says progression can open additional playable Civilians, new Michael abilities, starting items for Civilians, executions, higher challenge tiers and other rewards.
Players who reach the maximum level in any of the four progression categories can also prestige that category and continue pursuing additional rewards.
I think separating Killer, Civilian and Weapon progression is the more interesting choice here because it gives players a reason to move between roles and weapons instead of simply filling one universal account bar.
Challenges provide another progression route.
Passive challenges are split between the Killer and Civilian roles and track automatically regardless of the specific character being used. Progressive challenges are more specialised, with objectives attached to individual Civilians, Michael skins and weapon types that must be completed in sequence.
The six-chapter single-player campaign has its own optional objectives as well. Completing them unlocks alternate outfits and unique cosmetics, while finishing every single-player challenge rewards what IllFonic describes as a legendary look for Michael Myers. GLN previously covered the campaign when IllFonic first showed how its standalone Michael Myers story would work.
Across all three challenge types, IllFonic says Halloween: The Game contains hundreds of objectives at launch.
Michael’s customisation combines appearance choices with gameplay loadouts.
Every Michael loadout begins with Killer Sense and Shape Jump, the two core abilities used for stalking and moving around Haddonfield. Players can then select three additional Michael abilities, with Reality Tear, Blackout and Detection Pulse among those shown in the overview.
Killer skins and colour tints can change Michael’s appearance, while new starting weapons and weapon tints are also unlocked through progression.
The new progression systems also expand mechanics that were revealed earlier in development, including Michael Myers’ Shape Jump ability. Shape Jump lets Michael move through darkness while outside a Civilian’s line of sight, while Killer Sense shifts into first person to help identify and stalk potential victims.
Civilians use a different loadout system.
Each character has their own statistics and signature trait, while players can customise outfits, colour variants, hairstyles, headwear, eyewear, make-up and blemishes. Unlockable starting items can also be equipped before a match.
That makes the choice of Civilian more than cosmetic. IllFonic has already detailed the first five playable Civilians, each with different strengths and traits that now feed directly into the wider progression and loadout systems.
Civilian loadouts also contain perk decks.
Completing matches awards Perk Points, an earnable currency used to roll for perk cards. Players can spend additional Perk Points on a roll to increase the chance of receiving a higher-rarity card.
Collected cards can then be arranged into perk decks and assigned to Civilian loadouts. Perk Points can also temporarily increase the level of an owned card for a limited number of matches.
IllFonic says the randomised card rolls are intended to vary how matches play, although the trailer does not reveal the complete perk pool or exact rarity probabilities.
Player profiles have their own customisation layer too.
Progression levels and challenges unlock profile icons, backgrounds and titles, which can be combined into a personalised profile card displayed during online multiplayer.
The progression reveal arrives one day after IllFonic completed its launch map line-up with East Haddonfield, the rural fourth map containing Midwest Feed Company, Phelps Garage and The Rabbit in Red Lounge.
Halloween: The Game launches digitally on September 8 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store. Digital Deluxe Edition owners receive early access from September 4 at 9 AM PT.
