Critically Analyzing What Is Wrong With Haddonfield.
So I don't exactly think it's an unpopular opinion that Haddonfield is one of the most unbalanced maps in the entire game. But why is it that so many feel this way? To answer your question, I wanted to take an in-depth look at what makes this map so broken,
Lack of information.
What I mean by this is "the lack of information the killer has during the trial". At the start of the match, the killer has no idea where any of the survivors could have spawned. On other maps, the killer can most of time calculate and use their intuition to locate the survivors. On Haddonfield it's a complete guessing game. This already puts the killer at a big disadvantage. Guess wrong and you'll be starting the trial defending four or three gens.
This lack of information isn't helped by the fact that most of the generators have line of sight blockers or are positioned inside of houses. This means the killer can't check their progress from a distance, and has to spend extra time getting close to them.
Loops
This is arguably the worst part about the entire map. Haddonfield's many houses are littered with god-windows. These windows can force the killer to vault them until they are blocked by The Entity, or obtain bloodlust. Most of these house even have more than one god-window, which makes them even worse. There isn't really a whole lot to say about this issue, other than the fact that it makes this map extremely unfair.
Perhaps this is a personal opinion, but I don't think the pallets on Haddonfield are that problematic. Sure, most of them are safe, but I feel like they are spread out enough where it's not that bad. They only become a problem when paired with the aforementioned god-windows and "Haddonfield fences".
"THE HOUSE OF PAIN"
These words are enough to strike fear across the hearts of all killer mains. Haddonfield's "House Of Pain" is debatably one of the worst loops in the entire game. It is so utterly bad that most killers give up defending it's generator entirely and drop chase instantly when a survivor runs to it. If ran by a competent survivor, you will lose the game if you chase them here. It simply has too many good windows, and is accentuated by a good pallet.
"HADDONFIELD FENCES"
This term was coined because of Haddonfield's broken fence and hedge generation. These extremely long fences and hedges are a nightmare to navigate around and often can block getting to generators if you are travelling around the backside of houses. Not mention survivors can run around these fences wasting large amounts of the killers time with no mindgames or effort involved. You are simply forced to watch the survivor run over and over around these fences until bloodlust helps you catch back up to them. Some of these fences can even spawn windows with them as well, which only adds to their lack of counterplay and boring gameplay, depending on how they spawn.
PERSONAL NOTE
This doesn't have anything to do with the maps gameplay, but as an avid Halloween fan, the Haddonfield in Dead By Daylight doesn't feel like the Haddonfield Michael first appeared in all the way back in 1978. Dbd Haddonfield feels like it takes place on a warm summers evening, instead of a cold, dark, and foggy Halloween Night.
If you're curious what I'm talking about, take a look at Myers's trailer. Doesn't Haddonfield look so much better there then it did in-game? The houses shining like beacons in the background, thick fog filling the streets, uncomfortable silence blanketing the entire map, a dark and dreary atmosphere. This is what Haddonfield should look like.
FINAL WORDS
If you actually read this entire wall of text, then Ma'am/Sir/Whatever Else, I both aplaude and thank you. If you guys want me to analyze any other maps, perks, killer powers, or anything else let me know! This was surprisingly fun to write.
As some final parting words, ######### this map and any survivors who send me to it. I hope when you sleep at night, both sides of your pillow are warm.
Comments
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For me?
THE GREAT WALLS OF CHINA that generate on that map that are made of tall fences / bushes / small fences. That has to be biggest annoyance to me by far.
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If you spawn in the middle as killer, you might as well lose the game, since survivors can spawn in all 4 corners even without offerings.
I can't wait until they rework the map and make it 'better' by adding the infamous breakable walls, OH BOY !
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I totally agree with u! U've analyzed the issues of this map perfectly. I wished the devs would take a look at it. NTW I fear they wont take notice of it or change this map in future, cuz it is only 1 single map.... idk. Would be nice if u would analyze some other problematic maps and make a guide about :)
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Haddonfield fences are the bane of my existence. They're like the god-pallets on The Game, you're just forced to walk around them with no mindgames.
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If you think it's bad now wait until the devs get around to reworking this map. Mark my words, they're going to make it even worse somehow.
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I love abusing them as survivor, I admit this.
"Oh you wanna chase me? I have the great wall of China here, i'll make you regret that, let's go for a walk" I'll make you hate this map as much as I do.
It's even worse if they fall for my bait and try to swing over. I've had a Demo look at me all confused, looked from one side of the fence to the other, realized the length and walked away with his head down 😭
Personally, I don't use the map offering.
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Thank You! I personally feel like the devs will eventually rework this map, but that they'll just make it worse by spamming Breakable Walls everywhere.
I'm probably either gonna analyze The Game, Ormond, Mothers Dwelling, or Badham next.
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I can't wait for them to add fifty Breakable Walls to every house.
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Haddonfield is an indoor map disguised as an outdoor map. Killer players are constantly 20-30 seconds away from closing the distance on survivors even though they're technically right next to them due to ridiculous fence/bush spawns.
Windows are way too strong. House of Pain is egregious, and the Strode House often spawns an absurdly strong window at the top of the basement stairs.
The map is a very long rectangle, but it's deceptively larger than it appears due the first reason I mentioned. It's really an indoor map when you think about it. There is often no cut off angle killers can take to close distance. Where a survivor might hit the edge of the map in another realm, they can W around a filler house 2 or 3 times on Haddonfield. That burns 20 seconds easily.
The kill rates are meaningless, honestly. Most survivors are not strong runners. This map is absolutely devastating in the hands of strong survivors. My team has limited comp killers to 2 hooks total on this map. That's egregious.
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I wish there was an option to return map offerings and get some bloodpoints for them. I wanna cast those stupid reality keys back to whatever hell they came from.
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Let's not forget the window that can spawn right at the top of the stairs from the basement. God loop right there for any even half decent survivor.
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I do appreciate the maps accuracy to the film in terms of its layout but it just feels horrible to play
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Not to mention, similar to indoor maps, most killers can't using their powers around the tight corners inside of the houses.
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I'm pretty sure that's one of the best windows in the game, especially since it can be paired with the other two or three windows inside of the Myers house.
May god bless your soul if that accursed window spawns.
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It's layout is fine compared to the movie, but as I mentioned in my post, it's atmosphere is entirely different. I also wish there were some references to the movie, like maybe seeing some of the people Michael killed inside some of the houses, or seeing the closet he broke while hunting Laurie. Come to think of it, there's literally like no furniture inside of the Myers house at all.
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Yeah since you can chain it with the second level windows it is one of the few literal infinite loops left in the game. The only way you're getting someone here is with certain killers, bamboozle, or they just play it really, really badly.
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It's even worse if the survivor has Balanced Landing.
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I think it’s due to the maps age honestly can’t wait to see it’s visual update
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I feel like Haddonfield's graphic rework is gonna be like The Game's. It's gonna look way better, have a lot of cool Easter Eggs, but it's also gonna be spammed with Breakable Walls while none of it's original issue will be fixed.
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Probably. The made the chapel a perfect map way worse with breakable walls
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The top-level windows are not an infinity anymore. they used to be before balance landing got obliterated. There is special technique for killers where you can swing as you fall from rooftops to demolish that loop but yeah Myers house bottom window is really bad.
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It pissed me off so much when I saw what they did to the Chapel. It went from being one of my favorite maps to being plain annoying to play on.
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You needed to read my other post as well. I wasn't calling the top windows infinite's.
I was referencing their combination with the god window spawn at the top of the stairs.
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