Lethal Company was a game that not only took the internet by storm but also was an immediate favorite in my friend groups. A new challenger has emerged from the woodwork, however, with Content Warning releasing at no cost on April Fool’s Day and what I thought was little more than a joke turned into an instant classic, with even more scares and laughs than before. And I’m all for it — please keep releasing these “streamer-bait” games, because they’re just a blast to play.
Both Lethal Company and Content Warning follow a similar set of rules: embark on an adventure with your friends to an unknown place in a new world where you have no idea what is going to come out and attack you. Unlike games like Dead by Daylight or Outlast: Trails that put horror at the forefront of their multiplayer experiences, Lethal Company and Content Warning start silly and almost instantly turn into a hilarious mess just as quickly as it started.
While it’s always fun to watch my friends and I sweat through a competitive match in other games, kicking back and letting our wild side emerge in games like this is where the excitement truly lies. Sure, watching someone on the team clutch a Victory Royale in Fortnite is cool, but we’re going to be talking about the time that Todd was emoting over Brandon’s dead body and got spear-tackled by the Knife Child for the next few months. Especially since everything you record on video can be put in the Hall of Shame for sharing purposes on Discord or TikTok.
While Phasmophobia may have originally started the trend of slightly janky — yet still genuinely terrifying — horror-themed multiplayer games, Lethal Company’s short, yet incredibly impactful contribution to the genre can’t be understated. It made the idea of death into something hilarious, added frankly astounding proximity chat that added to the genuine terror of the game, and just made the idea of scary video games more accessible to the masses. While there are still moments that are going to have you jumping out of your seat in pure horror and anxiety about what is coming next, you can’t help but laugh when you see your friends getting mauled to death by a gang of Snailfolk.
While Content Warning may be the newest game on the market, it’s bound to be overtaken by something else in the coming months. It’s something I already cherish, with plenty of memories already being made within the game — and I’m already eagerly awaiting the next Lethal Company-like that steals away hours of our lives at a time.
