At Dead Of Night – Game Review

At Dead Of Night is a unique immersive horror experience that combines a game, a movie, and a ghost-hunting adventure into one of the scariest games lately!

Feel free to check out a part of the first chapter of the game to get an idea of how it looks like here:

Storyline

We are playing as Maya – a brave girl who, upon finding an ancient ghost voice receiver, starts to point it in every possible direction in order to find out all the dirtiest killer’s secrets and, thus, save her friends, instead of running away and calling the police. Exactly what any person would do in her place.

There is one more important part of the story – looking in the mirrors, Maya can see key locations instead of her reflection which makes Maya’s friends pretty lucky. So, overall, 4 ghost stories reveal the secrets of the killer and somehow will help save the day. It may sound silly, but it is fun to play for sure!

Gameplay

There are two main parts of gameplay: running away from Jimmy Hall (the killer), trying to keep out of his sight, and solving ghost puzzles by adding up clues together and connecting the dots. The first part is extremely terrifying. I can guarantee you will be afraid of every shadow after some time.

The second part is also scary as the ghosts like to make an appearance by giving you a nice scare. Yet, puzzles seem to be fairly simple and have lots of hints in case you get stuck.

Positives

1. The game looks astonishing! This shouldn’t come as a surprise as At Dead Of Night IS a part-movie, part-game experience after all. Still, there are so many nice details that add a lot to the immersion. For example, there are many scripted ways for Jimmy to go by your door (looking through a spy-glass you can see him casually swagger by the door, run, look back at you suspecting something, stop to intimidate you, pretend to go by and give you a spook, or even to start opening the door because he felt that he was being watched and didn’t like it).

2. The game mechanics are cool. You feel like you’re playing a more realistic Phasmophobia – looking for ghosts using a Spirit Box. Only ghost vocabulary is much wider and they are smart enough to form complete sentences and make sense. I mean, the whole ghost hunting feels so intriguing that you want to know more and investigate further as these explorations are rewarding and the stories don’t let you down.

3. Jimmy Hall is super scary! He’s unpredictable, intimidating, and has a huge baseball bat that he knows how to wield! Also, upon knocking you out, he steals your things and hides them in the random rooms instead of…well…finishing you off.

4. The actors did a remarkable job as well, which is also worth pointing out. The movie part of the game is very appealing and pleasing to look at.

Negatives

1. It is very hard to figure out how to play. First of all, the game does not make you go through the tutorial. It has some hints, so you think “Ah, that was the tutorial, now I’m an expert ghost hunter, and I’m going to haunt them until they tell me their secrets”. But here’s the PROBLEM: it wasn’t the tutorial.

There is one in the main menu but it’s of no big help as well. You’ll understand the main concepts only by trial and error which might be irritating and frustrating as it involves some dying and partially losing your progress.

2. Well, it’s hard not to die. Even after understanding some major concepts, Jimmy will still surprise you, spook you, and probably hit you in the head with his baseball bat. At least for the first couple of hours, you’ll be scared of every single corner and shadow and will still end up being ambushed.

3. The puzzles pose no problem, as the solutions are very obvious. As an example, some of the dots you’ll have to connect is (minor spoiler) having whiskey as the only edible drink and seeing a girl drinking a liquid that she didn’t like.

What could it be? Let’s ask another ghost who says that he wasn’t there and hasn’t seen anything but the girl drank alcohol for sure. The main challenge with the puzzles is to get to the destination intact and without a hole in your skull from a hit with the bat.

4. The outline of the hotel seems so repetitive. On the one hand, that’s a disadvantage as it is confusing and boring. On the other hand, it is an advantage(!) as it poses a challenge to navigate through the hallways that seem to be the same (at least at first).

Rating

The game is fascinating! It’s a very scary, entertaining, and intriguing experience that stands up to the bar set by Contradiction (the previous title by the same company). I rate this game 8.5 baseball bats out of 10. Feel encouraged to check out the title and uncover all the mysteries of Jimmy Hall’s hotel.

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