Close your eyes to see. The Midnight Walk game review

The Midnight Walk is an atmospheric adventure game with elements of horror and experimental VR, developed by the young studio MoonHood, founded by the authors of action/adventure Lost in Random and Fe. The game combines unusual visuals, a mysterious atmosphere and an interesting approach to interactive narrative. The project supports both the game mode on a regular screen and using a VR headset. I managed to try both modes and complete The Midnight Walk with varying degrees of immersion in the process, which is discussed further in the review.

Atmosphere and visual style

The main character of the game, Burnt, travels with Potboy, a creature that looks like a pot of embers and carries light. They embark on a journey through a dark and bizarre world that resembles a distorted version of our dreams and nightmares. This journey offers the characters bizarre beauty and deadly trials - the heroes are waiting for cunning traps and creepy creatures eager to extinguish the light of little Potboy.

The Midnight Walk consists of five chapters, each of which tells its own story about various unusual characters who need the help of the heroes. Each story has a separate theme and semantic content, but they do not tell everything directly, but allow the player to interpret and experience these events themselves. The stories touch on different themes, but a common motif of redemption runs through them all.

The visual component is the main calling card of The Midnight Walk. The developers deliberately chose a rare and laborious method of creating all models and characters by hand from clay, with subsequent stop-motion animation. This creates the effect of a "puppet fairy tale come to life", where at every step you can feel a warm, albeit slightly creepy "handmade" work. Aesthetically, the game resembles the authors' previous work - Lost in Random, which also has a thick grotesque atmosphere and a puppet-like style, and at the same time the gothic worlds of Tim Burton. Gloomy locations, sinister monsters and bizarre surroundings evoke a real sense of anxiety, isolation and hopelessness. The detail is impressive: even microscopic cracks, fingerprints or fabric texture are visible in VR, immersing the player in the depths of this strange, but at the same time attractive world.

Gameplay and mechanics

The Midnight Walk's gameplay is based on a combination of stealth, world exploration, puzzles and narrative experience. Every second of the passage is full of tension, because Sweatboy's light is necessary for orientation, but at the same time it attracts dangerous creatures. The player is forced to balance between moving in the dark and avoiding monsters, which creates a unique atmosphere of constant risk. The "closed eyes" mechanic is especially impressive, which allows you to see hidden paths, objects or avoid enemies. It works best in virtual reality mode. This idea adds depth, forcing you to literally "look without looking."

The game's puzzles are mostly simple, but well-integrated into the story and not distracting. The entire experience takes 3–5 hours, which is optimal for a VR adventure format, but in normal mode I would have liked a longer duration.

Perhaps this could be achieved by enriching the narrative for a more direct presentation of stories, or adding additional activities. Because they are quite simple here - it's just a collection of collectible items: voice notes or videos that further reveal the plot, or records with music from the levels. And in the levels you can also find miniature figures of characters or enemies. All items can be viewed or listened to in a portable "hub location" - a cozy, although to some it may seem, which is not very, a house on legs. He follows the heroes everywhere, and sometimes you have to solve simple puzzles so that he can follow Burnt and Sweatboy further.

Let's move on to the puzzles. They are simple, but quite diverse, and do not have time to get bored in a short time of play. Most of them are solved using matches, which are everywhere in the locations, and with the participation of our pot with embers. It must be guided, lit on time or thrown between zones. Some puzzles are very simple, but require an interesting approach, which is better seen, so we will not analyze these details. The main thing is to listen carefully to what the characters say or what the burnt notes on the levels suggest.

There is no combat system here, although this world is inhabited by dangerous monsters. You can only escape from them by running away or sneaking. Although later the player is given a hand cannon that shoots matches, it is mainly intended for solving spatial puzzles. And against enemies it can be used to stun, to buy some time to escape and hide in some cave or closet.

The interactivity of the world is evident in the details of the narrative presentation from the characters, the collectible sound and other notes, the scenes that take place between the characters and somewhere in the background. All this greatly enriches the atmosphere of The Midnight Walk.

Soundtrack and voice acting

The soundtrack in The Midnight Walk works not just as a backdrop, but as an integral part of the gaming experience. The soundtrack, created by independent composers, fluctuates between gloomy, drawn-out melodies and fragile, almost illusory ambient. The music skillfully conveys the inner state of the hero and his journey through symbolic "worlds of redemption."

The environmental effects here are a separate work of art: the character's heavy breathing, the rustling of monsters in the dark, the barely audible footsteps of Sweatboy - all this makes the game as realistic as possible, especially in VR. We recommend playing with headphones. The PlayStation VR2 controllers (this is the headset we managed to try during the walkthrough) vibrate in moments of danger. The synergy of the soundtrack and the vibration of the controllers, even a simple gamepad for the regular game mode, enhances the effect of immersion in this world incredibly.

VR mode

The Midnight Walk reveals itself to the fullest in VR. From the first step, it feels like the game was created as an original VR experience, and not as a port from the regular version of the game. Support for modern virtual reality headsets with tactile feedback from the controllers and the headset itself allows you to fully immerse yourself in this eerie world, where every movement, every vibration, every sound seems real.

It is worth noting the extremely organic use of VR elements. For example, the "closed eyes" mechanic is implemented by hand movement or a button, and this physical gesture significantly enhances the psychological perception of the situation. The sense of depth of the scenes is impressive - large monsters imperceptibly approaching from the darkness seem even more terrifying in VR, and the three-dimensional clay texture of the world is literally "felt".

VR controllers are actively used: you can direct Sweatboy, interact with the environment, solve puzzles, avoid enemies, slightly open doors and exercise the cannon with special gestures. I would like to praise the haptic feedback, which gives an additional level of immersion. It is in VR that The Midnight Walk becomes a full-fledged interactive fairy tale, which fades somewhat on a regular monitor or TV.

And it's a shame that such an experience is spoiled by the technical implementation. On all platforms, there are noticeable problems with working in VR mode. These can be freezes and hangs and jerky movements, which somewhat break the immersion. Also, on the PlayStation VR2 connected to SteamVR, controller tracking periodically failed, which required restarting the game. So, most of the game had to be played without such immersion. Interestingly, The Midnight Walk works great on Steam Deck with high graphics settings and a high frame rate.

Apart from the technical shortcomings, I still want to praise the implementation of movement and prevention of shaking and other unpleasant effects that are inherent in VR games. The Midnight Walk is very comfortable to play with a helmet, and even dynamic scenes where you have to run away from enemies are passed without problems.

What is the result?

The Midnight Walk doesn't give clear answers, and this is one of its main attractions: the story, full of metaphors and symbolism, remains open to interpretation. The game is more like an interactive art installation than a classic video game experience. And at the same time, there is enough gameplay here so that the project does not look like a simple walking simulator. The skillful combination of simple puzzles and horror elements make this story memorable. And as soon as the developers improve the technical part of the VR mode, this adventure will become even more vivid and impressive.