White Night the black and white themed point and click adventure arrives on consoles and PC from developer Osome Studios and is published by Activision. Beneath the contrasting shadows is there much of a game here and more importantly is it worthy of your time despite an attractive price. Take a look at our White Night game review for the full picture.
White Night Review:
Today we’re taking a look at Osome Studios’ black and white themed 1930s film noire style thriller White Night which is available now on consoles and PC. The game starts off with a car accident and has the fedora wearing main protagonist stagger to the nearest residence for assistance. Except the only building near by is a deserted and naturally haunted mansion. The opening is just the start of the incredible levels of cheese associated with a character that constantly talks to himself often stating the obvious for dramatic effect. There’s actually some interesting dialogue delivered as players click on various objects which somehow stand out amongst the mono tone looks which presents a gripping tale of murdered women and wolf like killer on the loose. For fear of spoilers we’ll go no further in revealing the plot and simply focus on the gameplay here on in.
Once players get some rest and are able to move at pace, the game opens up and allows you to explore the shady rooms at leisure. The main mechanic employed means that lingering too long in the darkness means death and as you can expect most of the game is devoid of light. Luckily players can use matches to fight back the encroaching shadows as this illuminates the surrounding area just enough to see what one is doing. Should a match burn out then another can be used and so on. The twist here is that matches are limited with only a maximum of 12 being held at any given time, so inevitably should you run out and can’t find any to replenish then it’s pretty much game over and a restart at the last save. Interestingly, matches will last longer if players walk rather than run but this slows the game down considerably. The idea might add to the tension if low on supplies but also makes the pacing a bit slow and laborious at times. There’s also a random element of dud matches which heightens the drama when low on supplies, but some times this is another contributing factor to the cheap deaths the game relies on.
As mentioned the mansion is filled with ghosts who manifest themselves as distorted apparitions often wandering or lurking at key points. There’s no direct offensive actions against them other than running away although if any electric based light source is discovered then this sends them back to whence they came. The general idea is to simply avoid the ghosts as best one can, although this isn’t always possible resulting in the slightest touch locking you into a stupid looking fly swatting animation and game over. In fact, players will be seeing the “game over” screen quite often, not necessarily due to a lack of skill or understanding, but merely because the game is an utter pain in the butt to play due to skewed and unfair mechanics.
Players are likely to be well and truly tested as to whether continuing is worthwhile or deleting the game from their system is a more healthy option for ones sanity. Gamers who like a challenge will be disappointed here as the many deaths are ultimately cheap and have you replaying the same sections over and over until you get lucky. It’s really poor design, made worse by an unforgiving save system. Sure, no one wants their hands held, but at the same time when the gameplay is this wonky a life-line could have made the experience much more enjoyable. As it stands, there’s a lot of potential hatred levelled at the game for all the wrong reasons which ultimately will detract from what could have been something quite special.
Amidst the cheap deaths and constant restarts there’s some interesting puzzles thrown in around the rather neat story which is told via imagery and text documents. The puzzles aren’t so taxing that you’ll be stumped for too long, and often there are clues which offer assistance at most junctures. That said, there are some moments which are bit too cryptic which ruin the pacing of the story as players aimlessly wander looking for the next piece of the puzzle to progress. That said, there’s a distinct level of satisfaction gained from working things out without assistance from external sources which is worthwhile.
White Night basks in its visual splendour with no remorse as it catapults the player from room to room playing with the shadows and beams of light with great effect. There’s no denying the game looks great with its forced perspectives and chilling imagery. However, the age old disorientation occurs when the camera view switches, and on occasion this can result in another of the cheap deaths the game feels so proud of. It’s all well and good injecting a heavy dose of dramatic effect, but at the expense of gameplay is a bit poor.
Audio remains of a high quality throughout with some well performed voice acting and a chilling yet fitting 1930s jazz themed soundtrack interspersed with some classical melodies. There are a number of jump out scare sound effects which work well making the audio visual element well produced overall.
If players can endure the entire 6 chapters then there’s a fair bit of game here for an afternoon play although ultimately the length is elongated considerably due to the number of inevitable restarts players will have to endure. There’s little incentive to jump in again once bested unless collectibles and achievements are your calling, but by the end of the game most will probably have had their fill.
White Night is mostly all style with little substance interjected with some neat ideas and sumptuous stylistic visuals that make it stand out from its peers. It has an interesting way of telling a story and concludes in an expected manner that won’t come as a surprise to those paying attention. The biggest problem is with the execution and how utterly frustrating and time consuming some moments can be. There’s an abundance of dodgy design decisions which fail to allow the player to learn from their mistakes and makes the game feel deliberately cheap to prolong what would normally be a fairly brief experience. If you’ve got the resolve of a rock or the patience of the un-dead and are drawn in by the game’s monotone visuals then you’ll find some enjoyment here. However, most players are likely to leave the game early in disgust, or if they do witness the end credits will be left angry and perplexed rather than elated or satisfied.
Score 5/10
Review code supplied by Team Xbox
