Midnight Murder Club Review: A Shot in the Dark

A Unique Premise

The basic idea is that you and a group of friends are a part of the Midnight Murder Club — a secret society that gathers for a high-stakes game of Murder in the Dark. And it is, literally, murder in the dark. Without your flashlight, the screen is pitch black — not just the scenery, but the UI. You'll need to balance between the need for stealth (your flashlight will give your location away, and you can track your opponents this way, even with your own turned off) with your need to see. Need to know your ammo count? Where the door is? The objective? Be prepared to turn on your flashlight and get shot in the head three seconds later.

Visual and Audio Design

The scenery is gorgeous. It may not have the graphical fidelity of something like Ghost of Tsushima or Silent Hill 2, but everything feels intricate and purposeful. The lighting effects are gorgeous, which is always great, especially in a game with such a heavy emphasis on it. The sound is also a high point. There isn't much in the way of background music — instead, it's mostly ambient noise. A song playing on the radio, gunshots in the distance, creaky floorboards, echoing footsteps. It brings a sense of realism to the game that heightens the tension in every match.

Game Modes

There are also a few different game modes available. Outside of the standard Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, there's the capture-the-flag-esque Headhunters, the burglary-focused Thief in the Night, and Wildcards, which lets players shake up the game by choosing which rules to implement. There's also Graveyard Shift, my favorite game mode: playing either solo or as a team of two, you'll need to survive against AI enemies while completing rituals to lift a curse put on the manor. For each ritual completed, you'll earn both a blessing and a curse. These vary from extending your knife into a sword to narrowing your flashlight beam. All of this keeps gameplay fresh, even in the game's late stages.

Areas for Improvement

Is the game fun? Yes! But that doesn't mean there aren't struggles. It's certainly different, but different games fail all the time. The niche presentation might not do quite enough to attract as many new players as the developers might be hoping for. There wasn't much in the way of onboarding, or even narrative, the latter of which I think could have gone a long way here, given the setting. I was immediately thrust into lobby after lobby with players who could hit me in the dark the moment I stepped into a room with the lights off. Ranked play or tutorials could have gone a long way to ease new players into the game.

Multiplayer Dynamics

While your teammates can revive you, the fact that you can't shoot in this state leaves you vulnerable. Often, it made more sense to let my teammates bleed out and revive elsewhere, rather than walk into an ambush. You can play the game solo, but outside the aforementioned Graveyard Shift, only Wildcards lets you play with bots. As such, people with less experience in the genre might struggle to pick up the different game modes. To an extent, this does incentivize playing with your friends, but this isn't always possible.

Final Verdict

Midnight Murder Club is fun, if flawed, with all the makings of a cult hit, but a live service game needs to be more than culty. It needs to give people a reason to keep coming back, which is where it might struggle. Some quality of life improvements and further updates could see it become an enduring hit, but just like so many games, longevity might be an issue in the long run. The unique premise and wonderful design are strong selling points, but the high entry barrier and poor onboarding remain concerns.

• Pros: Unique premise, Varied game modes, Wonderful design
• Cons: High entry barrier, Poor onboarding, Longevity may be a struggle