At Dead of Night changed my mind

I see a new game arising

'Horror games' is ever a plentiful source of new ideas in the game's industry, anytime of the year and from any size of studio developers. It's just a genre that seems so enticing to the everyday man or woman that no one can resist the allure of it's tendrils. It's an allure that transcends videogames too, reaching out to theatre movies, TV movies and even the written medium. I do not know what it is about being spoopy which naturally attracts all types, but I think it's impossible to deny that there is something there. Heck, I've even felt it myself, despite hating the feeling of helplessness that horror stories pride themselves on evoking, I'm bought to them time and time again. (Both as a consumer and a creator) This, of course, naturally leads to a great deluge of low-effort or misguided projects that totally miss the medium they were aiming for, as well as a number of truly innovative games that touch upon the boundaries of their medium and push ever further. I think horror is truly a hotbed for creative pioneering, even if that is due mostly to sheer volume, and 'At Dead of Night' is a great example of that.

Created by 'Baggy Cat Limited', 'At Dead of Night' could have easily been just another indie horror game to through atop the mountains of others that litter the gaming world; but instead it's pretty much the brand new hot-button horror game of the name. In it's own words, it 'seamlessly blends live action and generated graphics to create a 'unique and immersive horror experience like no other.' Big words, but in action I have to admit that it does actually hold up as a game unlike any other out there, and that's despite giving into the 'live action in video games' trend which, in my opinion, has sunken so many other games. No, what 'At Dead of Night' has done on a visual level is nothing short of revolutionary, and that alone is probably going to be enough to make this a classic horror game in the years to come. All because a group of passionate creators came together and formed an ingenious idea. Let's talk about it.

First let me say that I absolutely despise the FMV trend. By FMV I'm of course referring to 'Full Motion Video', which refers to the practice wherein video games (typically much older ones) would shoot real-world footage to serve as ingame cutscenes. That's a very reductive way of putting it, there's a lot more which goes into it and some games do special stuff with that premise, but that description should be enough for you to come to grips with it. Think 'Night Trap' or 2015's 'Need for Speed'. It comes about, usually, due to how much more expensive it can be to render a cinematic-quality cutscene over just grapping a camera and shooting something out back, but that alone has developed a bit of reputation for them. Remember that quality acting and storytelling in videogames is a relatively newer addition to game development, as no one really took the medium all that seriously back then. That means the hey-day for FMVs were times in which cutscenes were universally laughably poor and actors hired to star in them either didn't care or, more likely, weren't paid enough to care. As such, nowadays we look upon the term FMV, remember the universally amateurish examples of yesteryear, and immediately assume it's synonymous with low quality.

In the years since, and now that FMVs are becoming a niche addition to a game that pops up every year or so, that perception hasn't really changed. Although, nowadays I'd say there's a certain level of awareness in the practise which makes the hammy FMVs more of a wink and a nod than a straight pratfall. Still, it's unthinkable that any game project with an intention of being taken seriously should employ them, and until a big game comes along and changes that, it's a stigma which will hang around. (And no, Quantum Break didn't manage to break that particular glass ceiling; try as it might) So when 'At Dead of Night' proposed bringing FMVs to it's visual style in a seamless manner, I think the general gut feeling was that this was going to end up more like Supreme Warrior than, well, like it did.

'At Dead of Night' takes place in an old English Hotel on the side of a cliff, which looks in heavy violation of construction codes, but there you go, and immediately throws the FMVs at you. However, what you'll find is that the entire game does, as they promise, blend that with the game by literally placing all of the recorded footage in immaturely rendered environments where it's almost impossible to tell the difference between the graphics and real life. I honestly don't know how much of what we see is set and how much is computer generation, I just know that they could not have bought out an entire hotel just to be the backdrop for this game, thus the engine most be doing a lot of heavy lifting. Now this doesn't alone relieve the cheesiness of FMVs, nor does the game even really attempt to, but it does create this veil between the real and fake so that when the gameplay begins you don't mentally make the separation between this world and the real world from the video, which I'm just becoming aware was the real problem with FMV games.

The actual gameplay itself is not exactly the be-all-end-all here, but it does serve as a perfect vehicle for showing of the incredible artistic style that works so well. Essentially you have a first person point-and-click adventure that prides itself on being as immersive as possible, to the degree where they even simulate the head-bob of movement and the protagonist breathing whilst standing still. The goal is to look through the decrepit building and find the ghosts who inhabit it so that you can unravel the truths behind the creepy proprietor Jimmy and his involvement with the several deaths around the establishment. This of course paves the way for a lot of spectral spooks, skulking around hallways trying to avoid Jimmy and more seamless cuts between gameplay and sudden bursts of live action events taking place in the world. It happens so often and yet I'm never not impressed by the effect, it's truly unmatched in the FMV genre.

I'm going on about this art style so much, and how strongly I feel about it, but that's only because I think the Devs have cracked some sort of code in finally making this style of game that I always found tacky really work. Given that this team's only other project that I can find is a completely full video murder mystery game, this is quite the substantial polishing of the craft. I really want to see the techniques they've distributed here again, and that's nuts for me to think. I actually want to see more FMVs? I must have lost my mind! But the potential raised and met by 'At Dead of Night', in execution as well as presentation, simply demands respect. And when I find something I respect, I want more of it. (Until I end up not respecting it anymore, as is the case with every major game studio ever. Think it'll be a while before a new wave FMV does me that dirty, though.)

As you might have noticed if you've browsed this blog for a while, I have a thing for games which shake about the norms a little bit, and strive to tell stories in unique ways, such to where I have to really rate 'At Dead of Night'. Though I'd typically find the game to be a merely decent phycological thriller, the mere sum of it's parts elevates it, in my eyes, to simply laud-worthy status. 'At Dead of Night's newly found attention is well worth it and the amount of traction that the Internet horror communities have drummed their way is justly won. Who'd have thought that it would be in the middle of a real worldwide nightmare that videogame horror would take one of it's most substantial leaps forward in a long time?