White Night Reviews
White Night doesn't try to reinvent the genre or toy with gaming conventions to come out as a gem of the generation. What it does, though, is provide a unique and satisfying visual theme that surrounds an exciting and mysterious plot where you will find yourself getting more and more immersed in
In horror, we confront monsters, and survival is the only operational term. The resolving state is trauma rather than malaise. Forgiveness is a non sequitur. For a game whose design dwells so deeply and strikingly in darkness, it is unhappily ironic that the story prefers at the end to turn toward an illusory light.
White Night is a unique blend of noir horror, with a very bold visual style, offering an experience that is both familiar and unique to fans of the genre.
White Night is a cacophony of ideas, simultaneously atypical and ambitious
White Night isn't the most riveting survival horror game I have played in recent memory but it isn't the worst either. If not for the unique film noir storytelling combined with a stylized black and white look, White Night could have been one of the more forgettable survival horror games of 2015. Unfair enemies and camera issues dampens an experience which otherwise should have been much better than the sum of its parts.
Possibly the scariest 12-rated game ever made, although the attractive visuals are better designed than the poorly balanced difficulty.
White Night hints at a horror story of quality, but it's hidden in the shadows of tedium and visual ambiguity.
Had White Night been more of a ride, dragging you through rather than slowing things down, its subtly unsettling tone and at times nerve-shredding moments would have had a much greater impact.
White Night does a lot right, delivering a great story which only dips slightly in the run up to its conclusion. The art style is fantastic, and while it hurts other things – like the visibility of the title's many collectibles – the trade-off is honestly worth it. Unfortunately, the release's biggest issues sit in the gameplay department, as it's exceedingly frustrating on far too many occasions. The end result is interesting, then, and worth experiencing – but perhaps not recommended for everyone.
Despite a gorgeous monochromatic art style and an intriguing mix of noir and survival horror elements, White Night allows its artistic ambition to overreach its clunky, frustrating combat.
White Night is a valiant attempt at moving the adventure horror genre in a different direction, setting the mood with an atmospheric playground. Repeatedly replaying sections of the game due to ghost placement and a poor camera angle can grow tiresome. While a automated checkpoint system may have solved this issue, it could have produced it's own issues of players blazing through the game without the worry for consequence. The visuals and the tension are the key factors of the game, but I would like to see a more refined effort.
The game brings something we haven't seen all that much, but it doesn't bring it in a way that makes you want to play the game hour after hour. When taken in small doses, White Night can actually bring a couple of scares and jumps but not enough of it to be among the best on the market.
White Night is a gorgeous and intriguing game that deserves to be played for its engrossing story and beautiful art style. Its impact is unfortunately diminished by frustrating design choices and an overall vague approach to its gameplay, which may leave some of you in the dark.
There's a lot to like about White Night, if for no other reason than it genuinely is different and these is real potential for this to spin out into a franchise if the development team can do a better job of rationalising the noir elements and figuring out the solution to a frustrating Easter egg hunt in the dark. The underlying vision alone makes it worth a look, but it's not going to be quite remembered as the same innovative experience as those pioneering horror games it references back to.
While it sounds great on paper, the execution varies throughout and for every moment of triumph, there are many more instances of frustration and exasperation. You'll need extraordinary patience to see this one through to the end thanks to the sparse save points and insta-death attacks. There's an intriguing plot buried amongst all the rough edges though and the visuals are excellent throughout. Fingers crossed Osome take another whack at a noir survival horror adventure hybrid as it's bursting with potential.
White Night is a curious game, even if it's a bit predictable. With its references to two distinct genres, where unexpected twists and turns are welcome and interesting, it instead plays it safe. The game's big redeeming qualities are its style and presentation but without much in the way of story and gameplay to complete the package. If nothing else, your morbid curiosity may help you to see this one through to the end.
While being in possession of some clever ideas, a good story and a superbly-realised black and white world, White Night doesn't do enough scares to be a good horror or have inventive enough puzzles to be a decent adventure.
The heroes in film noir aren't flawless—they stumble through the story, rarely win a fight, and often pay a heavy price in the end. At least they try, though, and the same can be said for White Night.
White Night has plenty going for it when it comes to artistic essence, but it comes up short in scares, cohesion, puzzle solving, and camera selection. Way short. OSome should've taken the time to make this darkness worth exploring. Instead, you'll simply feel better spending your Night elsewhere.
The distinctive visuals of White Night bring plenty of atmosphere but also some significant and frustrating problems.