This past Halloween 2021 weekend we luckily got access to a fresh and exciting project by the name of Midnight Ghost Hunt. For fans of prop hunt or phasmaphobia the game will be very familiar with a lot of unique twists to it, an element of 'scooby doo' chasing was prominent which I loved.
To be transparent this was an early access beta build so numerous aspects will be continued to be improved upon and likely change come full release sometime in 2022. So what so we think? well overall its a tremendously fun concept which calls back to a good old hide and seek formulae. There are two sides to every match, the hunters and the ghosts and depending on the side you are assigned, the gameplay is hugely different.
The Hunters
Lets begin with the hunters, the anti-ghost brigade that you will be playing in a 1st person perspective with access to various imaginative equipment to combat and defeat the pesky poltergeists. As a match begins you are given a set time to dispatch the ghostly entities, with you're team and tools you have this time to do the best you can but if you fail? well if the clock strikes midnight, the tables turn. While you may be more powerful at the outset of the match as hunters by the time midnight comes, the ghosts become the predators. Hunting you down as you try and escape. From salt shotguns, spectral cannons to EMF readers and more. The game gives you a lot to play with as a hunter, even more so with changing perks be them active or passive.
The Ghosts
Now this is where the game takes a different yet similar direction, when you are a ghost you need to be hiding and the perspective is shifted to 3rd person. This makes moment to moment gameplay as a ghost incredibly tense, sometimes chase drive and majority of the time hiding with the ability to form distractions. There are many varying ghost types but we only got access to a couple in the beta, however each perk, power and abilities felt quite unique but in a lot of ways situational. You are preyed on by the hunters until our clock strikes the midnight chime and then things become a case of aggressively attacking our 'ghostbusters' to prevent them ever leaving the map alive.
There was a lot more to this game than I expected in a beta build, however it seems it has adapted since its initial reveal back in E3's 2019 showcase. Certain cosmetic and art style choices seem to have shifted to a slightly more realistic look over cartoonish which personally I did not like. I much preferred it having a more out there look but that is personal taste at the end of the day. Visually the game looks great with its own distinct personality and feel, it definitely will hold its own against similar titles such as Dead By Daylight, White Noise 2 and Devour.
Overall I came away from the beta in a positive headspace with the game, majority of the experience being positive with a few caveats worth mentioning. The games are ridiculously short and this seriously hampered my early matches, I was running around not knowing a lot of the basics or aware a meta was building even within a small beta community. Yes there is also a tutorial but that was the bare bones of controls and gameplay, within the match it was difficult to learn early on the step by step of each game. However after a good 3-4 matches on each side, I understood what needed to be done and this throwing you in the deep end method could be a developer choice for which I can respect. I played solo which really did effect communication so I feel you want to take 2-4 friends into these games to expand upon enjoyment. Nevertheless I hope they address the short matches, some odd visual bugs and audio level balancing.
Midnight Ghost Hunt has serious potential to be one of the BIG indie games of 2022 if they stick to a planned release date of next year, which I hope they can even in the tail end of a pandemic. I was left wanting more in a good sense, always a positive sign as a gamer that you want to keep coming back to a product.
- Written By John.P
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