The Midnight Walk is a perfect reminder of why stop-motion and claymation still hold such a timeless charm, even though animators in these styles have had a rough few years. You barely see these techniques in use anymore, despite their boom in the early 2000s thanks to Aardman’s efforts. It’s unsurprising, I suppose, that they’ve fallen out of favor given the much higher financial and time costs, but when done well, they’re magical. Just look at Chicken Run and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This style has even made its mark in gaming with titles like Clayfighters and The Neverhood.
The Midnight Walk is the latest game to adopt this unique aesthetic style, with the developer MoonHood using a combination of clay modelling, 3D scanning and stop-motion techniques to build a beautifully bleak world oozing with character. From the outset it’s obvious that there was a clear creative vision in the development of the title, with the graphical design, music, voice acting and gameplay elements all coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts.
Walking down the isolated and surreal pathways of The Midnight Walk reminds me heavily of Tim Burton’s work, with the visuals mixing the cute and the grotesque together both in design and animation. It isn’t outright frightening, simply unnerving and alien, but builds the suspense up in a way few other styles can.
By way of example, early on you encounter some giant nameless hands, each with an eye in the centre, simply watching you. They serve no purpose but to watch as your character – “The Burnt One” – passes, but still they stand tall, gentle and curious, surrounded by the bleak rocky landscape. It’s unsettling, and it’s moments like this scattered throughout The Midnight Walk which build an oppressive yet whimsical atmosphere.
The first enemies you encounter aren’t pleasant to look at, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not their twisted figures which fill you with panic, but their jerky, grotesque movements and the sounds which accompany their skittering. Even the voice acting is simultaneously surreal and sweet; simply every element of the visual and sound design is perfectly executed.
Gameplay-wise the same can be said. The Midnight Walk is billed as an atmospheric horror title, and whilst there are some trappings of horror in there – a few scary stealth sections etc – I feel it could be better described as a first-person puzzle adventure with horror elements. You have a few ways of interacting with the world, but primarily you are tasked with using the objects you find around you to progress; often by using matches and other items to move fires around.
This reliance on light and fire fits incredibly well with the title’s overall theming and provides a stark contrast against other characters in the setting who exist only in the darkness, whilst also providing a solid focus for the gameplay to revolve around. You also have the option to close your eyes, allowing your character to “see” the things the eyes can’t see. Whilst I understand that this feature – and the reliance on sound-based cues – is anchored in the VR-focus of the title, it still works outside of this context; again reinforcing and complementing the overall atmospheric intention.
Whilst I wasn’t a fan of the stealth sections, I see why they were implemented and I enjoyed them far more than I have done in other similar titles, so at the very least they get a passing grade, and thankfully The Midnight Walk’s generous checkpointing prevented them from getting too frustrating. My only gameplay criticism would be that it doesn’t really evolve past that, and can feel a little repetitive towards the end when some of these systems still had room to be expanded upon.
My biggest issue with this short-but-sweet adventure is the over-arching plot itself, which I felt was under-written and left me feeling un-fulfilled.
You’re tasked with escorting a flame to the top of Moon Mountain and bringing light back to a world engulfed by darkness. Carrying said flame is the ridiculously cute “Potboy,” your enigmatic and smiley companion against the horrific beings trying to consume it. You’re also joined by your house, which walks along with you for some reason – literally, it has legs. The relationship formed between the trio is very charming, and I enjoyed seeing them travel together to their eventual goal.
The title is split into five smaller sections, each introducing a new area and short tale about the world’s inhabitants – again, these were lovely, with some beautiful characterisation and interesting takes on the various themes in the title shown within each mini-arc. I particularly loved the design of the world’s inhabitants during these sections – again, very Burtonesque but in the best way.
By the end however, it felt like our crew had simply gone through the motions without much growth or real agency. This could be intentional, but part of me feels like there was a lot of potential here for a larger, more deeply explained tale around these unlikely heroes which simply wasn’t achieved. There is a big choice towards the finale which I know attempts to bring an emotional payoff, but again, it didn’t really feel all that meaningful for the world at large and fell somewhat flat, at least to me.
Regardless of this, I still think The Midnight Walk is worth your time. It may not deliver as strong a narrative as I’d have liked, but the world itself and the outstanding atmosphere is worth the price of admission alone, and I can highly recommend giving it a go.
The Midnight Walk Launch Trailer
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