I can't tell you the date that Near Midnight originally launched, the store page says December 15, 2016; so it must be a game from the future [review originally posted in October 2016]. From the news section of the forums, it released sometime around September 5, 2016. Many people complained about the inital price tag due to the short 8-10 minute length of the game, and the developer decided to drop the title down to $1.09 CAD. BUYER BEWARE... we may have a scam developer on our hands.
Yes folks, this is a whistle-blowing review for many reasons. This game features the exact house and map layout from an older game on Steam called The Archetype, with a very minor exception being that some ground items are different. Further research reveals that it's from a $45 paid-for Unity asset pack, which the developer hasn't altered in any manner. Yes, we're dealing with an Asset Flipper. You roam the few hallways and rooms of the house, chasing a couple stagnant figures, reading a couple notes that you can't pick up, and once you get to the end of a certain hallway the game boots you back to the title screen.
If asset flipping wasn't enough, the store page is hugely misleading. The game is actually much brighter (probably about 50%) than what is shown on the store page screenshots and trailer. You don't even need a flashlight to navigate the through the unaltered, pre-rendered mansion. To make matters worse, the controls are just abhorrent and they're never explained in-game. My best guess is that the developer didn't give two fks enough to change the controls from standard Unity development controls to personalized game controls. For some reason you can use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out, but it completely screws up being able to navigate as no matter what you do, you can't get it in the same position as before. When you look around after doing this, it's like a camera is swinging around, not a character model moving around. One key slows down time, one key speeds it up, one key finally puts you back to normal game speed. I found all this out after trying desparately to pick up a flashlight and gun, only to find out that to pick things up requires the press of the F key; no not E like all other normal titles.
So let's see. Developer buys asset pack for $45 and doesn't alter it in any way. Puts up doctored trailer and screenshots to make game feel darker and spookier than what it really is. then blames customer base for their "delusion" around the game. Initially charges $4 CAD for a game that lasts 10 minutes at best. Promises updates with more content and doesn't deliver. Basically uses Unity development camera control buttons for in-game control scheme. I cannot prove that this is a scam developer at this point, but this game is one to not invest in. Do not support misleading games and asset flipping developers.
[h1]Rating: [b]0.5/5.0[/b] - Abysmal, avoid it like the plague.[/h1]
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