Night Call is due to be released in 2019 but doesn’t have a specific release date yet. The game is planned to be available to play on PC, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It is being developed by Black Muffin and published by Raw Fury. A company called MonkeyMoon have also had a hand in both developing and publishing the game.
Decisions, Decisions
Night Call is a black and white mysterious noire-style game set in Paris. You play as a taxi driver that is recovering from being attacked by a murderer. A passenger you were transporting was killed during the attack, and the murderer is still on the loose. It becomes your job to investigate the murder whilst maintaining your income to pay the bills.
Night Call is all about getting the right passengers and making the right decisions. When you get a passenger, you can choose how to react. You can stay silent or respond in different ways, and your decisions can lead to whether or not you can crack the case of finding the murderer. Whilst you are considering all of that, you also have to consider paying your bills and paying the company that owns your taxi.
When you get home after a full night of working, you have some time to consider the case. There is a table and board laid out to examine images, read case files and put the pieces together. This is a great touch because it allows you to think about what you have learned and to reflect on the decisions you have made.
Something Doesn’t Add Up
There are a few issues with Night Call. One of the main issues is that the game is currently riddled with glitching and loading issues. Going from the taxi screen to the map of the city causes the biggest problem because it takes a long time to load. When it does load, everything moves extremely slowly. This can be very frustrating.
The game entirely consists of just using the mouse to click on what you want to do, say and choose. I think the reason behind this is that the game is all about the story and the multiple choices you can make along with multiple endings. It is all about the decisions you make. I don’t think this will make the game very appealing because it is way too simple. The game lacks obstacles. I think if the game were made a little bit more challenging, it would only add to the story.
Another issue that the game has is that some of the text is missing. This means that some of the sentences don’t really make any sense. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it is enough to be a bit of a problem. I am hopeful that, by the time the game is fully released, these issues will have been addressed.
Become a Detective
Night Call offers players an opportunity to become a real detective. In our daily lives, we always hope that someone will enlist us to be a secret spy, undercover cop or an unsuspecting detective. The stuff we see in films and tv programmes never happen in real life. Night Call gives you the chance to live in one of those films or programmes. The game is laid out like a comic book. It feels like you are playing a video game version of Sin City or The Spirit without the superhero element.
One of the greatest things about Night Call is the amount of decision making. Everything you do will determine how the story pans out. This makes you feel like you have had a real involvement in what happens, and you feel like the taxi driver’s life is in your hands. Another great thing about the game is the artistic side to it. As I have mentioned, that game is laid out like a comic book. The style of the game is extremely cool. There are a lot of different characters that have been very well designed and that are very creative.
Night Call Overall
Overall, Night Call has a good story and a great choice for the decision making, but it has a lot of issues. At this point, I think it wouldn’t be ready for full release. The preview of the game is very bugged with loading issues and text missing from some of the conversations and the characters thoughts. Saying that, there are a lot of characters in the game that are creative and well designed. The game as a whole is very artistic.
Night Call is also quite simple. It feels like it is missing obstacles or an element of challenge. I like the fact that it is easy to understand but, from the preview, it feels like the game is going to be way too easy. Everything in the PC version of the game is done with a click of the mouse. If you like games with a lot going on, this definitely isn’t the game for you. If you enjoy simpler games that are all about the story, then I would say to give it a go.
Developer: Black Muffin & MonkeyMoon
Publisher: Raw Fury & MonkeyMoon
Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 4
Release Date: 2019