Review
Drag X Drive – reviewing Nintendo’s wheelchair basketball game
by Domagoj Belancic
Midnight Murder Club review: a shooter in complete darkness
19.8.2025
Translation: Julia Graham
Midnight Murder Club is a refreshingly unusual shooter that you mostly play in complete darkness. An ingenious concept that makes for lots of laughs. Unfortunately, the game disappoints with its meagre scope.
It’s pitch black in the huge estate. A beam of light illuminates the dining room to my right for a few seconds. So that’s where he is: MrPotato1234, who shot me a few minutes ago. Time for revenge.
I also use my torch to find the door to the hall. I open the door and immediately dim the light so my murderer can’t see me. I slowly sneak into the room and close the door behind me. Now I’ve got you, you scumbag. But wait. Is he even still here? I don’t move and listen intently.
A thunderous fart breaks the silence of the dark villa. The backside fanfare came from somewhere towards the left at the front. But I don’t want to pull out my torch just yet. «I hear you, fart face,» I whisper into the headset. Then: steps. He’s on the move. I add: «Come out so we can play». Suddenly, my flatulent enemy’s torch lights up the dark scene. I also pull out my torch. I shine a light in his face and give him a headshot with the revolver, while my character takes another shot to celebrate the murder.
Welcome to Midnight Murder Club.
Ingenious game concept
The basic game concept of Midnight Murder Club is as simple as it is ingenious. You compete against up to five enemies in various multiplayer modes in a pitch-black mansion. Armed with a revolver, knife and torch.
Without using the torch, you can see absolutely nothing. But equally, it doesn’t pay to shine a light around too much, as it tells enemies where you are. There are windows and doors everywhere, so potential murderers can see you. Clever players – like me – also use the torch to deliberately lure enemies. Switch it on briefly, switch it off, hide and wait until the victim comes looking for you.
Sometimes I find coffers where I can get temporary upgrades. The problem is that when you buy them, they light up brightly and make a lot of noise. I keep asking myself: is it worth the risk?
Mwahahaha
In addition to light sources, the proximity chat also provides nerve-wracking moments – and lots of laughs. If you’re close to enemies, they can hear you and you can hear them.
If you’re in a team and talking to teammates, you have to make sure you’re not too loud. Someone could hear and ambush you. But you can also use proximity chat to deliberately lure enemies.
My favourite tactic is to lurk in the dark like a psychopathic mass murderer and make weird noises. An eerie muahahaha or a loud scream will throw most enemies off balance, so they switch on their torch and I can finish them off.
It’s also really funny that you can still hear your victim’s last words after you’ve shot or stabbed them. Curse words such as «F****ck» and loud cries of «Nooooo» echo through the dark corridors of the murder villa. Damn funny.
Farting enemies and giant heads
My highlight of Midnight Murder Club is undoubtedly wildcard mode. It brings absurd twists to the deathmatch formula with crazy gameplay modifications (either team or solo).
At the start of the game, each member of the murder club chooses a modification card for the round. These are cards that give you benefits, such as letting your character run faster or have more powerful torches. But there are also curses that make life difficult for everyone: larger heads provide more headshot potential and glowing tracks reveal the position of characters in the dark.
I love playing the fart card. This makes all players fart through the darkness at random intervals, thus revealing their position, even without activating their torch. When I’m in a dark room and hear a fart out of nowhere, I often can’t help but laugh out loud.
The fire card is also fantastic. This makes players burst into flames if they don’t move for too long. A nightmare for campers. Or the shrink card, which turns characters into dwarves and gives them high-pitched voices. Exactly my kind of humour.
Unfortunately, not all game modes offer this kind of entertainment value.
Not much content, few players
As well as wildcard mode, the game also offers standard solo and team deathmatches. These more «serious» modes are also fun, even if I miss the unpredictable chaos of wildcards.
The remaining multiplayer modes are OK, but nothing more. They’re hardly ever used in the public lobbies. In headhunters mode, four bounty hunters compete against two devils. The former have to destroy skulls scattered around the villa and the devils need to stop them. Since the devils can see in the dark, the ingenious simplicity of the sinister game concept is lost. Thief in the night mode seems too complicated for many players. The aim is to collect loot and return it to a safe. In practice, most would-be murderers wander around the villa and have no idea what to do. The PvE mode graveyard shift isn’t worth mentioning. I either search the villa for artefacts alone or with a fellow player against bots. A boring and exhausting gameplay loop that feels like work.
It’s also disappointing that there’s only one map. The villa feels too big and empty in some game variants, especially if not all six player slots are filled in a match. And unfortunately, that happens a lot. I regularly wait several minutes to find I’m in a match with random strangers. A look at the Steam statistics explains the wait. The all-time peak of the game is a measly 211 players; Sony doesn’t reveal what the situation is on the PlayStation.
That’s why I mostly recommend Midnight Murder Club to players who want to sneak through the dark mansion with their friends. Because who knows whether there’ll still be any active online players in a few months’ time. At least the title only costs about 10 francs or euros. With the more expensive Guest Pass Edition for about 20 francs or euros, you can even invite up to five other players to the murder party in the villa for free.
Midnight Murder Club is available for PS5 and PC. Sony kindly provided me with a PC version for testing purposes.
In a nutshell
A fun shooter with an ingenious game concept, affordable price and meagre scope
Midnight Murder Club wows with a simple but ingenious game principle. In complete darkness, I sneak through a creepy mansion and try to murder my fellow players. I need to carefully decide when I use my torch – and my voice. Should I seek the cover of darkness and stumble through the corridors, or do I switch on my torch and risk being discovered and shot?
Wildcard mode is particularly good with its crazy gameplay modifications. Unfortunately, the title only offers one map and not very many exciting game modes. I can forgive this in view of the game’s low price. Still, the number of active players looks anything but rosy. That’s why I only recommend Midnight Murder Club if you want to play with friends.
Pro
- Ingenious game concept in complete darkness
- Proximity chat and wildcards ensure laughs
- Up to five friends play for free
Contra
- Not much exciting content
- Uncertain future, few online players
Domagoj Belancic
Senior Editor
Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.chMy love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
Gaming
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