The Midnight Walk has just arrived and is one of the most impressive VR experiences ever - trailers so far are:
Models are all made using clay - as explained here:
Note that the PSVR2 actually is not the best platform for the game, as the PS5 is too slow and devs did not support eye-tracked forveated rendering - so the very best Midnight Walk requires a fast gaming PC. The PC version is 10% off until 15 May:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2863640/The_Midnight_Walk/
Note that 91% of 270 reviews are positive on Steam - for the PS5, the game has gotten an awesome 95% average rating based on 600 ratings:
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/the-midnight-walk/
My impressions
For now the PCVR game feels like a solid 9/10. I've tested using RTX 3090, i9 10900K, 32GB and Win10 with both Rift CV1 and Valve Index.
The game feels somewhat like a walking sim, but it is also called The Midnight Walk 😉 It's an amazing experience nonetheless. I've taken a few screenshots while playing the game:
Basically The Midnight Walk is about walking while trying not to be devoured alive by monsters 🙂
When I got the Index, it said "Hello Worlds" in the box - and that fits well here - btw, you only got hands like in Alyx
You're not alone in the game - but has a friendly follower:
Early in the game you get a friend who follows you. Your friend is a source of fire whenever you need to light up something. The game uses stealth and puzzles
Keeping your friend flame alive - you have to feed it 🙂
Your friend needs something to eat to keep up the fire, and you can feed it. Having company also makes this an enjoyable experience - you do not feel alone, the world feels alive
Btw, realtime lighting and dynamic shadows are supported:
An example of realtime lighting and a dynamic shadow cast by my hand
Another example of a dynamic shadows - note the shadow on the ground for the npc. Shadows can be nicely detailed
Some complained about limited interactivity, but you can do much, like pulling out drawers:
Some reviewers criticized the limited interactions in the game due to being a 2D port, but at least you can grab and pull out the drawers. To me interactivity is fine in the game
The game looks slightly blurry, as if some temporal antialiasing is being forced that cannot be deactivated.
Using Index 80 Hz and Epic settings, my RTX 3090 could do Index res 250% in solid 80 fps. But the game still had some blur to it. Using res 400% somehow broke the game adding much latency, but res 350% worked great with motion smoothing and looks very sharp. Here are some examples of the view distance:
You have many settings for graphics. VR is nicely supported, even if this game also works in 2D. This image shows the max view distance. All images show Epic settings
Another example of the view distance. The game seems to use some blurry temporal antialiasing, which cannot be deactivated - so crank up super-sampling to the max
You'll visit some very different environments. Even if the environments all are extremely weird and often grotesque, these feel more like some dark art with deep horror vibes
Note that users of old oled hmds like Rift CV1 are in luck - as TAA always looked very sharp in the CV1. Testing the game with CV1, it looked awesome and more genuine. TAA with lcd easily makes everything look kinda fake, and metal can look like plastic, but not with the oled Rift CV1. I ended up using Index res 350%, but Rift CV1 users aren't missing anything important.
The atmosphere is great, and there is much variation. There are horror elements, but compared to MADiSON VR, this game is a walk in a ... dark park 😉 Oled is not needed as the game has been brightened to work great on lcd hmds
Many textures are low-res. Originally the game was 100GB, but got reduced to 18GB. I hope that was no caused by devs deleting ultramersion VR textures. The low-res textures easily stick out with lcd hmds, but look more high-res with some SDE, like the CV1 provides.
Textures show that this is a 2D port. Many textures are low-res by VR standards, but look fine in the distance. Compared to Behemoth, Mightning Walk has *much* worse textures
Even if low-res, the ground textures still look nice. This is Index res 350% to fight blurry temporal antialiasing, but motion smoothing is my friend, not my enemy 🙂
Sound and music are great both using Index or CV1. Controls work similarly, and there is no Index finger tracking. The game uses OpenXR drivers, so Meta users get optimal performance.
For the story, you journey with your follower along the twisted trail of The Midnight Walk. Working with your companion, you outsmart monsters by using the companion's flame to distract while you hide from and evade the many monsters and the like. You'll encounter new friends and experience awesome sights.
The story is special, some may not like it. Here you meet some fellow traveller giving you some info about the world. Personally I greatly enjoy the dark story
In the real world I'd probably never go there 🙂
The game is made of chapters, and the images I've shown are from the beginning of the game, so spoiler should be limited
Another example of the world. Npcs are made from clay models, and the quality just shines in the game. You never visited a world like this before - and VR is a must
Btw, both Beardo Benjo and VoodooDE also love the game - and both tested the game using a Quest 3 hmd:
The makers of The Midnight Walk with their clay models:
I'm still walking - and met a nice-ish dude 🤗
Actually the dude had no head when I found him, but I got him re-connected 😇
The world continues to amaze:
Especially the realtime lighting can be impressive:
In the game, you pick up items - can be statues, music records and more - and you automatically store every found item in your home, where you can enjoy your collection:
In your home, you can enjoy your found statues, movies and more.
Guess I gotta go back to Potboy later this evening. This is one of the greatest VR experiences in years, 94% of Steam users have posted positive reviews.
C'mon, Potboy - say "cheeeeeeeese!"
Maybe not better than Lone Echo - but also not far behind in quality. At least within its genre, The Midnight Walk continues to impress - just being present in this world is a great experience:
Also got the big oven working 😇
So far puzzles are great and varied - some people complain that the game is only 4 hours long - but I've played for 5.5 hours and have completed about 60%, so I better hurry up? 🤔 😉 Actually I have not died much and have not really been stuck in any puzzle, so I do wonder if I can complete the game in less than 8 hours, we'll see. I do take my time to find all items and check them out, when back in your in-game home.
The game is getting harder though, but not really more scary - here are a few more impressions:
You do get to meet The Little Match Girl - well, sorta...
The being was very strange though:
You do get to meet entities beyond any kind of normal 🙂
You'll have to find the key to this house ... in a nearby ... very dark ... cave 😬
This puzzle was more advanced, the game continues to grow and evolve:
Something bad awakens if you close your eyes, but you may need to close your eyes to advance in the game - so far nothing close to Jeff in Alyx though.
I guess I'm going to take another Midnight Walk today...
Now 7 hours in, still have not completed the game, still haven't died much and have not been stuck in the puzzles.
Meeting this big dude was awesome - much like meeting another Behemoth 🙂
Turns out the big dude had a big heart, which had lost its spark:
With a recent patch, the TAA (temporal antialiasing) blur seems gone - textures are now much sharper:
I guess the game has never been better. My rating would be 95% at the moment - to really experience what VR is about, this game is close to mandatory to complete. Just don't get eaten too much 😉
Those big 6-legged critters will love to eat you - so much stealth is needed
This monster is your friend though. or sort of, and you can see the great dynamic shadows:
Note the highly detailed dynamic shadow
A few more impressions from the by far best VR game released this year:
Took me 8 hours to finish - or the same as Lone Echo 1. Right now 95% of nearly 900 ratings are positive:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2863640/The_Midnight_Walk/
