So how’d you spend your Halloween, boys and girls? Answering the door to some definitely-not-kids — making your way through a bowl of confectionery you should be saving for those who bother offering up the seasonal rhyme? I’ve never been one for the festivity and the tradition around this time of year (haven’t they always said we Brits simply imported it from America?), but while I too may be sifting my way through the remaining lollipops, chocolate bars and the like, I chose to consolidate this rather spooky time of ours in the realm of video games. With the classics sure, both conventional and non-conventional, yet amidst all this there was one game — albeit one in Early Access state — that unintentionally prepared me for the previous end of week joys. Or be it, the joy of absolute dread (and I’m not talking about your typical Monday morning blues).



Noct is not your typical horror game. For starters, I wouldn’t even classify it as horror anyway; it doesn’t have jump-scares…well, it does…just not the ones you can see coming from a million miles away. Oh gee the mirror to my bathroom cabinet is slightly ajar; better close it and hope nothing’s standing behind me in that reflec- Yeah you get the idea. Developer Chris Eskins, who goes under the moniker of c3sk, instead focuses on the actual benefits to this not-so-pleasant of media genres — everything revolving, though not in conjunction, with that most sudden of end-deliveries. Tension, anxiety, skepticism…the preemptive emotional cartwheels that give you confidence something is going to roll on in and yet you don’t know exactly what.

Noct, to this effect, takes the shape of a post-apocalyptic World wherein civilizations of yonder have now conformed to little more than a scattering of survivors simply trying to live another day. Earth, through Noct’s eyes — or rather its thermal imaging-style lens, akin to those police chases you see a la the overhead view on the news or some documentary-style TV programme — is a drab shell of its former self. Even your own presence, on the World map, is represented by a mere pixel-wide dot against the vast grey-black landscape which paves the way for some perhaps overarching theme of insignificance and inferiority compared to the…how should we put it…fresh faces now swarming our once lush, vibrant land.



Instructed through a vague unspecified character, you’re tasked with exploring the wastelands in search of equipment and items. Why, he/she never really explains, but if it means you have a hope of surviving, well what else is there to lose? Oh except your limbs, which is where our newfound friends come into play and wherein Noct’s build-up is impressively, if not flawlessly, executed. Given that for brief stretches nothing happens whilst moving about the World, your character’s brief muttering of the words ‘UH OH’ can be easily missed and that sudden transition from calm to precariousness ultimately leaves you off-guard. What’s not so easy to miss is the way the screen is then shrouded in a black fade — accompanying by a drastic shift in Noct’s dark but dynamic ambient/post-rock soundtrack — so as to emphasise something, somewhere is waiting. Is it coming after you, is it lurking waiting for an opportune strike; can you even avoid its detection? Again, Noct deliberately obscures these facts and before long, the dark and desolate land begins to feel more and more like it’s slowly but surely closing in on you.

It reminds me why I find open water less than favorable in any video game; its deceptively fair exterior could in fact be hiding something underneath such a calm surface. Noct may not have the same depth or complexity, being a 2D overhead twin-stick survival-shooter, but that doesn’t deter from how productive its panic-induced moments can be. Regardless of how prepared you are, there’s no stopping the sudden loss of logic when one of the many ungodly beasts emerge from the dark. You can deter it momentarily with bullet-fire, but if you’re brave enough to warrant silencing it for good, your melee weapon is the best course of action. That said, melee has the biggest risk-reward factor going for it and not always in a good way; you need to be at precisely the correct distance (be it point-blank) for the strike to hit, otherwise it’s light out. And even then swings can often go right through an enemy’s person, your faithful swing can ultimately, unfairly, mean your last.



Bullet-fire can, eventually, kill but given the amount of ammunition you can subsequently waste coupled with the nature of gathering resources and conserving one’s equipment, it’s best to think [long and hard] before shooting. In that respect, the fact your UI gives no real indication as to your ammo count may deter those who prefer to feel they’re in control, or at least aware, of all stats currently in play. Engagement quickly becomes a luck-of-the-draw mechanic as Noct’s decision to have enemies emerge at seemingly random points — while does make every moment feel tense and unique — can often punish when punishment isn’t really necessary. The amount of times I would return to my point of death — and so too the corpse of my previous player-character whom by then would be but a mere glowing splotch of internal organs and body fluids — to salvage my lost equipment, only to be greeted by an enemy trapping me in an inescapable corner with little time to react. Oh and enemies can phase through walls, because why not? Frustrating yes, but not one that puts me off trying the same objective again…and again…and again, as the case may be.

For the truth is, Noct’s simplistic, often depleted, presentation is an intriguing premise and one that leaves many questions I’m itching to have answered. How will boss fights fair? How will narrative weave its way into the layout and progression? And let’s not forget: just what in the hell has happened here? There’s only so much one can gather before the game (noted, in early access form) gives you no further objective and simply requests you carry on finding supplies. Even the additional multiplayer modes, though adding diversity, didn’t alleviate any of my mounting questions. Still, Noct is a fascinating experimentation in building on your player’s dread and offering little in return. It’s the kind of horror I can warm to and sit down with (albeit with an urge not to go wander for fear of my own safety) and a particular niche that has far more potential than some bathroom cabinet mirror or the like. I look forward to what c3sk and co have in store for us come early next year.