An interesting but half-finished project: let's see in detail The Blackout Club in our review
We approached the Blackout Club review being already aware of its main features. The months of early access (which we had not taken part in anyway) were useful to everyone to understand how this particular project was managed. Stealth title, cooperative, competitive, strongly narrative, linked to a double structure to a structure that recalls in some way even the "monster games" of this period and that does not disdain to dwell on standard styles such as Stranger Things, as well as on themes strongly impacting. Put in these terms, it seems to be faced with a soup that can hardly find its own square and it would be unfair to say that the title does not risk more than one occasion to explode on itself due to too many mechanics. This is despite being able to put on the plate some interesting ideas, both from the point of view of the gameplay and the narration, unfortunately plagued by a realization that is very affected by the very low budget available.
The laughing Redacre
The team behind The Blackout Club, this Question Games, boasts a remarkable pedigree, being formed by former members of Irrational Games (the boys behind toys such as System Shock 2, Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite) and others of Arkane Studios ( Dishonored, Prey). Although the game in question is strongly detached from the works just mentioned, it takes up a couple of fundamental elements: the immersion of the first-person view and a sweet but at the same time direct way of touching often uncomfortable and important themes. The Blackout Club in fact starts in Redacre, a charming suburb that is experiencing particularly suspicious events. For some time, during the night, the teenagers fall asleep and wake up in a strange and peculiar version of their town, completely identical to the other side in the light of the sun, if it were not for the behavior of the adults. The latter roam the streets of the city as inanimate, similar to zombies, also divided into different types of elements. Unaware of the reasons for this strange event, the boys decide to join forces to gather evidence of what they are experiencing and constantly try to get out of it all in one piece. We will analyze the implications of the resulting gameplay shortly, but what is interesting is the ability of the game to investigate an important issue such as the parent-child relationship. It is evident that what happens to the boys, as well as triggering events from classic teen horror, also wants to get to the bottom of those misunderstandings that have always characterized this important human relationship. Who of us, as a teenager, has never looked at an adult with the eye of contempt, sometimes wondering if that specific person was not even making choices so in contrast with us that we seemed premeditated and totally out of context, like a walking zombie in the dark without a goal.
The different types of opponents range from the sleeper who does not visually notice our attitudes, but is more like a real sleepwalker, to get to "The Shape". The latter is nothing but a particular monster that lives in the minds of the boys and that, like a skilled mind flayer or a nightmare in the style of Freddie Kruger, accompanies the player in imaginative and mechanically interesting ways. The whole first part of the experience, which acts as a prologue and a tutorial, also represents the most linear and conventional situation, even if it is the best one. Strictly in single player, we will be called upon to take on the role of the first to attempt to discover the mysteries of Redacre, only to end up missing. As said, the narrative works and, despite the cooperative nature and the procedural nature of the individual games, it remains on discrete levels until the end, provided that the famous "lore", which now seems an essential feature of "knowing how to narrate", is studied in depth.
The uniqueness of the gameplay
Allow us the pun on the title of the paragraph. That singularity indicates two important details of The Blackout Club: one certainly positive, the other much less. The multiplayer and procedural nature of the experience creates an interesting singularity feeling in the group of players. Modifying position and searching for evidence is the basis of the longevity of a title that must base its very existence on the entice to return and return again to be frightened with the game. Here, however, the first of the long-running problems of The Blackout Club comes into play: very little variety. Redacre is a tiny little town, which will take you very little time to be visited in its entirety and which certainly does not stand out for a high density of different places to explore. To make everything even worse, a disarming repetitiveness of the missions takes care of it. Despite the displacement of the tests, it is always and in any case a matter of doing the same things, being careful not to be found and using the mobile phone and the various tools available with awareness. In itself this would not even turn out to be such an exorbitant problem, considering the multiplayer nature, but a certain tiredness and a sense of tedium are easily found, precisely because the game would like to push to investigate the events that form the background, but at the same time time away from this same in-depth analysis. Its dual nature is probably also its worst defect, which is then found in the little variety of enemies. These range from those who are able to hear only the noises to those who see you even when you are sheltered, to finish with a boss, the "The Shape", which probably represents the only true genius found of this great minestrone . The need to pass to the darkness of the lowered eyelid triggers a series of fears inherent in man dictated precisely by the impossibility of seeing around him. Dividing reality between the dense night of adult zombies, and the darkness of two eyes closed but able to observe the shifts of the biggest threat of the game, adds to the whole even a fair level of organization among the players.
The entity's arrival is managed through the actions that each individual player can take during the games. Performing the so-called "sins" against adults, will lead to the wrath of the monster, who at that point will hunt down the "bad boy" and, if he succeeds in catching him, would leave him in a catatonic state from which only the others players could wake him up. This element is also important to understand how much The Blackout Club funds its very essence on the age-old problem of the relationship between adolescents and adults, which a bit like what happens with Godzilla in the case of our faults related to nuclear power, has an impact here in this essence incorporeal. Latest, but not least, two very interesting features in addition to the bare and raw gameplay. On the one hand, you will be asked to change some parameters of your alter ego with a system of upgrades managed by cards. These can either actively change the individual games, activating features and specific actions that your character can perform during the mission; as well as passive ones, able to increase health or deliver useful tools at the start. The other is instead the one related to the Enhanced Horror System, which we prefer not to spoil by telling too many details, but which probably represents the most disturbing and intriguing feature of the game. This consists of a sort of recordings made by the player with his own voice, which can be useful to receive clues and elements that tell the facts and the nightmares of the characters. As if that were not enough, these recordings are used in game for the so-called rituals, which can be activated through specific objects and which will then require you to record something with your voice. It is such a unique and original system that it is difficult to explain, certainly more than letting it prove to you, but that easily reveals the great inspiration of the Question Games guys.
