When eight individuals are trapped in a motel and strange happenings occur, it’s clear there’s a mystery afoot. However, it quickly becomes clear that everyone is out of their depth when murders begin occurring. You must solve the mystery of the murderer’s true identity while doing your best to limit the damage. Or that’s the premise at least, you aren’t actually solving a mystery as much as you are learning the truth.
DETECTIVE – Rainy Night tries to be a horror story and a detective game at the same time. What happens is that the game never settles on an identity and falls short of both genres. The mystery isn’t hard to solve and the horror only comes in towards the end. While you are curious as to how the story ends, the game’s lack of focus undercuts its strongest aspects. It’s hard for the game to show its potential because it hinders itself too often.
DETECTIVE – Rainy Night is available on PC for USD 10.99.
Everyone is gathered together for a meeting to discuss the culprit.
Story – Trapped at a Motel
You play as an off-duty police officer who makes a stop at a motel. What initially looks like a routine stop turns into a nightmare as people are unable to leave. It also appears that someone is causing trouble for the guests, destroying cars and creating messes. Things hit a turning point when someone turns up dead and the situation escalates out of control. Can you solve the mystery and find the culprit to keep everyone alive?
The story is similar to The Mortuary Assistant where you are trapped and can’t get out. Everything points to sabotage and something is keeping everyone trapped in the motel. You don’t know what but the mystery slowly unfolds to reveal the culprit is beyond your understanding. The setup looks appealing but the narrative undercuts itself in several areas, dampening its potential.
A conversation about morality isn’t what the game needs.
DETECTIVE – Rainy Night attempts to be a detective and a horror game at the same time. Unfortunately, the foundations for either story are flimsy because they never focus on a specific angle. The end result is a story that tries to be a mystery but eventually reveals horror elements. You don’t feel like a detective trying to solve a mystery. It feels like you are a lucky participant who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Potential – Spread Too Thin
Being a detective or mystery story with horror isn’t impossible. But the way the game lays out the story is similar to Vaudeville. There’s a scenario and you are a participant, nothing more. Despite advertising this as a detective game, you aren’t solving a mystery as much as walking around to learn information. Most of what you find barely meets the definition of detective work. When the story shifts into horror, it feels forced because you weren’t aware of any horror elements.
Salvatore talks about greatness but it comes out of nowhere.
The result is a story where the mystery is just discovering what’s attacking you and the horror is jump scares. You never truly feel like the game is crafting a scary atmosphere or establishing a mystery to solve. There are also several unaddressed points like how everyone was trapped in the first place. Too many weak points creates an unsatisfying conclusion that, while ending the nightmare, doesn’t feel like a proper ending.
Gameplay – Seeing & Taking Objects
Despite advertising itself as a detective game, you don’t do much detective work at all. You walk around the motel talking to people, preparing food for yourself, and go to bed. There are only two real mysteries to solve: opening a locked door and identifying the culprit. It’s not a mystery that requires tracking information except going from Point A to Point B. The real challenge is finding out where to go.
You get a few clues but it ultimately doesn’t matter much.
The game plays like a walking simulator rather than a thrilling detective mystery. Horror is reduced to jump scares rather than something terrifying. You move around to different locations and search. Clues are compiled into a journal but they are mostly recaps of the events you encounter. If you aren’t trying to open a door, you are cooking food and delivering it to people in the motel.
Audio & Visual – Simple Talks & Graphics
You have basic 3D models for the characters and environment. The UI helps to point some things out but some objects just aren’t clear. For example, there are times you must cook with a saucepan but it’s not highlighted and there are multiple saucepans. Objects you need aren’t highlighted and the simple graphics make it hard to discern certain objects. Fortunately character models are distinct and you know who you are talking to.
The audio is simple as well, with simple movement sounds and cooking noises. There are jump scares towards the latter half of the game but there aren’t many. Apart from brief noises, communication is silent and you can almost play the game without noticing the sound. You hear some music when the game is over but it’s not much.
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- The murders affect everyone in different ways.
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- Guessing the culprit is nearly impossible with detective work.
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- It’s clear that bad things have happened during your stay.
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- You must use a flashlight towards the end of the game.
DETECTIVE – Rainy Night was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by JanduSoft.
