The Midnight Walkers Review Summary

High tension and atmosphere: The game excels in creating a tense and immersive atmosphere with its dark background, eerie sound effects, and challenging PvE elements. The balance between horror and action keeps players engaged and on edge.

Impactful and immersive combat: The combat system is highly praised for its satisfying mechanics, distinct weapon types, and the brutal, hard-hitting nature of fights. Players appreciate the melee focus and the detailed reactions of enemies to hits, which allow for stagger combos.

Good value for money: Players feel that the game offers a great experience for its price, especially with the launch discount. The game is seen as a bargain and worth the investment for the content and enjoyment it provides.

Enjoyable and engaging gameplay: The overall gameplay experience is fun and engaging, with enjoyable progression, farming mechanics, and a satisfying learning curve. Players find the game enjoyable both solo and with friends.

High potential and strategic depth: The game is noted for its high potential and strategic gameplay. Players appreciate the variety of elements, tense atmosphere, and the depth of the game mechanics, which provide a rewarding experience.

Combat mechanics need improvement: The combat system is criticized for being slow, clunky, and unsatisfying. Players report issues with hit detection, poor feedback, and unbalanced mechanics, making combat feel janky and poorly executed.

Zombie balancing issues: Zombies are often seen as overpowered, dealing too much damage and being difficult to kill. Players find it frustrating to deal with large groups of zombies, which can lead to frequent deaths and an unbalanced gameplay experience.

Game feels unfinished and unpolished: Many players feel that the game is in an early or unfinished state, with numerous bugs, poor optimization, and a lack of polish. This results in a clunky and unsatisfying gameplay experience.

Lack of features and mechanics: Players note the absence of essential features such as a friends list, revive mechanics, block or dodge options, and proper in-game guidance. These missing elements detract from the overall gameplay experience.

Slow movement and attack speed: The movement and attack speeds in the game are criticized for being too slow, making the gameplay feel sluggish and cumbersome. This includes slow sprinting, slow attack animations, and overall slow character movements.

Diverse combat and gameplay mechanics: The game features a variety of combat mechanics including melee focus, strategic combat, and class-based gameplay. It also includes elements like crafting, item searching, and survival elements, providing a rich and varied gaming experience.

Vertical map design: The game has a vertical map structure with different floors, each having unique themes. Players need to traverse using elevators and stairways, adding a layer of complexity and strategy to the gameplay.

Inventory and crafting system: The game includes a crafting system for weapons, gear, and utility items, as well as an inventory system for managing loot and equipment.

Extraction and looting mechanics: The core gameplay revolves around extraction and looting mechanics. Players need to search for items, loot, and then extract, which can be tense and challenging, especially with the PvP and PvE elements involved.

Challenging zombie combat: The game features strong PvE elements with challenging zombies that have diverse attack patterns. Zombies require skill to defeat and can be quite tough, especially with basic gear.

Optimization and performance issues: Players report a mix of positive and negative experiences with game optimization. While some players experience smooth gameplay and high FPS, others encounter frequent frame drops, crashes, and shader compilation issues. There are also mentions of the game running well on high settings but struggling with specific elements like blood and corpses.

Network and server issues: Many players face problems with network connections and server stability. Issues include failed network connections, disconnections during character creation, and inability to launch the game. Some players also report high latency on specific servers and general server instability.

Mixed performance reviews: Performance reviews are mixed, with some players experiencing stable performance and improvements since beta, while others report unstable client operation and crashes. This indicates a divide in player experiences based on different setups or conditions.

Shader compilation crashes: Several players have reported crashes specifically during shader compilation. This issue seems to be a significant problem affecting the game's launch and stability for some users.

Input and connectivity issues: Some players experience issues with input devices not responding during matches and connectivity problems, such as team members appearing offline when they are online.

Recommended for genre fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of extraction and zombie survival genres. It offers good value for its price and is particularly enjoyable with friends.

Fix connection issues: Players have reported frequent disconnection issues and long queue wait times. Optimizing server stability is crucial for a better gaming experience.

Developer transparency and effort: The developers are praised for their transparency and effort. Players hope that the developers will continue to listen to feedback and improve the game.

Balance game mechanics: Suggestions include lowering zombie damage, removing gear score, and balancing loot distribution to improve gameplay fairness and enjoyment.

Improve crate rewards: Players suggest adding more valuable items to crates to make them more rewarding and enhance the overall gaming experience.

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant technical barriers related to performance issues and lack of Linux support. While some users report stable performance, the prevalence of severe performance issues and crashes indicates a high level of friction. The lack of Linux support and anti-cheat compatibility further exacerbates the problem, making the game less accessible on platforms like the Steam Deck.

Monetization: The analysis of user reviews reveals significant issues with the game's DLC and the presence of pay-to-win elements. Many users have expressed frustration with the DLC, finding it difficult to activate and questioning its value. Additionally, the inclusion of pay-to-win elements has been criticized, indicating a potential imbalance in gameplay fairness.

Game in Early Access: The game is currently in the Early Access phase of development. This means players can expect ongoing updates and potential changes as the game evolves.

VPN usage due to sanctions: Some players mention the need to use a VPN to play the game, likely due to sanctions in specific regions such as Russia. This could impact the accessibility and player experience for affected users.