The Midnight Crimes hands-on

• Previews by Jenna Ruby Marvet
• Published:

Episodic dark detective story clocks in with a moody, genre-bending steampunk noir debut

Midnight Cove, British Empire. October 27th, 1897. Outside, endless rainfall pools into inky droplets on dimly lit city streets. Lanterns glow putrid lime green. Flickering neon signs beckon inside for a pint. A towering television screen proclaims that “Nikola Tesla Wants You!” And the gravelly voice of protagonist Benjamin Leighton announces that “today is the day.” Grieving the anniversary of the death of his wife and daughter, Leighton is preparing for a solemn visit to the church graveyard to mourn his loved ones. However, encouraged by the arrival of an old friend, Leighton is soon drawn back into the life of a private detective by a mysterious man in desperate need of Leighton’s assistance on a case to find his kidnapped son.

The Midnight Crimes effectively manages to lure you into the tangled web of its grizzled noir detective with grim storytelling, richly atmospheric visuals, lovingly crafted cinematics, and intriguing open-world mechanics, offering a unique twist on the point-and-click mystery genre. Only the first chapter has been released so far, though, offering players just an introduction to what looks to be a moody mystery adventure, with much more left to unfold.

Leaning into heavily stylized, starkly shaded character designs and settings, the game’s graphic novel-styled visuals give the illusion of a perpetual layer of soot and grime over Midnight Cove, with an eerie, man-made green glow that seeps from every highlight. The influence and power of wealthy industrialists on the city is undeniable. We are treated to a number of well-crafted video cinematics throughout the first chapter that reflect the eerie hues of this bleak steampunk-inspired world. As a bonus visual effect, players can click on lanterns throughout Midnight Cove to adjust lighting, making their adventures as shadowy and mysterious as they desire.

As Leighton readies himself for the day in his shabby alternate-Victorian-era apartment, we are introduced to a few gameplay mechanics that make The Midnight Crimes stand out from the typical detective adventure game. At first glance, it has many of the hallmarks of a classic point-and-click title—an interactive cursor, environmental hotspots, and the familiarity of clicking through dialogue, clues, notes, and inventory. However, it balances these traditional expectations with gameplay elements borrowed from other genres, reducing linearity and diversifying play style through quests and task prioritization, choice making and branching paths, mood and reputation management, semi-open world exploration, and deck-based combat.

Unresolved affairs are the active quests guiding players through the streets of Midnight Cove. In Chapter 1, Leighton is driven to visit the graveyard, but after a surprise visit from his old crime-solving partner Emily, the list grows: what about the mysterious man asking for Leighton, or finding out more about what happened to Emily while she’s been away? It’s up to the player, to an extent, to decide which to tackle first—or perhaps to complete an optional task instead.

So far, the only truly optional side-type quest added to my journal was feeding a stray black cat meowing outside the apartment window (though as an animal lover very invested in the well-being of the unnamed dumpster cat, I considered that quest required). So I made my way to Ivanko’s shop—which was a bright spot in my playthrough, with its blazing neon lights, driving folkloric tunes, and friendly shopkeeper—to purchase cat food for my potential new friend. According to the game, there will eventually be the ability to adopt a city pet, which I look forward to.

Decisions matter here, though Chapter 1 only gives us a small taste of their significance. So far, it seems choices can come in the form of prioritization (i.e. go to place X or Y first), dialogue selections, and optional side quests. Availability of options can be affected by player status. The player status screen—accessible from our briefcase in the lower right of the screen—tracks Benjamin’s stress, health, mood, reputation, inventory, and relationships. It will be interesting to see how far the game goes with non-essential content that is only unlocked by maintaining certain relationships or gaining a particular reputation, which could add a significant amount of replayability.

The Midnight Crimes

Genre:	Mystery
Presentation:	Realtime 3D
Theme:	Noir, Missing persons
Perspective:	Third-Person
Graphic Style:	Stylized
Gameplay:	Investigative
Control:	Point-and-click

Faced with my first choice, I had to decide whether Leighton should unwind with a pint at the local pub or head directly to the cemetery. I chose the pub, but on his way out the door, Leighton encountered his old partner Emily. While meeting Emily is required by the game, in my playthrough I faced a gated dialogue choice. Leighton was too upset to admit he had missed Emily, because he had become overly distressed while looking at the photos of his late wife and daughter, and I had yet to realize that opting to smoke a cigarette or splash cold water on Leighton’s face could help reduce his stress level. It was then I noticed that I could review my choices via comic book cells from the home screen menu. There were unfilled spaces for up to 18 decisions.

For now, choices don’t appear to be make-or-break for the story, only slightly altering dialogue and scene ordering, but I’m eager to see how decision making and player management evolve in future chapters. I suspect some choices will carry more weight, and the game’s Steam page suggests players will have the power to shape the narrative, send you down branching paths, and even determine the game’s ultimate ending.

The Midnight Crimes utilizes semi-open-world gameplay, allowing us to explore Midnight Cove outside of objective quests. However, at this stage there is not much to find in hidden street corners and alleyways beyond tailing NPCs to dead ends and visiting the shop to purchase cigarettes, lockpicks, and cat food. I expect later chapters will expand what we can experience through exploration. There is a map to help navigate, but it is relatively sparse and ultimately not incredibly helpful for the directionally challenged like me. While I could hover over glowing dots on the map for location names, it did not appear that quick travel was an option.

Continuing down the dimly lit cobblestone streets, Leighton finds himself pulled into a fight with a gruff ruffian thief. In Chapter 1 the fighting seems to be a planned story beat rather than randomized or optional. The in-game combat is driven by a card deck, where both the player and enemies select from a randomized drawing of ability cards. These cards can boost damage, heal, or even skip player turns, with the ultimate goal being to whittle down the opponent’s health bar while surviving incoming attacks. As the game progresses, I imagine you will be able to expand and refine your deck, but with the starter deck, I was swiftly pummeled to bits. Leighton’s stress spiked (understandably), and his cash was drained in the mugging—but afterwards, I started finding randomized coins scattered in dumpsters, under benches, and hidden in other scenery where I hadn’t noticed any before.

Overall, the game seems nicely crafted with a dark comic-book-inspired art style, unique mechanics, and solid voice acting, though I did encounter a few areas for improvement with the movement of the camera and characters. First, the lack of an objective tracking tool on the map led to a bit too much aimless wandering with not much to find throughout the streets; second, cinematic angles switched the camera back and forth on a whim, making quick movement difficult; and third, the walking mechanic made conversations with other characters awkward and slow, since they could not keep up with and could get stuck behind Leighton. The dynamic animation also led to some interesting snafus: I found two cars facing one another in a particularly precarious corner pulling slightly forward and back, trapped in an infinite loop until I exited to another room.

While only the first chapter of The Midnight Crimes is currently available, there are six chapters planned in total, set to release quarterly as part of the base purchase price. While I enjoyed getting an early taste of this moody mystery, the experience so far left me wanting more. At this stage, there’s not quite enough story or gameplay to fully sink our teeth into. But, hey, hopefully good things come to those who wait, so those looking for a dark detective story with a touch of steampunk noir and varied gameplay should keep an eye out for future releases. The first chapter has hooked me well enough to stick around for the next episode, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds.

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