The Blackout Club
We’ve seen a lot of games clearly influenced by Stephen King being released lately, especially those revolving around groups of kids tackling the supernatural. The Stranger Things game is an obvious example, as well as RAD, even though the Stephen King influences in it are a lot more subtle and hidden behind layers of neon, synthesizers, and unfunny jokes. The Blackout Club is the latest game in this trend, a team-based stealth horror title clearly influenced by works like IT and even a bit of Stand by Me.
After that first level, you’re thrown into the real world of The Blackout Club. It’s an ever-growing pseudo-open map in which you explore and complete randomized objectives, such as finding an item, using an item on an specific place, and so forth. Given the fact you’re a bunch of kids who have all witnessed The Shape helping each other, you’re not going to fight the power or overthrow the government. This isn’t KND Kids Next Door.
Besides The Shape, you also need to avoid being attacked by sleepwalking adults and what I can only imagine being brainwashed people. I say this because their eyes are open and they just hunt you around for no comprehensible reason. You can defend yourself with a handful of items, such as tasers or tranquilizing darts being shot out of a crossbow, but combat is not enforced in here. In fact, it’s best to just hide and do everything you can without getting caught.
Given the fact that the objectives in this game are randomized, that obviously means that there is no linearity and no proper storyline to be followed. After the fantastic intro level, the game just becomes even more bland than freaking Wolfenstein Youngblood in terms of storytelling. In fact, The Blackout Club reminded me a lot of Youngblood if that game didn’t have any combat at all, because all of the unnecessary features of a potential “live service” are all present in here.
Playing the game online can be fun, but it really removes all of the nearly nonexistent tension from the environment, as The Blackout Club is only really scary when you’re alone and helpless. Asking for help and telling exactly where you are just isn’t scary in my books. Playing the game by yourself, on the other, is completely unrecommended. It becomes a grindy chore and a lethargic experience. You’ll need to redo missions over and over in order to level up. Doing everything by yourself, while more interesting in the “scary” factor, just turns the game into an even more annoying experience than it already is.
There’s not a lot I can praise about The Blackout Club besides some decent visuals and an occasionally good voice acting performance, especially in the introductory level. If the game was designed to be a tense single-player experience like its first thirty minutes, this could have turned into a cult hit. Sadly, being yet another average multiplayer game in 2023 doesn’t make it stand out from the crowd. Being yet another game influenced by Stephen King and Goonies doesn’t do any favors, either.
