As someone who is very much a recluse, I haven’t spent much of my life in any form of club. ‘Midnight Murder Club’, by Velan Studios, lets me feel what it’s like to belong to an organisation, all while committing virtual (but somehow permissible) murder. Being part of the murder club alongside friends in a massive multiplayer mansion makes for a hilarious, albeit short-lived time.

Wormwood Manor houses a club that enjoys lurking in darkness, where members hunt each other for sport, which is about the total gist of the story. The manor has a variety of rooms that feel in line with the typical elite-type vibe. The masked club members made everything feel much more sick, especially with their warped voices echoing down hallways, the sounds of gunshots and the creak of doors and floorboards as players move around the map.

Midnight Murder Club is the kind of first-person shooter game that really caters more toward playing with friends than going in alone. Whilst there are public lobbies, this is the kind of title that feels most enjoyable with friends fighting beside you, or perhaps, against you, depending on your preference. Playing solo in a public lobby of six players, or with up to five friends, Midnight Murder Club offers a decent amount of game modes, from standard team-based rounds to free-for-all. Where Midnight Murder Club really tests the boundaries is in Wildcard mode.

In Wildcard mode, each player chooses a card to add to the deck, which adds modifiers to the round, from shooting all ammo at once, spawning with equipment, shrinking upon being shot (making achieving a hit significantly harder), to the inclusion of discoballs, which are super entertaining, and the track playing absolutely slaps. Still, it’s a dead giveaway when you get distracted by the urge to party.

With over 40 types of cards, each round felt massively different, completely changing the way I approached each playthrough. While combat can be an action-packed gunfight, with the inclusion of traps and gear, Midnight Murder Club can also be an exercise in stealth. Donned with only a flashlight, a knife, and a gun, members can choose to use the darkness to their advantage and focus on sneak attacks, bring a knife to the gunfight, or light their way with the flashlight, which is a dead giveaway of the team’s position but sometimes necessary to navigate the grounds.

With short-burst gameplay rounds lasting mere minutes,  shooting down opposing teams gets really intense and incredibly competitive. It’s just the right amount of time for the tides to turn within moments, upping the ante even further.

The two-player or solo game PVE mode, ‘Graveyard Shift’, was a lot more creative in its delivery. Alongside a friend, club members must ward off “demons” while completing various tasks in stages, like collecting Golden Relics to rid the manor of a curse.

I enjoyed this mode most simply because I had time to appreciate the mansion and be more immersed. While the gameplay for Midnight Murder Club is super addictive for a time, I can’t picture myself spending extended periods in the mansion.

Instead, some variation in areas may convince me to stay a little longer with the fairly similar game modes, but I don’t feel like there will be much long-term replay value. The secondary game modes, Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch, Thief in the Night, where teams search to score the most valuables on the field and Headhunters, where two players hunt others while they destroy demonic totems, add just enough variety for each gaming session to have a little bit of everything. 

Playing with friends is super easy with the Guest Pass Edition, where up to five friends can be sent invites to play. Better yet, crossplay between Steam and PlayStation 5 helps more allies get in on the action at no cost to them; all that’s needed is for one player to own the game, a smart move from Velan Studios to lure more players into the fray. Public lobby matchmaking could be an exercise in patience, and there were times when it took a significant amount of time to gather players. With limited solo options, it did take away a massive portion of the gameplay options, which may become an issue in the long term.

‘Whispers in the Dark’, the proximity chat adds an extra oomph, hearing allies and enemies alike as they lurk nearby. The game adds distortions to enemy voices, which were both hilarious and often very ominous.

Being on the same team, I found it much more effective than when we were against each other. Bots tended to get in the way and give away my position much more, switching on and off flashlights, grunting and randomly opening doors. They often took a hefty amount of friendly fire when walking in front of players mid-shot. 

My struggle was playing on a controller with the PlayStation 5. While most shooters, there isn’t too much of a disadvantage to playing on a controller, in this instance, finding the sweet spot for aim sensitivity was tough, whilst my friends playing on mouse and keyboard (who are admittedly much better shots than I, regardless) had no issue capping enemies in an instant. I would love to revisit the club on Steam to see what difference it makes to my experience. Where the DualSense 5 controller really shone was in the haptic feedback when moving through the map, and the adaptive triggers felt incredibly satisfying when taking a shot.

Overall, Midnight Murder Club is a moreish mix of mayhem that I can see myself enjoying in short bursts. With multiple game modes and plenty of ways to play with friends, it’s a perfect way to spend time tormenting friends from the safety of your own home. I’m curious to see whether more content is added to expand beyond the mansion and explore the mysteries of the club down the line to keep me coming back for more.

Written by: Yasmin Noble