Review for The Night is Grey
Whalestork Interactive’s The Night is Grey is a tragic interactive suspense thriller. Intricate, eerie graphics and a haunting soundtrack work together to deliver a spine-tingling story. Classic point-and-click mechanics ensure that, with one minor exception, players can participate easily in the hair-raising experience that awaits them. Players will encounter many puzzles presented in such a realistic manner that, while playing, they may struggle to remember that it is, in fact, only a game. I do not recommend playing it in the dark.
The adventure starts in the woods at night. Appropriately spooky shadows clothe the scene; their transformational power makes the mundane increasingly frightening. The comforting light of the moon and stars girds the protagonist, Graham, as the player guides him through the darkness. In his first appearance, the well-animated Graham acts as if the terror of his surroundings is already affecting him. He runs at full tilt across the screen. His exertion finally forces him to bend over, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. He walks with heavy steps and a clipped gait, as if weighed down and distressed. Nevertheless, he bravely follows where the player leads. Sometimes extraordinarily large wolves appear, gnashing fearsome teeth as they prowl through the night.
Sound effects and music nurture the seeds of dread planted by the graphics. The developers wisely withheld music on the title screen. The spooky sounds of the nocturnal forest are wholly sufficient. Music is used to great effect elsewhere. A particularly memorable track plays after Graham completes the mine in Chapter Three. Its melody blends tragedy and hope while successfully resonating with Graham’s personal struggle. He’s trying to be heroic and pragmatic yet feels frustrated and melancholic as well.
The Night is Grey spins a tense and tragic yarn. While running through the woods, Graham happens upon a house, where a frightened little girl named Hannah awaits the return of her mother. Graham feels compelled to take her to her grandparents’ home so that they can comfort her while she waits. This relatable premise is the impetus for a dark odyssey into the human mind, specifically, Graham’s broken mind. This game does a great job of portraying Graham as a caring but broken human being. He wants to help and do the right thing, yet he’s almost completely crippled by fear and self-doubt. This is evident through Graham's journey with Hannah. For example, during the course of events, Graham mislays Hannah’s toy. While trying to make amends, he loses his temper and makes things worse. The narrative does a good job of explaining why Graham acts this way.
At the beginning of every stage in his adventure, Graham is confronted by an unseen critic; maybe it’s a parental figure. This person mercilessly berates him through sections of text (the game is not voiced). For instance, insisting that: “If you don’t behave the wolves will come out at night. They’ll take you away as you scream, and I’ll be laughing the whole time with no love to give.” After reading this passage, I didn’t need voice-overs to feel Graham’s pain. This explains why Graham has difficulty relating to other people. If, in the past, he didn’t receive love from his parents, he might continue to struggle with showing love to others. The game provides further insight into Graham’s fractured self-worth through his thoughts. Early in the adventure, after solving a puzzle, he thinks to himself, “I have great problem-solving skills. I wish I had great problem-avoiding skills as well.” He repeatedly tells himself to shut up. I began to feel sorry for him, and after shepherding him to the end, I didn’t feel any better. Demonstrating how difficult it is to mature when struggling constantly with oneself, Graham’s emotional progress (or the lack thereof) fits the dynamic narrative perfectly. Players will be wondering about Graham's ultimate fate long after they finish the game.
Graham’s psychological distress is masterfully brought to the forefront in my favorite puzzle. It superbly illustrates how Graham's past affects him and contributes to his painful present. While exploring the mine in Chapter Three, Graham is confronted by three talking wolves. They ask him questions. Players should be careful. Answering incorrectly will lead to negative consequences for Graham. The wolves represent his irrational thoughts. One of the questions they pose is “When is love a crime?” Graham’s answer signifies his psychological pain. At this point, I appreciated the large number of save slots because it took quite a few attempts to progress. This puzzle stands out among an impressive variety of well-clued conundrums. Some involve using items. Another requires using mathematics to calculate the correct amperage to activate an electric fence. They all fit the story well. One, however, gave me a fair amount of trouble: I had to click at the right time to activate a generator, and I couldn’t do it without outside help because of my slow reflexes. Though it was frustrating, I can easily forgive this small blemish, because other challenges were brilliantly conceived and executed.
Classic point-and-click mechanics make it easy to explore The Night is Grey’s environments. Right-clicking compels Graham to provide the player with a text-based description of the area, object or character you select with the mouse. Sometimes this description may include thoughts as to how each might be used. Left-clicking governs everything else: walking, grabbing and using items, and conversing with characters. Employing an item follows the familiar process of clicking to select it, moving it to an area of interest, and then clicking to release it. Holding down the space bar reveals all the interactive hotspots. Left-clicking on a character presents a list of topics the player can select. Graham will engage the character in a text-based conversation through which Graham, and the player, will learn more about this unnerving story.
In The Night is Grey, Graham personifies how tough it is to move forward when one struggles with severe inner conflicts. The finale will shock players. The expertly written narrative and puzzles are melded with enchanting graphics and music. The simple interface gives the player seamless control of the story. This is a splendid game that I would recommend to all adventurers.
