Night at the Gates of Hell Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "More grimy, gory gaming action from the purveyors of filth" 💀 @henryhoare8 #IndieGame #GameDev

We at GF have learned to look forward to new console releases from Torture Star Video, as their awesome brand of video (game) nasties always entertain, and have a dirty streak a mile wide. The last game published by Torture Star Video that I personally covered was No One Lives Under the Lighthouse, a Lovecraftian-inspired slow-burn tale that captivated me with its lo-fi visuals and bewilderingly saucy sound design.

Night at the Gates of Hell, however, does not have a subtle, slow-burn approach… it instead goes for an especially nasty Italian zombie horror vibe, which it absolutely nails down with rusty masonry nails in a bloody mess of viscera and gore.

The introductory sequence of this game will certainly have more conservative gamers adjusting their spectacles and clearing their throat awkwardly, as Night at the Gates of Hell starts out with your character wandering around a graveyard in search of his girlfriend – for a bonk, natch – before heading back to his car to find a condom, then returning to the scene for the imminent sex act only to find that, instead of your girlfriend being spread out on a blanket ready for a romantic rendezvous...she is in fact in the midst of having her breasts hacked off and eaten by insane cultists. Needless to say, the rubber stays in the wrapper.

The game only ramps up the foulness from there on in, and I don’t really want to ruin the wonderfully schlocky story that Black Eyed Priest Games have laid out here, but if you have watched any video nasties from the ‘80s, then you’ll know what to expect.

A first-person shooter with a focus on headshot-based combat, the myriad zombies in Night at the Gates of Hell can only be despatched by a single shot to the head from the handful of guns on offer. Played in a low-poly style reminiscent of the PS1 era, there are also a handful of options in-game that allow you to set up the visuals as you see fit, whilst I opted for a clean, crisp presentation – as I’m a sucker for the early 2000’s PC look – you can also have a ‘70s or VHS filter with a CRT filter on top to really drive home that early VHS illicit video nasty vibe. Good.

I found Night at the Gates of Hell to be incredibly tense- especially in the opening chapters - and packed with jump scares during its 4-6 hour runtime. The game never stops trying to catch you out at every turn, leading to some extremely memorable set pieces and moments of gore.

Night at the Gates of Hell does use some tricks such as sudden volume blasts, piercing screeches etc. that fit with the whole genre, but did grate on me at certain points, I’m glad I wasn’t playing with headphones, as the pops in volume for certain scares were quite extreme.

That said, the moment-to-moment gameplay really drew me in, with the cast of bonkers characters and the black humour that runs through the dialogue working well with the whole setup of the game, which is effectively moving from scenario to scenario in a filmic fashion, trying to escape the zombie horde.

The gunplay is clunky by design, in that guns take a while to reload, and much as in Resident Evil 5 – your character cannot move whilst aiming, so you have to act fast when zombies burst through doors and come lunging at you, as you panic and try to line up that all-important headshot – reticule-lessly, natch.

SUMMARY

In summary, the over-the-top theatrics, combined with the distinctive, lo-fi design absolutely capture the sense of this being a video game nasty. I adore the cheap scares, tense gunplay, and blood and gore making this one to recommend for the grimier side of indie horror.

That said, there is a simplicity and roughness to the mechanics that may not appeal to everyone looking for a streamlined experience, especially on Switch where I would always recommend a pro controller for FPS titles over the Joy Cons.

Right, I’m off to get eaten alive by

zombie nuns.