Midnight Deluxe

Next on the backlog reducing hitlist is a little number known as Midnight Deluxe, an Xbox One puzzle game that’s sort of like Angry Birds… except without the pigs… or the birds. The idea is that you fling Midnight, the white square thing from the cover, onto platforms, past obstacles an into a hole with light coming out of it. That’s the entire game.

Each level is scored on a 3-star system depending on how many throws it takes you to get Midnight into the hole. For the first few levels the game is endearing and charming but as soon as things become less straightforward, you start to realise how shitty the controls are.

Getting Midnight to go where you want him to go very quickly becomes a continuous cycle of trial and error but not the good kind, if there is a good kind of trial and error. Unless you are willing to draw all over your television screen, working out what you did previously to try something slightly different is next to impossible. This is coupled with the fact that estimating the power behind your throws is really difficult because the power gauge is so small and controlled by how much pressure you put on the right analogue stick – a terrible way of measuring power output.

It looks pretty good though – the levels are beautifully rendered, and they’ve made good use of the contrasting light and dark in the levels. This is the only positive thing to say about the game though.

Achievements – 1,000 Points – 13 Achievements

In terms of achievements, it’s another haul in less than an hour. The first thing required is getting 3 stars in one level for the achievement – having an achievement for getting 3 stars in all levels would have made this an incredibly hard and frustrating completion. It’s almost like the developers knew how shit their game was to be played when they wrote the achievement list.

There are over 80 levels in the game, but achievements are only tied to the first 40 which is good. While you are getting to level 40, you can also earn achievements for dying in every way possible and interacting with Midnight’s ‘friends.’ There is one very specific achievement for making one of Midnight’s friends smile while completing the level. What happens here is that Midnight’s ‘friend’ drops down a slope to block your exit, so you time your shot to get Midnight into the hole before the way is blocked. To make Midnight’s friend smile, you hit the friend with Midnight. To get the achievement, you need to hit the friend and get Midnight in the hole. It’s more straight forward trial and error but at least it’s clear what you have to do.

Downloadable Content – N/A

Midnight Deluxe is a frustrating puzzle game but thankfully it’s over before it induces any controller destroying rage. Not recommended on the game front but it’s an easy completion in less than an hour and costs £4.99 – but there is more game than achievements so it’s potentially a fair cost.