My Night Job from Webcore Games
My Night Job, from Brazilian developers Webcore Games, is a tribute to horror movies and classic beat-’em-up games alike. It doesn’t bring much depth to either genre, but its everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach is refreshing.
I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today
The story, such as it is, begins with an ice cream man – enticed by a late night television commercial – taking a second job for a group of commandos rescuing people from a haunted mansion. The titular night job, then, involves guiding at least 100 survivors to the safety of waiting helicopters.
In practice, this mostly involves running back and forth through the various mansion rooms. Run across a survivor, and he or she will follow you to any of several rescue checkpoints indicated on a mini-map.
This would be a much easier task if not for the numerous monsters, so you’ll be doing a lot of monster-bashing, as well, using anything at hand – from cutlery to potted plants to statues to floor lamps.
Admittedly, this is all pretty amusing. It’s awfully satisfying to crush a mutant baboon or pack of zombie dogs under a safe. One wonders, though – if your mysterious employers can afford helicopters, you’d think they’d at least be able to spring for a pistol or two.
They Did the Monster Mash
Adding to My Night Job’s hectic pace is the danger of losing rooms of the mansion itself. If too many monsters congregate in an area, they’ll start jumping up and down until part of the house itself collapses. If that happens too many times, it’s game over, man.
This doesn’t entirely make sense, either, because once you reach the end game by rescuing 100 survivors, you’re supposed to finish up by setting explosives and blowing the place up. So yes, My Night Job involves protecting a haunted mansion so you can eventually destroy it.
Does the Job
Despite the fairly simple mechanics – jump, dodge and attack – My Night Job will scratch that side-scrolling beat-’em-up itch. While little changes from game to game – the mansion layout remains the same throughout – online leaderboards provide an incentive to keep playing, if you’re the type that chases after high scores.
And the cartoonish graphics are incredibly charming, with loads of tribute imagery from your favorite horror films, popular and obscure alike, in both the characters and the backgrounds. See how many you can spot!
My Night Job hardly breaks new ground, but it’s an amusing enough throwback to classic fighting games of the side-scrolling variety that will especially appeal to horror movie fans.
[xrr rating=”3/5″]
Watch the official trailer for My Night Job below:
