Security: The Horrible Nights Review

When I was job hunting, I briefly considered working nights; the idea of having my day free (I didn’t take tiredness into account) and possibly working in a museum at night and having the exhibits to myself was tempting. However, then I thought about it and realised that it would be utterly terrifying. This concept, however, is the focus of Professional Villains' latest title: Security: The Horrible Nights. So, is this a game to explore the depths of horror or should our watch be ended?

Security: The Horrible Nights’ plot is pretty simple: essentially you are a night watchman in charge of security in a hospital. However, this hospital was built on a hotel site that mysteriously disappeared. You’ll have to survive the attention of ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, and more. It’s simple enough, and there really isn’t much to discover other than the traits and tricks of each monster as the story resets every time you die. However, there is one interconnected story that you’ll need to uncover.

Surviving is the real name of the game here and, spoiler, more often than not you won’t. When you start a run you will have to sit at the CCTV desk and skip through the different cameras looking for anything strange. Now, this is the first hurdle of the game as it isn’t clear what you're looking for and it can take a while for anything to happen. Thankfully, the game does offer sound cues to help you realise something is strange. If I’m honest, the initial sense of tedium helps to build the immersion as you’ll spend the first ten minutes looking at everything, only to get bored and start skimming the cameras. That is when you’ll start to notice strange things out of the corner of your eye.

Now, you are a security guard and that means you don’t really have a wealth of weapons or powers you can use. What you do have is a flashlight, and the ability to tell people to knock it off. So, when you spot something you’ll have to leave your comfy office and head to the floor you found the oddity in. There are a lot of monsters that can appear, and each requires a slightly different means to defeat them. However, you’ll spend more of your time running away from them than actually fighting them. This is a challenge in itself as your character is not the… healthiest person in the world. 

The gameplay loop is pretty fun, and the game is simple enough that you really don’t have to overfocus on anything. It can be stressful as well, especially when you’re being chased and the damn ghost teleports in front of you. However, the issue is that it can get a bit dull, so I wouldn’t recommend long playing periods as you’ll start to get annoyed with the experience. 

Visually, Security: The Horrible Nights has a lot of character, even with the simplistic 8-bit art style. I especially like the way your character’s belly moves as he runs, it's strangely satisfying. The music and sound design are also amazing and help build the immersion, but it does start to sound a bit the same. The animations are also stellar, and some of the kills are amazing to watch.

Overall, Security: The Horrible Nights is an interesting concept and it is fun to play. The issue, as with any game that randomizes what you might see, is that sometimes a run can just be kind of boring. I think the game just needs something more, but I couldn’t quite tell you what it is. However, Security: The Horrible Nights is a great value for money and I’d definitely suggest picking it up.