Developer: Webcore Games
Publisher: Soft Source Publishing
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4
Tested on: Switch
My Night Job – Review
As you probably know by now, the Switch is nearing the end of its lifespan. This makes it a bit weird to see My Night Job arriving on the platform, given that this arcade game was released on PC and PS4 in 2016 and is actually older than the OG Switch itself. Talk about a late arrival! Despite its age, however, we’ve never played My Night Job, so the Switch port seemed like a good opportunity to make up for lost time. How does My Night Job hold up nearly a decade after its debut?
Story
A short, wordless cutscene introduces us to our unlikely protagonist: a balding, middle-aged man strapped for cash. He sees a commercial for the military, promising a hefty paycheck, so he decides to enlist. Little does he know that his first mission is far more than he bargained for, as he’s literally dumped in a haunted mansion. His task? Save 100 innocent citizens from the monsters that are overrunning the place.
Graphics
The most charming aspect of My Night Job is its visual presentation. The cartoonish pixel art is reminiscent of early 2000s cartoons like Invader Zim. The character designs are grotesque, and there are plenty of visual gags to discover, like a “censored” zombie stripper in the background, or the game shifting to black and white when you literally enter a silent movie. The only downside is that it’s not always clear which parts of the game you can interact with and which ones are just decorations, as there’s often a lot going on at the same time on-screen. Performance-wise, there were no issues, as the simplistic pixel art didn’t push the hardware to its limits, and we experienced no noticeable lag or stuttering.
Sound
With no voice acting and only limited sound effects, the star of the show is My Night Job’s soundtrack, which you can download for free from the game’s official website. While the in-game music could use a bit more variety, it’s still worth a listen to. There’s not a whole lot else to say about My Night Job’s soundscape, given how basic and simple it is.
Gameplay
Combining beat ‘em up gameplay with simple platforming and survival elements, My Night Job is poised to deliver a classic arcade experience. The aim is simple: make your way through a massive mansion infested with zombies, demons, and the like, picking up any survivors you encounter. Survivors can be dropped off at waiting helicopters. Once you’ve rescued all 100 survivors, you’ve successfully beaten My Night Job. Of course, this is easier said than done, as the monsters will not just attack you but any survivors that are following you, and you’ll also need to make sure that individual rooms of the mansion aren’t overrun entirely. Throughout your run, you’ll be able to see the status of different rooms indicated on your map. As long as the rooms are green, it’s all good. Orange rooms need attention, and red rooms are in danger of being overrun.
Given My Night Job’s arcade nature, it makes sense that its basic goals are easy enough to understand, but some aspects could use more explaining. Rescuing survivors rewards you with in-game cash, but we couldn’t figure out what cash was used for beyond increasing our final score. Certain special survivors also indicate that there are bonus goals to complete, like an old lady in a wheelchair seemingly wanting you to rescue her cat, but the game never fully explains how these work. Likewise, basic survivors grant specific bonuses, with nurses healing you, for example, while others don’t seem to offer any benefits at all. A complete guide of what survivors do would’ve been very helpful. Right now, you’re left to your own devices to figure everything out. This also applies to the different weapons and enemy types. It’s possible that this is a low-effort attempt to pad the game’s replay value, as My Night Job isn’t very long, and knowing “how” to do things is necessary to increase your high score. This is true to the era of arcade games that My Night Job evokes, but those games were designed to suck coins out of the pockets of teenagers, and that isn’t the case here.
In all honesty, My Night Job would be an excellent arcade machine game, but it misses the mark as a home console release. The game is difficult and unfairly balanced, but once you do manage to beat it, that’s it. There’s no replay value here, beyond increasing your high score. That makes it fairly difficult to justify My Night Job’s €12.99 price tag, although if this were an actual arcade game, you’d probably have to spend a bit more than that in order to complete the game once. Still, given that this game has been out since 2016 and is available on Steam for just €3.29, the Switch price seems very steep. As a final thought, the game’s default controls are counter-intuitive, especially if you’re used to playing Switch games, as button layouts are reversed from those of most Switch games. While buttons can be remapped, this is tenuous and unclear, as you’re not just simply remapping an action, but an entire button. To make matters worse, My Night Job doesn’t remember your remapping actions, meaning the next time you return to the game, you’ll be reconfiguring buttons again. Of course, your mileage will vary here if you’re used to playing the game with a PlayStation layout, but it’s worth mentioning anyway.
Conclusion
As far as arcade games go, My Night Job is a run-of-the-mill experience. It’s only really salvaged by the retro aesthetics, as the lack of in-game clarity and relatively high difficulty make for a game that feels like it wants you to continuously insert coins into the machine. Being a home console release, that fortunately isn’t the case here. Still, there isn’t a whole lot of depth here, and with virtually zero replay value beyond increasing your high score, the price tag on the Switch port is difficult to justify. If you’re going to give this one a chance, wait for a sale or pick it up on Steam for a quarter of the price.
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