Netflix just dropped a new game on their service that you should definitely check out. Unhinged is an interactive horror game, about the length of an episode of your favorite show. Zoe Kravitz, who you might know from Big Little Lies or The Batman, voices lead character, Ava, who is trying to ride out a Category 5 hurricane in her apartment building when she is attacked by a masked assailant. Her friend Claire, voiced by Sadie Sink of Stranger Things, “helps” you throughout the game by remaining on the phone with Ava for much of the experience. Honestly, she was putting Ava in a fair amount of danger from the sheer volume of calls and texts she was sending. If someone is actively hiding from a killer, maybe don’t blow up their phone for, like, five minutes. Come on. Troy Baker, who recently delivered an incredible voice performance as Indiana Jones, voices Ben, the building’s superintendent.
Two pretty impressive names also had a hand in the creation of the game (although everyone is staying silent on exactly what their roles were). David Fincher and Zach Cregger both received “special thanks” credits, and their DNA is definitely felt in spurts. Given Fincher’s reputation for tense thrillers and Cregger’s recent horror successes, it is hard not to wonder what exactly they contributed to the development of the game. Whether they were directly involved in the dev cycle or they were just consultants, their names certainly caught my attention.
The gameplay is interactive cinema in the style of The Quarry or the Dark Pictures Anthology games, but with a major twist. Instead of relying on a traditional controller, your phone is a key part of the experience. When Claire or Ben calls, you answer the phone, and their voice comes from your phone’s speaker and not the television. You receive texts, use your flashlight, and even navigate through the apartment building by physically tilting your phone and using a large on-screen button to make selections. All of this is done courtesy of the N-Controller app, Netflix’s native gaming suite.
This is a clever mechanic that really helps with the immersion. It also makes moments of panic feel more immediate as your attention is split between the television and the phone in your hands. Most horror games expect you to put yourself in the main character’s shoes. Unhinged goes the extra step by requiring you to use something you already use daily. Using the phone to answer calls, read texts, or use the flashlight feels natural because it’s something we already do instinctively. This kind of mechanic helps blur the lines between reality and the game, making the experience that much more immersive. It is not hard to picture yourself as Ava (although she has cooler tattoos than most of us).
The game is full of quick-time events (QTEs), which I thought we collectively decided we don’t like anymore, but apparently they’re back. Thankfully, they do not overstay their welcome. The majority of them fit naturally into the action of the game, and the (often rapidly) diminishing timer at the top of the screen feels like a reasonable amount of time for what needs to be done. Whether that is hiding, finding some way to escape, or even finding a way to fight back. None of them are particularly difficult, but they do add a level of tension that otherwise wouldn’t be present. In order to survive the evening, Ava will have to use her wits, her phone, and whatever else she can find lying around.
For such a short experience, Unhinged does a surprisingly good job of building up suspense. The atmosphere created by the hurricane raging outside combined with the evacuated apartment building, darkened from a power outage, leaves the player with a sense of unease. Horror can live or die by atmosphere and Unhinged understands this.
Unhinged is a choose-your-own-adventure. Even what might seem like insignificant choices can have an impact on Ava’s fate. During my first playthrough, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to take a look at a phone lying on a couch. That decision cost me the rest of the QTE timer and as a result, Ava received a knife to the stomach. After reloading the checkpoint, I made a different decision and found myself creeping past the killer calmly shoving intestines down a garbage disposal instead. It is that kind of over-the-top horror imagery that is both disturbing and entertaining that makes Unhinged a solid choice.
The game was developed by Night School Studio, a Netflix-owned studio, that also created Oxenfree, a supernatural thriller that also received plenty of praise. I haven’t had the chance to play Oxenfree yet, but I can tell you that after Unhinged, it has definitely moved much higher up on my list. If I can expect this kind of quality, I am looking forward to seeing what else they have to offer.
This was a solid game experience overall. It was definitely short and left me wanting more, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I would love to see more entries in the Netflix catalog like this one. In an era where games routinely ask you for dozens of hours of your time, a short and sweet experience like this can be refreshing. Being able to finish this in roughly half an hour was great. This makes it very easy to pick up, play through, and come back to see how other choices might affect the story later on.
Categorized:Editorials
