The Midnight Walkers Review – A Tense Zombie PvPvE Extraction with Rough Edges
I spent a dozen raids in The Midnight Walkers: a messy, tense extraction shooter that nails atmosphere but trips over movement, balance and loot. Worth trying if you love Dark and Darker vibes and high-risk runs.
I jumped into The Midnight Walkers with low expectations and came away oddly hooked. Oneway Ticket Studio delivers a PvPvE FPS that wears its Dark and Darker inspiration on its sleeve — slow, claustrophobic combat, elevators you curse and love, and loot that sometimes feels like a cruel joke. What sets it apart is the Liberty Grand mega-complex and the poison-gas floor mechanic: it forces you to make sweaty decisions between better loot and safer exits. It’s not finished, but when it works the tension is very real.
Scavenging the Liberty Grand
Gameplay centers on short, brutal runs through a themed mega-complex where you scavenge, fight both undead and humans, then race for the extract. You can go solo or bring two friends in trios — three feels like the sweet spot for coordinated looting and cover fire. Looting is deliberate: every drawer or cabinet can yield something useful or utter junk, and the risk/reward loop of deciding whether to push another floor or book it back to the elevator is constant. Combat is deliberate and often slow; melee encounters can turn into awkward, crunchy jams where spacing and patience matter more than frantic button-mashing. Ranged weapons exist and can feel satisfying, but they don’t trivialize the encounters. Permadeath-for-run loot loss punishes mistakes in a way that makes successful extracts feel deserved.
When Players and Gas Close In
What lifts the game above a run-of-the-mill extraction shooter is how systems collide: the poison gas spreads to random floors, elevators let you pick which level to risk, and every floor change increases the chance of human contact. That creates delicious tension — I’ve watched teammates argue over taking a floor with casino-level loot while gas crawled two floors below. The class choices (Brick, Crow, Lockdown, Bartender) give distinct roles: Brick is the battering ram, Crow skates around as an assassin, Lockdown plays patient sniper, and Bartender is a quirky support with cocktails. Balance is clearly a work in progress — community feedback highlights Brick and Bartender moments of overperformance — but the asymmetry makes each run feel different depending on your loadout and team makeup.
Grit, Sound and Elevator Drama
Presentation leans gritty and functional rather than flashy. The Liberty Grand floors are detailed; I liked how a hospital feels different from a neon casino, and elevators double as both convenience and hotspot for "elevator gang-bangs" — hilarious, terrifying player encounters that made me laugh and curse in equal measure. Sound design sells the tension: distant screeches, shuffling walkers and sudden screamers can send your heart sprinting even before you see them. On the tech side, performance and UI need work — expect occasional FPS drops and a clunky inventory/menus system that reviewers call confusing. Accessibility options are sparse for now, and some QoL features (faster sprint, clearer map colors, better hotkeys) are frequently requested by the community.
The Midnight Walkers is a promising but rough Early Access extraction shooter: its tension, level design and class hooks are compelling, but combat rhythm, loot balance and technical polish need time. Buy or play if you love tense, punishing runs and can tolerate rough edges — otherwise wait for balance and QoL updates.
Pros
- Tense, atmospheric extraction gameplay with real stakes
- Liberty Grand levels feel varied and interesting
- Class variety gives runs different flavors
- Elevators and gas mechanic create great tension moments
Cons
- Combat and movement feel sluggish and need tuning
- Loot balance, UI and performance issues hamper the experience
- Some zombie abilities (screamers) and class balance can be frustrating
Player Opinion
Players are split but vocal: many praise the tension, map design and the elevator concept — several reviews mention that exploring different floors (casino, hospital, mall) feels rewarding and that the extract mechanic makes successes feel earned. On the flip side, recurring complaints dominate: sluggish movement, clunky melee combat, zombies that feel too tanky or unfair (screamers one-shotting players), sparse or unsatisfying loot, and an unwieldy UI. Performance dips and desync/hit detection issues are echoed by multiple users. If you liked Dark and Darker or crave a tense extraction experience, you’ll find things to love here; if you need polished movement and rock-solid balance today, expect frustration.