South Of Midnight review – stop motion American Gothic One of the few Xbox exclusives of the year is neither a sequel nor a licensed game, but a unique new action adventure set in the US Deep South.
Although the purchase of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard is what has made them the biggest video game publisher in the world, Microsoft’s shopping spree began back in 2018, when they snapped up four developers: Ninja Theory (Hellblade), Undead Labs (State Of Decay), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), and Compulsion Games (We Happy Few).
The platforming isn’t particularly complex or original – there’s a lot of wall running at one point – but it’s competent enough, with the ability to glide for a short distance; make ghostly objects, like house roofs, tangible for a few seconds; and pushing and pulling objects, like crates, in order to climb up to higher areas.
South Of Midnight was only announced in 2023 but having now played a couple of hours, we can confidently say it’s the best thing they’ve ever done – although it’ll take the full review to decide whether that’s a backhanded compliment or not.
There are collectables hiding away in difficult to reach areas, which help you unlock new abilities on what looks like a fairly short set of skill trees, but the golden path through the level is pretty linear.
