It’s not a half bad game, either…
Timothy’s Night is a very familiar game, especially if you’ve played Timothy vs the Aliens, which was released back in 2018 as a PS4 exclusive. It has since been released on Nintendo Switch and… I absolutely hated it. It was painful to play and I just didn’t enjoy it a single bit.
Timothy’s Night, however, is a completely different beast.
Game Information
Release Date: August 27th, 2021
Developer: WildSphere Studio
Publisher: WildSphere Studio
Availability: PSN (Digital)
On PS5 the game runs at 4K and 60fps – the next-gen standard – and although it’s a little rough around the 60fps mark, it’s still a damned improvement over the poor piece of software I had to sludge through a few weeks ago.
The improvements are many – there’s a completely reworked colour palette. The original was mostly black and white with the few dashes of colour coming via alien monsters that have invaded the city.
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This time around, Timothy’s town is a lot more inviting. A splash of colour here and there has definitely helped the presentation. It also helps in seeing what’s going on during the course of the game. The old black and white aesthetic was cool and I appreciated the idea, but the execution was well off. Now though, the developer has found a nice balance between calling back to those old movies they’ve taken inspiration from, and the sensibilities of modern players.
The gameplay itself is fairly simplistic and it won’t win any awards for innovation. You take Timothy through the city as aliens invade. The third-person shooter combat is basic but functional, and even more so now that it responds nicely with the higher frame rate. There’s some light exploration and platforming, too, and later on in the game, you can drive cars around the expanded version of the city.
Something that I simply have to mention is the DualSense support. Now, you wouldn’t expect this from a fairly small developer, but I honestly think that Timothy’s Night utilises the DualSense’s features more than any other game I’ve played so far.
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The effort is incredible and it never feels like the controller is sitting idle. Even walking along the streets, there’s the faint pulsing of the pad with every footstep. Doors open and the controller creaks to life. Even during the game’s simple cutscenes, there’s always something going on with the gamepad and I’m genuinely impressed that WildSphere has managed to use the controller so much without it feeling overdone or annoying. There are over 190 individual effects for the controller, according to the developer. Impressive stuff.
I’ve still got a ways to go before I’m done with Timothy’s Night, but I’m confident it’s going to at least be bearable, and maybe even a little bit of fun. I’ll be back soon with my full review
