Blight Night is a new retro-styled horror game for PC now available on Steam, with a VHS vibe…
Ugh. Just… ugh. The world feels a little dimmer today, a little fuzzier around the edges. And no, it’s not the British weather finally living up to its reputation for gloom (though it’s certainly trying). It’s worse. Infinitely worse.
My trusty VHS player, the old workhorse, the portal to forgotten cinematic treasures and hilariously bad 80s action flicks… it’s gone. Kaput. A mangled mess of chewed-up tape and a motor that sounds like a dying badger.
So, here I am, staring at a blank screen, a void where neon-drenched nightmares and synth-heavy soundtracks used to reside. And then, as if the universe is deliberately twisting the knife, I stumble across an email about this: Blight Night.
This doesn’t track right…
Apparently, some lone developer, Nick Duttweiler, has poured eight years of his life into crafting a game called Blight Night. And what’s the hook? What’s the central, tantalising premise? It’s a “terrifying 1980s-inspired survival-horror experience” that “filters its way through VHS static and onto Steam.”
To make it more enticing, there’s a definite PlayStation 1 game vibe with this.
Are you KIDDING ME?!
The irony is thicker than the dust bunnies currently residing inside my defunct VCR. Here I am, mourning the loss of my physical connection to that glorious, grainy era, and someone has painstakingly recreated its aesthetic in digital form. “Reviving the 80s Midnight Madness aesthetic,” they call it. “Steeped in CRT scanlines and soaked in sinister nostalgia.”
It’s like they peered into my soul, saw the gaping hole where my rewind button used to be, and decided to dangle a digital carrot of pure, unadulterated 80s horror right in front of my face.
What’s going on in Blight Night?
The description is almost taunting. You play as Sonny Barstow in the “haunted ruins of Golden Springs,” where “light is fleeting, ammo is rare, and the shadows hide something worse than death.” Sounds about right for a Friday night in my living room, except the only monster I’m currently facing is the crushing weight of technological obsolescence.
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They even talk about “twisted creatures,” “desolate towns,” and “mysteries that should’ve stayed buried.” Honestly, that just makes me miss the fuzzy tracking and the occasional jump scare caused by a warped tape even more. There was a certain… charm to the imperfections of VHS horror. A tangible, slightly dangerous quality. Would this digital recreation truly capture that?
Apparently, Blight Night promises “terrifying, powerful bosses, puzzles, and expanded areas.” They’ve even got a demo out now. A demo! It’s like offering a starving man a digital photograph of a steak. It might look appealing, but it doesn’t quite fill the void.
What to expect through the VCR
And the features list? “Retro Horror, Modern Fear: A third-person survival-horror adventure built to feel like a lost 80s game pulled from your uncle’s attic.” My uncle only had workout tapes and questionable home videos, but I get the idea. They’re aiming for that specific, unsettling vibe.
“Dripping with Dread: From the distorted visuals to the synth-laced soundtrack, everything is designed to unnerve and immerse.” The synth-laced soundtrack… oh, how my broken player used to belt those out. Now, silence. Just the mournful hum of the fridge.
Look, I’m not saying I won’t wishlist Blight Night on Steam. The description is undeniably intriguing, and the promise of reliving that specific brand of 80s dread is… well, it’s tempting. It’s like a digital ghost of the experience I’m currently grieving.
But it’s not the same, is it? It won’t have that satisfying clunk of the tape being inserted, the whirring sound as it starts to play, the slight tracking issues that added to the atmosphere. It won’t have that feeling of holding a physical piece of horror history in your hands.
When can you get Blight Night?
Blight Night is launching on Steam into full release this 29th of April 2025. Maybe, just maybe, this digital nightmare can offer a sliver of solace in my current state of VHS-induced despair. Maybe it can help me face the night, even if my trusty old player can’t anymore.
Clock in, light up, and prepare to face the night, they say. Sigh. I guess I’ll have to… digitally. It’s just not the same without the static. Not the same at all.
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This writer contributes retro gaming news to the site.
