I’ve been sick for the entirety of November thus far. In addition to my immune system being a little too naive (“oh, those people in line with you at the DMV who’re all runny-nosed and coughing probably just have allergies! No need to put up any germ defenses!”), this is likely my body’s way of begging me to “PLEASE, take some time off to relax!!” To which I said, “Best I can do right now is play a horror video game with the intention of reviewing it.” That game? Security: The Horrible Nights.
Security: The Horrible Nights had been on my Steam wishlist for over half a year. I added it as soon as I found out it existed because I couldn’t wait to play it. I had been sent a review copy of Professional Villains’ game Anglerfish back in 2022, and had a great time testing it out. I had high hopes that their next horror game would be even BETTER than the last.
So, was it…?
The Premise of Security: The Horrible Nights
In Anglerfish, the game only saved when you died. You would play as much of the game as you could, die horrifically, the game would save, and you would start at the beginning again. Additionally, each time you died, something about the world you inhabited changed – for better or worse.
Similarly, Security: The Horrible Nights only saves when you die. However, instead of racing your character through the same story again and again, with small changes made to the world, every death in Security: The Horrible Nights starts an entirely new story.
Security: The Horrible Nights Is a Playable Horror Anthology
You play as a security guard working the night shift at a hospital. The wraparound story of Security: The Horrible Nights is that the hospital was built where a haunted hotel, not unlike The Overlook from The Shining, once stood. (And that’s not a spoiler – that’s revealed in the tutorial level, within your first minutes of playing).
But, as I said, there are multiple stories for your lil security guard to navigate – and a new one begins each time you die.
I played through over twenty of those stories, and I reached an ending for the game.
However, even with the amount of time I invested into the game, I’m fully aware there’s even more I haven’t seen! And even some variations on stories I have seen, since several of the stories have alternate conclusions based on your choices and/or skills. (For example, if an NPC you could potentially save dies due to you not running quickly enough, or by you choosing to let them be killed, then the ending for that story will be different than if you’d rescued them).
Each of the stories encapsulates a subgenre of horror within it. There are ghost stories, demons, aliens, zombies, time travel, body horror, slashers, creature features, and even an enormous kaiju ala Godzilla or Gorgo!
As you navigate the horror subgenres (horror tropes?), you’ll find yourself anticipating what’s going to happen next – and it’s interesting to see how that effects your gameplay. It was also a lot of fun to see little nods to films like Evil Dead II (chainsaw hand!), Donnie Darko, and The Thing; as well as other horror video games such as Five Nights at Freddy’s and Professional Villains’ previous “Dark Experiments” games, Anglerfish and The ER: Patient Typhon.
But How Is Security: The Horrible Nights As a GAME?
For the first four hours I played, I felt extremely conflicted. I loved the premise, I loved the stories, I liked the overall look of the game, and I even dug the music (more on that in a moment). But I was STRUGGLING to play the game. Finally, I asked my husband to open it up on HIS computer and give it a shot. (We share our PC games via Steam’s Family Library). I was so close to loving the game, but I desperately needed to know: Are the issues with the game, my equipment, or with ME…?
Frank played through three stories in Security: The Horrible Nights on his computer, while I watched over his shoulder. Turns out, the MAIN issue I was having was entirely a ME thing.
I had been attempting to run with my security guard’s flashlight tucked closely to his body. This essentially made the running function useless and, at best, he moved at a sliiiiiiiightly faster walking speed. Sometimes, he wouldn’t move at all. It made for a veeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooooow and frustrating gaming experience.
Frank did NOT have that issue. He wildly flang his flashlight all around and kept the light beam basically as far away from himself as possible. Which, in real life, is something to be avoided as it’s a great way to blind drivers and fellow pedestrians while out on nighttime strolls in your neighborhood; however, in the game, it’s absolutely the desired flashlight etiquette and Frank’s security guard ran with ease!
Once I’d learned the secret to running smoothly, I restarted the entire game from scratch and tried again and it was WAY BETTER. I still had some issues in regard to overall speed (even when properly running, the security guard is a bit slow for me – maybe he could have a coffee-fueled speed boost from time-to-time??), but that was a more a matter of personal preference than a legitimate technical flaw.
While on the Note of Personal Preference Vs. Technical Flaw:
Frank ran into a different issue while playing.
The gameplay loop for each horror story in Security: The Horrible Nights follows this basic pattern:
- Start at your desk.
- Click through the security camera feeds on your monitors (there are seven total – the roof, four hospital floors, the parking lot, and the basement/morgue).
- Notice something suspicious/weird/creepy.
- Go check it out.
- Shine your flashlight on the problem and say “Hey” to fix it. (Literally!)
- Repeat as necessary until the story concludes.
While I did well with clicking through the cameras and noticing what was amiss, Frank got fidgety. He loved zipping through darkened corridors and giving monsters a stern “Hey” akin to scolding a naughty cat for trying to steal your sandwich when they thought you weren’t looking, but the sometimes “slow burn”/atmospheric/storybuilding lead-up to that gameplay via voyeuristic people watching took too long for his patience sometimes.
Personally, I thought it was really nice to have that switch-up between gaming styles. At the very least, switching between dashing and sitting gave my hand joints some time to relax here and there. Though when it WAS time to go fast, I wanted it to go FASTER!
I know from their previous games that John and Maria, the Professional Villains, take player feedback into consideration and make updates/patches accordingly, so I’m really trying to push for that speed boost. (Seriously, you guys, turn the pre-existing coffee into a buff, and then just add another coffee machine next to the donuts and a third one in the Meeting Room on Floor 3 and you’d have evenly-spaced optional speed boosters for those who want it – and players would have to weigh the risk/reward of seeking it out due to the ever-present dangers! Pretty please??).
Was Security: The Horrible Nights Made for YOU…?
Watching the monitors reminded me of Do Not Feed the Monkeys, some of the puzzles and maze-like environments reminded me of Rescue Rover, the music was a fantastic melding of 16-bit classics with more than a hint of Silent Hill (Astrid Fabrin’s “I’ll See You Around” in Security: The Horrible Nights shares some DNA with Akira Yamaoka’s “Letter from the Lost Days” from Silent Hill 3), and my favorite story felt JUST like playing Zombies At My Neighbors – but from the monsters’ perspective!
Meanwhile, Frank compared much of his own gameplay to Clock Tower, noting how you never knew what was around the next corner and sometimes the answer was disturbing, sometimes darkly humorous, and other times just plain weird.
Just like most horror anthology movies are a mish-mash of tales and tones, of stories you love and those that leave you cold, Professional Villains’ Security: The Horrible Nights is guaranteed to have something you’ll love, even if you don’t like everything.
And, yes, you can pet the dog.
Check out Security: The Horrible Nights on Steam. (Not an affiliate link – HorrorFam.com doesn’t get anything whether you do or don’t; however, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments if you do!).
Images used throughout this post are screenshots from my own gameplay and Steam profile, with the exception of the title image, which I grabbed from the Professional Villains’ X account.
