Review: No Players Online
- Guilherme Ribeiro
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
No online players, no danger, right? Come and find out.
THE GAME
No Players Online is a horror game developed by Beeswax Games and distributed by Black Lantern Collective. You've found an abandoned computer containing a game prototype that was left unfinished. It's up to you and your curiosity to uncover the mysteries surrounding this game and what's happening.
MY IMPRESSIONS
With an interface resembling a 1990s computer desktop, No Players Online fuels your curiosity and encourages you to explore this computer, clicking on everything possible. This representation is quite immersive, requiring you to double-click icons to interact with them. There's even a Minesweeper game for when you want to take a break. With so much to explore and interact with, you might forget the game's initial purpose, as you can find some game prototypes in a forum. Perhaps spending time on them is intentional, but they are completely a distraction from the main storyline.
The story of No Players Online unfolds enigmatically. Being a short game, I won't go into too much detail about the narrative to avoid spoiling the experience. The game is in Brazilian Portuguese, facilitating exploration of the computer, which will give you many clues and story details. The game's sound design is very immersive, both in simpler moments and when used to create scares. The retro visual style is well utilized, encompassing various styles from the same era, visually speaking.
Despite being marketed as a horror game, few moments can be considered truly terrifying. Since it's based on another game of the same name and reimagined, I believe much of its essence has been lost. I could easily describe it as a puzzle game with suspense elements. Without giving too much away, the possible endings are quite disappointing. While not perfect, it's a cool idea with good elements, but perhaps falters in its final stretch.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Despite having few achievements, some will give you a certain patience challenge. Besides the story-related achievements, you'll mostly have to do some specific, but not overly difficult, things, like opening the in-game console or creating a room for as many people as possible, for example. However, some other achievements will require a bit more work and skill or a little shrewdness, such as one where you have to do parkour or beat the minefield in a better time than one of the game's characters. In my opinion, the most annoying to complete is drawing the vase and getting the highest grade, so I'm warning you in advance: be patient. Aside from that, it's relatively easy to get 100% of the achievements in No Players Online.
CONCLUSION
I remember when I saw the game that inspired this spiritual successor of the same name. It promised much more in terms of horror than what we got now. I don't know if the path taken in this remake pleased me as much. The story, which starts very well and sparks curiosity, gradually becomes monotonous and predictable. The final sequence turns into a 3D platformer and completely removes the suspense and terror that should be maintained throughout the game. The possible endings have no weight and no consequences. It seems that what was supposed to be horror gets lost during the journey, turning into a bland drama. I only remember three valid moments of horror in the entire game. Even with a cool interface, interesting visuals, and an immersive soundtrack, the narrative falls short.
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