Majestic Nights
By Neilie Johnson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Ambitious adventure flawed by poor gameplay, weak story.
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What’s It About?
MAJESTIC NIGHTS is a Cold War adventure game that's broken into multiple chapters, allowing you to play numerous characters. In the prologue, you play John Cardholder, a spy involved in some of the biggest government cover-ups in history, from Area 51 to the Kennedy assassination. You start by investigating a missing film director who might have evidence related to the moon landing. During your search, you find yourself the target of a shadowy rival organization that doesn't want you to succeed. In Chapter 1, you play Cal, a female private detective who, as luck would have it, is hired to find John Cardholder, who's suddenly disappeared.
Is It Any Good?
Majestic Nights tries so hard but stumbles at nearly every turn, due mainly to poor presentation. The conversation about conspiracy is frequently confusing, and since you can barely tell who's talking during dialogue sequences, it's harder to understand what's going on. Even worse, the story itself is a bit of a muddle. The umpteen soldiers and guys running around in black suits make clear there's something afoot with various shady groups, but it's tough to discern their motivations. Plus, the prologue and Chapter 1 seem unrelated. Perhaps this would be less of a problem if the full game was available, but, as further chapters are still in development, it's impossible to know.
This would be acceptable if the gameplay was great, but Majestic Nights fails there as well. The game wants you to use stealth, but clunky controls quickly put an end to that strategy; It's hard to move quickly and silently, meaning you're easily seen. But it's not hard to outrun your pursuers or eliminate them since they tend to line up nicely in doorways, enabling you to pick them off one by one. It's a shame that the story and gameplay don't support the game's graphics, because the visuals are very nice. Everything is rendered in bright colors totally appropriate to the neon-hued '80s, and the character portraits are done quite well. And, although the music doesn't often sound all that '80s, it is consistently atmospheric. Overall, Majestic Nights is a good concept with nice graphics that's undermined by poor execution that's probably not enough to justify buying further chapters when they become available.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the impact of violence in Majestic Nights. Is the violence in the game OK because of the cartoonish visual style, or is it still disturbing because of the blood and weapons used?
Talk about the Cold War. What was the Cold War, and how did it end?
Discuss being a spy. What do spies do, and why do governments use them?
Think about how the world has changed since the 1980s. How has music changed? Fashion? Technology?
Game Details
- Platform: Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid (The prologue chapter acts as a free demo. Chapter 1 costs $4.99, and the remaining chapters will be available later, priced individually or together via a Season Pass for $19.99.)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Epiphany Games
- Release date: October 30, 2014
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Adventures
- ESRB rating: NR
- Last updated: March 16, 2020
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