Dead Stop: No Vacancy

Developer: Camel 101

Publisher: Camel 101

Platforms: PC (reviewed)

Release Date: 13th August

Back in 1996, the Robert Rodriguez-directed From Dusk Till Dawn appeared in cinemas. Starring George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Keitel, with a screenplay by Tarantino, this was a movie of two distinct halves. First half: tense crime thriller, following the notorious Gecko brothers as they seek to escape the law. Second half: a tense horror thriller, following the notorious Gecko brothers as they seek to escape a coven of bloodthirsty vampires, holed up in a bar called The Titty Twister.

For most of you under the age of 35: we are not making this up.

If you’ve not seen From Dusk Till Dawn, trust us, it’s a helluva pivot, and this latest indie from Camel 101—which has a patchy history with horror thanks to the Lovecraftian Beneath and psychological terror Those Who Remain—employs a similar, if not quite so dramatic, 180.

The game begins with the player in their car. They’re a reporter named Nancy, dead tired and looking for the next available place to bed down for the night. From out of the darkness rises the Paradise Motel, an old-fashioned, run-down-looking place; but as long as it’s got a soft bed, Nancy doesn’t care.

After dealing with a disinterested receptionist, faulty air conditioning and a stuck window, Nancy’s mundane evening takes a turn for the sinister when a gang of armed men arrive, kidnapping people from the motel. Desperate to avoid abduction, or worse, Nancy searches the building, discovering a series of rough corridors interweaving behind the motel’s rooms. After a brief encounter with an armed figure, the reporter escapes to the tunnels beneath the motel, and it’s here that Dead Stop: No Vacancy shifts from a realistic threat to something supernatural, albeit no less horrific.

No Vacancy continues the recent trend for Fears to Fathoms anthology horror. While we like the idea of a series of short stories told within an overarching theme, we very much hope we get to see further episodes at some point. This series certainly shows promise, but ultimately it blows its tense premise, sacrificing an effective early story for a game of hide-and-seek in the tunnels below in the second half, leaving the player a tad confused about the connection between the two halves. Thinking back to that 1996 movie, we do wonder if we’ve stumbled upon No Vacancy’s chief inspiration, such is the similarity between the two plots.

 Nevertheless, there are plenty of creepy moments crammed into No Vacancy. Fingers crossed the next Dead Stop episode builds on the good work here.

CONCLUSION

While a workmanlike second segment stymies its taut first half, there’s plenty to suggest here that this could be an anthology series to keep an eye on.