Monterey Jack
Developer: DangerousBob Studio
Publisher: DangerousBob Studio
Released on: PC (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Cheese is inherently scary, right? No, of course it isn’t, but that hasn’t stopped DangerousBob Studios from putting together this horror comedy game that blends the amusement park antics of Five Nights At Freddy’s and Alien: Isolation’s terrifying xenomorph together with a dash of Willy Wonka. And cheese. Lots of cheese.
You are teenager, Gordi. Your pal Mikey has gone missing, and you and your mates have a good idea where he’s gone. Mikey was last seen in the nearby cheese factory, and as your friends wait ‘guarding’ the gates (cheers, lads), you bravely enter the deserted building and begin looking for him. The decrepit Welcome Centre greets you, and it’s here that you first encounter the seven-foot-tall Monterey Jack. This is the factory’s erstwhile boss, Jack Curdman, stomping around his former domain with an army of cheese-powered minions. Small dolls wield knives; former employees are ‘zombified’ into horrific cheese monsters, hurling their soft and sticky limbs at Gordi. And then there’s Jack himself, a towering beast that relentlessly stalks the young man, chomping him to death should he get too close.
At the heart of Monterey Jack is the tale of Jack and his mysterious new cheese dip. An early note, left by Sally, the receptionist, gives Resident Evil vibes as she struggles to focus and endures ‘sticky’ skin after sampling the new dip. Gordi must restore power before delving into the rest of the cheese factory to locate and rescue Mikey.
Fortunately, the Cheese Factory store sells a collection of unusual items. After discovering a slingshot and a knife during his exploration, Gordi can purchase (using tickets) a nail gun, a flare gun, and a crossbow to help him progress through the factory. However, they all have little or no effect against the supernaturally strong Jack, leaving Gordi to rely on his wits, speed and having a decent hiding spot nearby.
There are some nice elements to Monterey Jack. Once past the Welcome Centre, Gordi is free to explore the factory’s locations, and Jack himself is an intelligent and alert villain, able to spot the teenager’s phone light at a distance as well as acutely sense his movement. Not all hiding spaces are totally safe, either. Getting stalked by Monterey Jack is as tense as being hunted by the alien in Alien: Isolation, or Mr X in Resident Evil 2, and there’s an exceptionally stressful segment that takes place within a softplay area.
Puzzling is extremely mild (with solutions often explained), and the game leans further into Resident Evil, with enemies that offer ocular weak points. There’s a neat joke about a random herb, too.
Light and shortish at around three to four hours, Monterey Jack is a bizarre horror game, its crazy imagination and imagery constrained by some unimaginative gameplay. It is short, but with multiple endings and a fun endless mode (called Cheddar Or Dead), there’s more to dip into should, like Jack, you desire MORE CHEESE.
