Earlier this year, I reviewed Unhinged, a Netflix game by the recently shuttered Night School Studio that you played through the TV using the N-Controller app on your phone. Ultimately, there wasn’t a lot of meat on the bones, with a short runtime that didn’t allow room for a compelling narrative to grow, but it was a neat experiment that showed that the format had promise.
Cut to this month, where they’ve revisited the concept, this time with two notable names associated with the project. Not only is it a game set in the world of the hit Conjuring movie franchise, but it’s also from Supermassive Games, a studio that’s been building a huge catalog of “interactive movie” games since 2015’s Until Dawn.
The Conjuring: Unspoken is a big swing that immediately has more mainstream appeal, especially given that most of Netflix’s other original games are based on existing properties like Squid Game or Too Hot to Handle, but it still doesn’t quite feel like a breakout hit that makes full use of the format.
The game opens in medias res with Francesca Noakes running through a cave system for unknown reasons. To my surprise, unlike Unhinged, you have full third-person exploration mechanics in this game, walking around by using arrows on your phone screen to guide your way. During this tutorial, you’re also given a demo of how the EMF reader works, glowing different colors on your phone as you get closer to the supernatural clues. It’s a brief scene, but it’s nice to start with a very mechanics-forward sequence, given that it takes a little getting used to. Using phone arrows traditionally doesn’t feel great, but once you get used to it, it doesn’t get in your way too much.
After the tutorial, there’s an opening crawl that explains a bit of information about the Red Lion, a haunted pub that Unspoken takes place in, before introducing you to the family that lives there and their history of tragedy. The story centers around Bryony Cooper, who lives with her dad and sister, Charlotte, after the passing of her mother. Not only has she not spoken since the incident, but she has also been plagued by supernatural forces, which forces her sister to call on Francesca, a paranormal researcher who worked with Ed and Lorraine Warren. I was a little surprised the Warrens weren’t directly involved in the events of the game, but the narrative contains enough of the hallmarks of a Conjuring story that it feels at home in the series even without their direct presence.
As a Conjuring story, it’s not bad. It certainly isn’t up to the standard of the first film, which I consider the strongest, but the family unit presented in the game is still a compelling one. Bryony is able to convey her sense of grief, even without speaking, and Charlotte clearly is a great big sister who cares for her immensely. Their father struggles to balance his processing of grief with taking care of his daughters alone, while also being highly skeptical of the supernatural happenings in his home. Francesca has her own baggage that she brings to the case, which allows her to empathize with the family in a way that helps her connect with Bryony.
One of the best elements about Conjuring movies is the family aspect, both with the people suffering the hauntings and the loving couple of the Warrens. It’s definitely the strongest aspect of Conjuring: Unspoken, with clear character motivation at every turn. I wish the game had more of the other thing the Conjuring movies are known for: scares.
Much like the films, what seems like a standard haunting quickly reveals to also involve demonic activity, and that part is a bit weaker, never really providing much tension. There are a few lore elements that make the demon feel a little more interesting, but without any quick-time events or other more active moments of tension, the game fails to really get the heart racing.
It’s not for lack of polish, though, because Conjuring: Unspoken is up to the high graphics standard that Supermassive is known for in their work. Not only do the character models look great, but the performances captured bring the characters to life in a believable fashion. While the Red Lion pub where the game takes place doesn’t have much of a unique visual identity, it’s still beautifully rendered from a pure graphics standpoint.
Like many Supermassive games, a lot of the interaction you’ll do in the game is making choices about what your character says or does, but there are a couple of wrinkles added that cleverly take advantage of the unique format the Netflix provides. There are ghost-hunting devices that you have at your disposal that use your phone in interesting ways to make you feel like part of the action. In addition to the aforementioned EMF reader, there’s also a radio that can be tuned into specific otherworldly signals by physically moving your phone around and tilting it until the sound becomes clear.
It’s not the most interesting action, and one time I had to restart the game (which thankfully saves your progress) because it wouldn’t work, but it’s at least a unique and thematic activity to be doing between cutscenes.
The other device is an infrared camera that feels a lot more dynamic and clever. Through your phone window, you’ll see the infrared version of the scene while the TV shows the regular version, and you’re looking for specific things that the camera picks up that your naked eye would miss. Using the camera really fulfilled the fantasy of ghost hunting in an immersive way, particularly in the climax where you were tracking the demon in the dark. I appreciated the ways they used the phone to play around with the format, and I hope if they take another crack at this style they keep pushing it further.
For a Supermassive game, it felt like there were fewer choices, and the choices felt less consequential. The runtime of the game was about ninety minutes, which is a reasonable length for a horror movie and works great, but the decisions I made didn’t really seem to push the narrative in different directions.
Even at the end, when I made a choice that seemed to be saying, “if you do this, this character will die,” they ended up being fine and making it to the end. For something so short, it’s a little disappointing that it seems like the paths don’t branch much, but the conclusion actually ended up being one of the strongest narrative moments, so maybe it’s for the best story-wise. It’s not a surprising ending, but it comes to a well-deserved emotional resolution that focuses on the game’s characters rather than being overly scary.
Even if I don’t associate Netflix with video games yet, I’m always happy to see them experimenting in the gaming space. There’s definitely something to the format, and it’s at its best when it’s trying to figure out clever ways to use the phone controller to make the experience feel more immersive. Working with an established studio and franchise was a smart bet, even if it doesn’t reach the heights of either. The phone usage feels solid, even if the narrative choices don’t seem as dynamic or interesting as I’m used to from Supermassive.
I’m hoping they continue to iterate on this formula, but Conjuring: Unspoken is a clever, tightly-paced story with strong characters and performances, even if it is lacking a bit in the scare department.
The Conjuring: Unspoken is available to play now with your Netflix subscription.
