No Customers Left Review (PC)

Somewhere between the eleventh hour and the break of midnight in the center of a vintage game store, Andy—a security guard by trade—stands at attention, hawking over the monitor of a seemingly desolate shopping mall as the hours whittle down at a snail-like pace. At first, the occasional flicker of the lights won’t bother him. No, he’s accustomed to the mere shoddiness of the center’s electrical circuit breakers. But as time will come to pass, and as the customers will gradually funnel into their nearest exit points, Andy, alone and without the help of a colleague, will soon peel the veil back from another door. The lights will flicker once more, and the safety of a retro retail outlet will reveal its true identity. Come twilight, the security guard will face another threat. No Customers Left, true. But empty? Not quite.

No Customers Left spins a yarn that we’ve seen a hundred times before—the same exact concept that we, as horror enthusiasts, have witnessed unfold in numerous different shades. Location aside, it more or less leans on all of the same trappings as a Five Nights at Freddy’s spin-off, only without the animatronics and pizzeria. Alas, the security guard is still present, as are the CCTV monitors and the dimly lit quarters of a seemingly abandoned business. Here, though, the Chuck-E-Cheese quartet is out of the picture, and the fickle humming of an old ventilation system is in. Aside from these one or two subtle changes, however, No Customers Left tells a similar tale—a familiar story of a security guard, a graveyard shift, and the sinister presence of a looming threat.

The Graveyard Shift

If you feel as if you’ve heard this story before, well, that’s probably because you have. Take it from me — you have heard it from somewhere, most likely due to the fact that, story-wise, No Customers Left doesn’t stretch the boundaries of a traditional night-based horror stint. As I mentioned earlier, you fill the role of Andy, whose sole purpose is to monitor an old video game store and the adjacent corridors of a shopping mall over a relatively short period of time. At first, the duties are meaningless—textbook administrative tasks for the most part. But as time progresses, and as the store in question slowly gives way to the unsettling ambiance that looms over the store’s interior, things begin to change for the worse. And, surprise surprise, it’s your job to make sense of the situation and, well, survive the night.

No Customers Left is a natural-born horror that prioritizes the establishment of a deeply disturbing atmosphere over a traditional mechanic-heavy puzzle game. While it does feature the occasional task for you to complete—cleaning stock, arranging items, and monitoring surveillance, for example—the bulk of the experience requires you to act as a fly on the wall. And by that I mean your primary job is to witness random events unfold, as well as bear witness to the subtle and not-so-subtle changes in the environment as the hours pass by and the “story” gradually edges closer towards its grand finale. There are plenty of thrills to be found in that section — but I won’t spoil the fun for you by spilling the details.

Not in My Job Description

While the story could do with a few extra chapters to really add some extra depth to the overall experience, I have to say that, for an introductory horror, there is still a remarkable level of detail embedded within the pocketful of scenes that it does make the effort to bring to the table. It’s the ambience, maybe even the way that it builds suspense through the use of subtle environmental transitions to create an eerie sense of uncertainty and dread. To give credit where it’s due, No Customers Left does manage to get a lot of these things right, with a score and a retro aesthetic that makes an otherwise harmless composition look and feel both visually and audibly disturbing in all the right places. Granted, it doesn’t always hit the nail on the head, but it makes a darn good effort to keep the momentum flowing.

For an indie horror, it’s only natural to find a couple of handfuls of technical flaws stitched into the basic framework. Thankfully, though, there’s nothing game breaking here, with the majority of the game’s components being as airtight as a full-fledged A-tier horror. I’m not saying that it’s perfect, nor am I saying that its controls are fluid and exempt from any nauseating side effects. That said, the game itself has a solid foundation with a lot of ironclad elements to show for its creator’s natural ability to construct a sturdy horror. Could it do with a bit of extra elbow grease? Perhaps. Still, I know a good indie horror when I see one, and No Customers Left is anything but a bad representation of the genre.

Verdict

No Customers Left conceives a compelling retro-inspired horror story that, although somewhat short and lacking in technical detail, brings a memorable atmosphere to a familiar yet oddly disturbing locale. And sure, while it would’ve benefited from a couple of extra chapters to give it that little extra oomph, the fact still remains: structure-wise, it has a lot going for it, and not to mention a surprisingly intense gameplay experience that culminates in an electrifying climax. Again, no spoilers — but that ought to give you a thing or two to look forward to, all things considered.

If you’ve recently returned from Office After Hours or, more generally, Rewind or Die, then you shouldn’t find it too difficult to locate a lot of the same basic ingredients that are stitched into No Customers Left. To echo, it’s a rather short game, so you shouldn’t expect a full graveyard shift, so to speak. However, if you’ve a few bucks to spare and a craving for some good old-fashioned VHS-like psychological horror, then you should definitely consider digging your claws in Mave Studios’ debut horror.