I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in arcades over the years, and as much as I enjoyed them, there was always an air of awkwardness and seediness to them. Thankfully that was the extent of things though, as it could very well have been to the level of messed up that we find at Hemo’s Aracde in Janitor Bleeds.
A first person, low-poly horror title, it tells the story of a dying arcade that is seemingly under the spell of a cursed arcade cabinet: Janitor. After arriving at the arcade following a car crash we soon find ourselves hunting around the dark, foreboding building in search of coins, keys, tools, and places to hide from a strange demon. Over the course of about two hours there are jump scares, creepy visuals, and a tale of otherworldly beings that I actually enjoyed quite a bit.
Gameplay consists of moving around the dark arcade in first person looking for the next way to progress. This generally entails finding the next Janitor cabinet and dropping three coins in to play the game. Doing so finds us playing as said janitor as he moves about several static screens cleaning up puddles and mess. Each cabinet’s game is short but the hook is that things done in Janitor affect the real world around us. The maps in the cabinet are based on the room we are currently in, and clearing a pile of debris in game will then open up a new path for us to go through. It’s a clever mechanic, and once we start transferring items from game to real world and back again Janitor Bleeds steps us the tension a little – suddenly we need to drop our trusty flashlight for a moment so the janitor can use it, but that makes the world around us go eerily dark…
Lights flicker, shadows flash by, and strange noises can be heard while our view is fixed on the cabinet. Regaining movement often found me hesitant to slowly turn around to see what had changed behind me, while one late game scene got a good few jumps out of me thanks to clever lighting and pacing.
The atmosphere and tension is supremely well done for the most part, with the lack of light and the just-about-useful torch combining to make a good looking, eerie game. When the big bad makes their appearances it gave me genuine chills as I tried to sneak past them or run away, the music kicking in to add to the suspense. Things fell apart a little when I would get caught mind; at one point I was cornered by the demon only for it to flail at me several times fruitlessly, and I was able to simply walk past it and away to safety. The tension of the build up was always great but the payoff for failing less so.
Not that this happened frequently. Korpus smartly keep these moments few and far between, relying on the puzzles and tension created from the Janitor machines to keep us entertained – which it does very well indeed.
The final section (no spoilers here) was excellent too, granting us an extra item that put a big smile on my face. As I said before, at just about two hours long it feels just about the right length and doesn’t outstay its welcome. There are two endings to unlock as well as a couple of extra side stories to uncover should you want to spend more time in the arcade.
My main gripe with Janitor Bleeds though is the lack of an invert Y option! I made do, but the late game section would have been much easier if I could have the Y-axis configured properly…that’s right, properly.
Conclusion
Low-poly horror is all the rage it seems, but few titles pull it off as well as Janitor Bleeds. Smart pacing, clever use of mechanics, and an excellently crafted atmosphere combine to make a great indie horror title.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
