Phasmophobia is a banger. Full stop. If you are looking for an incredibly fun and genuinely scary game look no further. This game is best enjoyed with friends in VR, however playing through it solo and in standard definition was also a hell of a lot of fun.
Your job, for lack of a better term, is to enter haunted locations with up to three of your friends (4 players total) and gather evidence of paranormal activity. You can equip a variety of ghost-hunting equipment in your search to determine whatever ghost is haunting your current location.
This game is part Ghostbusters, part Ghosthunters, and a dash of Paranormal activity. And it all works perfectly together.
“Do not buy this game if you scare easily and are prone to nightmares”.
At first glance, especially when you look at the name of the game and the cover art, it is easy to assume that this game will be another ”jump scare”, dime a dozen psychological / horror game that are all too common these days. This game is not like that at all.
Granted, there are jump scares in the game but it does not rely on them. It instead builds tension over time – you can literally feel the anticipation build up over time. The anticipation, the dread, and foreboding really works here.
Grown ass men have been known to scream like little girls while playing this game. You have been warned!
Voice Recognition
I fully expected to this broken, especially as this was an early access game, and I was dead wrong. Talking to a ghost, asking it his / her name, how old it is, to show a sign, etc. not only works, it is one of the best bits of the gameplay experience. If the ghost responds, it is genuinely frightening. If the ghost does not respond, well, it builds up the tension.
Oh, and when the entity doesn’t co-operate, well…. I may have sworn at the ghost a few times. Sorry, not sorry.
All in all the voice recognition works great and it will only continue to improve.
Cons
In terms of what I didn’t like, well, there isn’t too much, really.
One thing I hope they do is add in a few new game modes, including a “capture the ghost” game mode, or something to that effect.
Gathering evidence, identifying the ghost, and all the scary stuff goes with it is fun, don’t get me wrong. However, I would really like it if they brought in an “extraction” element. Capture the ghost, destroy the ghost, banish the ghost to another world…
Something fun like that would be an amazing addition to the game.
Another thing I hope they address in the final release is what happens after you die in game.
In it’s current state, you simply walk around, invisible to your teammates and unable to really do anything but spectate. I would like to see something like an old school Call of Duty style “follow your teammates” option or, better yet, maybe you also become a ghost and can somehow participate on the ghosts side. Or something fun like that.
Score
AWESOME
This game is incredibly original, if not in idea (there have been a few silly ghost hunting T.V. shows), it is in execution. This is not like other games on steam – this game is unique and very well executed, even in it’s early release phase.
9/10