Phasmophobia is a hot new early access game on Steam and is currently rocking the world of online co-op horror games. Released in September just in time for the Halloween season, its popularity soared, taking it to the rank of #1 top selling game on Steam for no less than four weeks from the week ending on October 18 to November 8. At the time of writing, it is currently the fourth top selling game on Steam, which is still nothing to scoff at. Developed by the one-man team at Kinetic Games, Phasmophobia is an indie game with VR support – and one that is a truly terrifying experience.
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| Tanglewood Street, a quiet suburban home |
So who are Kinetic Games? Not much is known about the developer – other than maybe he is based in the UK. His location, according to the Phasmophobia Twitter, is displayed as “Tanglewood Street House,” which is one of the houses in the Phasmophobia game.
In Phasmophobia, up to four players can team up as Ghost Hunters and enter haunted houses to gather evidence on different ghost types. The gameplay is realistic and immersive, with pretty decent graphics and heart-pumping moments of intensity. There are seven different maps: three houses, two farmhouses, a high school, and an asylum, with beta testing in progress for a prison level.
Players use various pieces of high tech equipment and have no weapons or defenses – the team are not soldiers or ghostbusters, and have no means of fighting the ghosts. Perhaps one of the best parts of the game is the idea of a team of investigators that are not those typical “warriors,” and are instead tasked with finding information about their target and sending that intel back to HQ. The ghosts themselves are procedural, so each investigation will be different each time, and can be one of 12 different types of ghosts.
Named after various types of ghosts in mythology and folklore from different cultures, the ghosts of Phasmophobia often reflect the ghosts which they have been inspired from. Poltergeists are traditionally associated with moving objects and being noisy, and this fits perfectly in Phasmophobia as they have plenty of household objects to move around. Inspired by the bitter wailing spirit of Irish folklore, the Banshee has the disturbing trait of targeting a single player, and hunting that player exclusively until they have either left the house or died. And Oni, which originate in Japanese folklore, and which are usually depicted as hulking, ogre-like creatures, are more active and aggressive around other players.
The equipment of Phasmophobia is an interesting collection of gear often associated with hunting paranormal activity. One of the more well known pieces of gear is the EMF Reader or EMF Meter. EMF stands for electromagnetic fields, and in today's world these meters are used for problems with electrical wiring and power lines. But in the world of ghost hunters, EMF meters detect fields emitted by moving electrically charged objects. If the meter spikes it suggests a change in the electrical current, helping ghost hunters detect areas and objects that have been in contact with paranormal activity. In Phasmophobia, the EMF Reader is used to detect activity from the ghost, with lights turning on at each level, up to EMF-5.
Another fascinating piece of gear is the UV Torch. UV stands for Ultraviolet light, and are used to see things that don't show up in normal light and are only visible under ultraviolet light. Normally, these torches are used to detect bodily fluid stains, pests and cash legitimacy in night clubs. In Phasmophobia, ghost hunters employ these torches to search for fingerprints left by the ghost.
With Phasmophobia still in development, it will be interesting to see what sorts of new maps, ghosts, and features will be created. Players can opt into the beta build easily, and try out the new Prison level being tested, and already it looks to be hella creepy. You can also check out the Phasmophobia trello board to see what's being worked on, and what's in the To Do list. Also, you can suggest new ideas and mechanics on the official Phasmophobia Discord. I myself have made a couple suggestions – including a house based on the Saeki house from the Ju-on and The Grudge movies, as it's clear that some inspiration for the ghost noises and one of the character models came from these movies. Are you prepared to hunt ghosts in the heart-pumping and spirit-haunted world of Phasmophobia?
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| What are you doing up, young lady? It's way past your bedtime! |
Phasmophobia is in currently in early access and is available on Steam.
Source(s): Phasmophobia
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