Phasmophobia is a new co-op horror game that has possessed countless players with its unsettling premise, and it's racing up the charts on Steam.
In the top sellers list, the game is ahead of titles like Among Us, FIFA 21, Hades, and Star Wars: Squadrons, and when it comes to the top games by player count, it's catching up to Dead By Daylight, Fall Guys, and Destiny 2. Though it's a small fish in an extremely big pond on Steam, it's certainly one to keep an eye on for the spooky season.
So, what's Phasmophobia all about? It's a bit like Paranormal Activity, only if Paranormal Activity put you in the shoes of the investigators and was an actually enjoyable experience. A team of up to four investigators visit various locations, like suburban houses, farmhouses, high schools, and an asylum, in order to identify the malevolent entity lurking within its walls. Players will be looking for evidence in the form of freezing temperatures, ghostly fingerprints, and will even be able to communicate with the spectre through the spirit box. Yes, with voice commands. And, the ghost is able to talk back.
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It's this slow burn of working out whether you're the hunter or the hunted that has drawn people to the game, and it's a decidedly different pace to the toony and silly Among Us. In addition, the players are either able to wait in the van and check CCTV cameras and motion sensors for spirits, or walk the halls and discover who else is here before the ghost becomes enraged. Each ghost will have a randomly generated unique identity consisting of gender, name, age, physical model, and even shyness. They all have varying strengths and weaknesses, and working together is the only way the players will make it out alive.
Its impact is all the more impressive when you know that this game is in Early Access, priced at £11. The developer, Kinetic Games, has been steadily supporting Phasmophobia with timely patches and modifications like translations and new player sanity alerts. The community has a lot to say about the game, and suggests new ghost types and new maps for new scares. For now, though, it looks like an excellent game to get stuck into for a socially distanced Halloween this year.
Featured Image Credit: Kinetic GamesTopics: Indie