Phasmophobia is an online co-op psychological horror created by UK-based developer Kinetic Games, who released an early access build of the game last September 19 on the popular gaming platform Steam, where it was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, and currently averages around 60,000 to 80,000 concurrent players. 

Phasmophobia is the game many horror fans have been waiting for. Players have seen a fair share of first-person horror games, some even emulating a similar cooperative team versus monster aspect. However, none have ever been as well-executed or well-received as Phasmophobia. The game puts players in the shoes of a paranormal investigator as they enter different haunted locations.

The goal of Phasmophobia is to find and monitor paranormal activity, gathering as much evidence using EMF Readers, Motion Sensors, Ouija Boards, and more, to identify what kind of ghost is present. The game in its current state has 12 types of ghosts, 22 different pieces of equipment, and around seven locations to investigate. 

The greatest selling point for the game is its multiplayer function, accommodating up to four players to join, allowing for interesting gameplay strategies as users can assign roles to each other, distribute equipment, and have more than one’s own heart racing when hiding from the ghost. 

Phasmophobia also uses full voice recognition wherein the game can hear the players, encouraging users to stay quiet both in-game and in real life when hiding from murderous spirits.

Ghost hunting

Phasmophobia lets users interact with the ghosts in-game. Users can’t attack the ghost, but it can attack the players. The first step is to identify where the ghost is by using tools like the thermometer to search for low temperatures, setting up cameras and trying to spot any ghost orbs, or even calling out the ghost by name. 

After locating the ghost, the next step is to identify the type. The journal serves as a guide as it describes their behavior, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they interact with different equipment. Once the player has gathered at least three pieces of evidence, they can easily identify the ghost and sprint out of the house as quickly as desired. 

Another big feature of the game is its support for most popular virtual reality headsets, allowing players to immerse themselves even further in the world of Phasmophobia, with the gameplay, sounds, and visuals feeling all the more real and terrifying. 

Back at Home Base

As an early access game, Phasmophobia has its own set of technical issues such as taking time to load the game and having problems with the voice recognition. There are circumstances wherein the game suddenly crashes when exiting menus. However, the developers are transparent with their updates to the game, showing their effort to get these issues fixed quickly.

Another flaw within the game is the progression system. Players earn experience and money after every job completed, earning them extra for completing optional objectives. Past level 10, the experience is negligible. However, the money players make can be spent on more equipment for future jobs. But if players die during one of their jobs, they lose all the equipment they brought with them. While it may incentivize the player to avoid dying, the money earned is usually not enough to keep up with the equipment needs of most players. And after around 50 gameplays, it begins to feel repetitive as players start to become more familiar with which equipment is needed and what needs to be done. 

What keeps the game fresh is playing with friends or joining a random server with new people, making the whole experience both fun and terrifying. It is clear to see how its co-op horror concept is easily one of the best in recent years. And while the game can feel a bit rough around the edges at times, it still deserves credit for being unfinished. 

The developers plan to add more maps, ghosts, and other gameplay mechanics in new updates. And with a full release planned for 2021, Phasmophobia can expect more screams and spiking heart rates in the near future. 

Check it out on Steam here.

Rating: 4/5