Phasmophobia Review

Phasmophobia is something of a niche cultural phenomenon. It released some 4 years ago, and it seemed suited for twitch-streamer-reacts moments where you see a compilation of people screaming at their cameras.

This Halloween the early access version arrived on Xbox Series in time to get some ghost frights in.

The premise is that the player takes on the role of a random ghost hunter who can play alone or team up with 3 others to identify a identify a supernatural phenomenon. They are given a number of tools to find the apparition – from things as simple as a thermometer (for detecting spectral drops in temperature) to the DOTS projector (like the XLS Kinect camera from Paranormal Activity 4 that can catch auras) – and unravel clues as to what supernatural event they are dealing with. Each ectoplasmic entity has tells or evidence that points to what they are. For example, some ghouls will be compelled to write on a note pad, others leave floating orbs on camera recordings, and some make the surrounding environment drop to freezing and below. The investigators must then tick these items off so that they can narrow the list of possible offenders (Phantasm, Poltergeist, Yokai, etc) and then leave.

Simple enough task, except all of the spooks will eventually became tired of the intrusions and will try to scare the players away. They’ll do so by slamming doors, turning lights off, or throwing items; witnessing any of this will lower a player’s sanity meter making them more susceptible to hallucinations. If the investigations persist, the ghost will then turn homicidal and hunt down players, dragging them to hell.  

The visuals are low fidelity: character models are pretty basic, lighting is functional but not amazing, and the buildings are paper thin as if they are constructed on a sound stage. Rather than detracting from the experience, I actually think it enhances it. Each time I walked into a detached suburban house, prison, or school, it felt like I was walking into a trashy 70s or 80s film, replete with amusing visual effects. The sound plays along with that, there are all the expected haunted house sound effects – thunder, creaking doors, shuffled footsteps across wooden boards, and other bumps in the night.

Despite being 4 years old, Phasmophobia shows off its reasons for entering as an early access title rather than full release. The button layout is bad, there are three separate buttons that are pressed for different types of interaction that feel like they could have been more intuitively implemented into one (there is a full button remap in the options to fix some of this). The menu system is a nightmare, it took me forever to figure out how to start a match, setting up a loadout felt arcane, and then I got stuck in the van for 5 minutes before giving up and waiting for a friend to come online and explain what to do. This might be part of the appeal for some, but this is not the kind of game I want to be futzing around with confusing UI.

A lot of Phasmophobia’s marketing leaned on the reaction videos, people screaming as some ghost jump-scares them. I am sorry to say that it didn’t really hit for me. What scares people is obviously subjective, but after my first couple of forays any tension I felt was replaced with something a lot worse: boredom. I think what it simulates well, is not the horror of being chased by apparitions, but the mundanity of blue-collar work. I show up, place the tools down and take some readings. Sure there is an extreme occupational hazard (I hope everyone in this universe gets danger money) but it is somewhat of a rote experience. It is damning that a game about spirits left my partner, an avid horror fan, non-plussed.

Phasmophobia still has good moments: arguing with your teammates about evidence is always entertaining, and the drama of watching someone trying to get their daily challenge, and instead getting themselves Hellraised is hilarious. It just isn’t enough.

Conclusion

Phasmophobia has hit the Xbox and brings all its scrappy charm along with it. I think there are people who are going to love this multiplayer horror game, but once the scares wear off, there isn’t a lot to keep coming back.