Now Playing: Phasmophobia (VR)

There have been several TV shows down the years where a bunch of idiots run around in a supposedly haunted location at night trying to capture evidence of a ghost. It has to be at night of course because ghosts, as we all know, are allergic to daylight. Phasmophobia is a game recreating this formula but with the added twist that the ghosts are real and they really, really want to murder you.

This is a game that’s still in Early Access has been been for some time. I was a little wary of it when it first released in 2020 because it looked like a cheap, twitch-bait cash grab. But after picking it up on sale recently I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong. Phasmophobia is actually pretty good and easily one of the best VR titles I’ve played.

Although this is only a ‘VR supported’ title, it really does feel like a game best played and experienced in VR. Exploring spooky locations and confronting ghosts is so much more immersive and, at times, genuinely nerve racking when you’re playing in VR.

I’ve tried playing the game solo – and solo play can still be fun – but Phasmophobia is best experienced with others. Like I said – a bunch of idiots running around a haunted house. It has ‘cross-play’ in the sense that I play in VR whilst my friend doesn’t and this comes with its own pros and cons.

In VR I can carry more items than he can, but some actions – like the simple act of opening and closing doors – can be a little more awkward. Using the radio can also be a little hit and miss at times because the ‘sweet spot’ you have to reach up and press to activate can sometimes be hard to find – it’s like the headset position sometimes gets reset on a load and it messes up the placement.

The VR experience of Phasmophobia isn’t perfect and could use a little more work, but what’s here is perfectly playable and fun and after playing this in VR, there’s really no point in playing it any other way.

The game can feel a little unfair at first as it sets you objectives that involve equipment you can’t yet afford and is easy to lose when you finally can because you’ll die quite a lot. There is a tutorial in the game but it’s pretty basic and there’s a lot it doesn’t teach you. This is a game where I’d recommend watching some beginner guide videos before jumping in so you understand exactly what you have to do, what the difference between a ghost ‘hunt’ and ‘event’ is and how and when to use the various types of ghost busting equipment.

Actually, there’s no ‘busting’ of ghosts no matter how often you and your friends quote the movie as you play – GO GET HER, RAY! Your goal isn’t to fight the ghost, but to identify the ghost type by using your equipment, to gather key pieces of evidence of ghostly activity and – most importantly of all – to escape alive.

Completing all of the key and optional objectives (such as taking photos of the activity or the ghost itself) will net you cash you can then reinvest in more equipment. You’ll also earn experience that will level you up, granting you access to new equipment and maps – although honestly, the level up system seems a little pointless and you’ll easily unlock everything currently available by level 8 or so.

If you die, you’ll lose whatever equipment you personally brought to the hunt, but depending upon your chosen difficulty, you can be ‘insured’ so you won’t have wasted all of your cash. And you’ll likely want to play on the Amateur difficulty when you start as you learn the ropes because as you soon discover, the ghosts in this game really don’t like you at all and will sometimes try to murder you the first opportunity they get.

There’s a decent variety of locations to explore both big and small although more maps would certainly be welcome. But even when you’ve played these maps multiple times, you don’t really get tired of them because every new ‘hunt’ is a new experience. The type of ghost is randomised so you never know exactly what you’re going to be dealing with or how the ghost will respond.

And what’s really great about Phasmophobia is how the ghosts are programmed to behave and interact with the players and the environment. There’s lot of little neat touches to the game that give each ghost type a ‘personality’ of sorts and it really does sometimes feel like they’re playing with you – during one hunt, the ghost kept opening a specific door so my friend kept closing it, only for the ghost to immediately open it again.

The sound design in the game is also really good – as it needs to be for a horror game. The creepy audio when the ghost is around, or the voices on the spirit box when you ask if it’s ‘friendly’ and the ghost rasps back ‘DIE’ so you all nope the f**k out of the house. Visually, Phasmophobia could use more polish – particularly in VR – but at the time of writing, a VR overhaul is on the cards with regards to interaction and visuals, so I’m hopeful for that.

Overall, Phasmophobia was a very enjoyable and pleasant surprise and a game I’m sure I’ll return to often provided the updates continue to roll out and improve the experience. That said, what’s already here is well worth your time but this is certainly a game best played with friends and I don’t think you’ll enjoy it half as much playing solo or with strangers. But if you do have people to play it with – in VR or not – then Phasmophobia is worth checking out.

7/10