PlayStation users can play a fantastic multiplayer horror game for an absolute steal
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony, Features
Featured Image Credit: Sony/Kinetic Games
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony, Features
As we near the end of 2024, it’s fun to look back on all the incredible games that have been released so far and there’s still a few left to go before we move into 2025.
I’ve been enamoured by games like Persona 3 Reload, DLC expansions like Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree and was introduced to one of the best survival horror games ever made, Silent Hill 2 (2024).
Check out Silent Hill 2 below
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Playing Silent Hill 2 got me in the mood for more horror, and on my hunt to find another spooky game to play I eventually settled on Phasmophobia, forcing my friends to play it too. It’s currently on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, and you get a copy for around £15, an absolute steal if you end up playing it often like we have.
Because I reviewed the console port of the game I had experience with the title, but as I noted in the review playing it by yourself is simply not the move. While it did dial up the horror of having a massive house to explore by yourself, with spirits and phantoms popping out at you and occasionally plunging the building into a thick, black darkness, it was a pain to successfully pull off an investigation.
Now I’m sure the more skilled players out there can crank out an investigation by themselves in 10 minutes or less, but for me, it was just too much of a hassle to carry in all the equipment on anything but the smaller maps.
Playing the game with a full squad though has been an absolute game-changer, especially when you take every opportunity to goof around when you’re not locking in.
The first few nights were a bit rough, as learning what all the gadgets and gizmos do along with when and where to use them was definitely a learning curve. It was also a challenge to coax our resident van-camper into the house where all the action was, which was like persuading Scooby Doo to assist with the promise of a Scooby Snack afterwards. Once we’d found our respective roles, what the equipment does, and how to figure out the type of ghost we’re dealing with there was no stopping us, and we’ve been successfully solving haunts ever since.
There’s been plenty of time for fun though, like last night for instance when I didn’t tell my friends what the summoning circle did, lit it, and watched as a demon eviscerated one of them, then played it off as if I had no idea it was going to do that. Then there’s flicking the light switch at pivotal moments for a cheap scare, and of course locking people in rooms with the ghost and hearing them freak out.
Since the game is hardly scary when playing in multiplayer it gives you so many opportunities to make your own fun, but you can of course lock in and get serious when you need to. After a few games we knew what equipment we were best with so when the game started getting a little too intense we knew what we could contribute to get things back on track, then winded down in the lobby with a game of Jenga you can play before missions.
I’d also recommend playing with the in-game voice chat rather than a party chat or Discord. In-game chat allows the ghost to hear you when you speak, and there’s also proximity chat so to communicate with your friends who are too far away you’ll need to use a walkie-talkie. It makes for some humorous moments when the ghost disrupts the radio and you hear a faith scream off in the distance.
Phasmophobia is a game made for playing in a group, and with the price of entry being £15, even less when the sales roll around, it’s more than worth a go especially if you’re a fan of horror games. There’s nothing about the PlayStation 5 version of the game that’d make me recommend it over the other versions, and if you’re all playing on different systems you can still party up with crossplay.
I’d highly recommend giving it a go for yourself, as it’s highly-replayable and endlessly entertaining when you’re with the right gaggle of silly geese.