With the sheer volume of horror films that flood the market on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis it easy to feel like you’re watching the same scary movie again and again. And once you’re used to the most used horror tropes, you often come to expect each and every scare.
Luckily, when it comes to getting a fright, video games have got us covered.
Even though games have being scaring the actual bollocks off of us for decades, the quality of graphics and technology now makes it a more realistic, immersive and all round pant-wettingly good experience. Everything from Evil Within to Five Nights at Freddys has had people on the edge of their seats in ways films rarely manage recently.
So whenever a new contender arrives, it’s always exciting. Enter Ghost Theory.
Ghost Theory is game pitch which aims to set you, the player, up as a paranormal researcher. Recruited by an academic department, you’re sent out to a host of haunted locations, equipped with all the usual ghost hunting paraphernalia you’re used to seeing in top supernatural films, from EMF metres to UV lamps.
Currently in the Kickstarter stage, the project is run by a team named Dreadlocks.
One of the really interesting aspects to the game is it takes you to real life locations, all of which are thought to be some of the most haunted in the world. These include Goldfield Hotel in United States, Poveglia island in Italy, 30 East Drive in Pontefract, UK and Suicide Forest Aokigahara in Japan.
They’ve even provided an interactive map of the haunted locations, which is well worth a look below.
The gameplay itself sounds intense, but not in a Resident Evil kind of way. In Ghost Theory, you won’t be charging around with shotguns blowing spectres away. It looks closer to Fatal Frame or Outlast. Roaming around a sandbox (open world), you’ll be kitted out with some of the paranormal gear previously mentioned, along with a whole lot more. You can see the full list over at the Kickstarter.
And from the sounds of it, you won’t just be having ghosts jumping out at you from every corner. Instead, you’ll gradually be alerted to their presence, from temperature drops, EMF spikes and so on. Everything needed to keep your heart racing.
As well as your ghost hunting kit, you’re also equipped with clairvoyance. That’s right, your character is a bit of a medium. This means as you enter certained haunted locations, you’ll be able to experience flashbacks.
But one of my favourite features has to be the ability to shut your eyes. That’s right, when it all gets too much, you can actually shut your characters eyes. But it’s probably a safe bet that the danger won’t go away.
From the looks of it, the Kickstarter’s doing really well (£35k into its £50k target at the time of writing.) So if you love yourself a game to give you chills, feel free to go help out the good people at Dreadlocks.
Let’s hope they can succeed in getting this game out there and scaring the shit out of us all.
Scream Quietly 