Even though it’s only in alpha, Among the Whispers – Provocation already seems to have some good systems in place. If you can figure out how they work, that is.
Ghost hunting games haven’t exactly been ten-a-penny over the storied history of video games. We’ve had fun, interesting ones like Hellsign, but the recent success of the likes of Phasmophobia has certainly resulted in a fair few multiplayer-centric spirit wrangling titles. D&A Studios are attempting to make a single player spook pursuer title in the form of Among the Whispers – Provocation. It’s only in alpha at this point, but there’s a solid set of systems ready to be expanded on.
You play as Stephanie, a paranormal investigator sent to a mansion to find an expunge ghostly hauntings within. You’ll be given information about which room these hauntings may be in, as well as the history of the family who resided there and their causes of death. Your job, at least in this early version, is simply to find out who is haunting the rooms, and what their cause of death was. In the full version, you’ll also need to find a way to release these spirits from their purgatory, as well as deal with a greater array of haunting types.
Stephanie is equipped with an array of phantasm detection devices, from EMF readers to laser grids. By using these in conjunction with provocations, you’ll need to find and record audio and video evidence of ghostly goings-on, and piece together your conclusion. Provocations take the form of mostly asking questions, but can also be done using other items at your disposal.
The questions are the usual “Why are you here?” and “How did you die?” fare, but you need to make sure you pick the right one for the ghost type you’re dealing with. Choose the wrong question, and not only will you get nothing for it, but you’ll also take stress damage. If you become too stressed, you’ll need to return to your base camp to recover before heading back in. There’s no real threat from this that I’ve experienced though, as you’ll simply lose time rather than your life. Yes, there is a time limit, but this can be switched off if you wish.
There’s an argument that this is because the game is aiming to be less threatening than others of its ilk, relying on a creepy atmosphere and unexpected events rather than an explicit fear of dying. Some of the atmosphere does work quite well too. The bedroom door suddenly opening and closing really did catch me by surprise as I fumbled with a video camera to get the evidence. A shadowy spirit stumbling towards me left me unsettled as I was totally unsure how to handle the situation. I quite liked this element, but there’s a greater issue here.
The tutorial is pretty bad. There’s an array of three bullet point text pieces that run you through a few things, but nothing that really explains how equipment and provocations actually work. Maybe this is deliberate, mimicking what actually happens with the inexplicable task of hunting ghosts, but I really would have liked something that explained what a drop of 4 on an EMF reader actually looked like or when I should expect to see it happen. Again, this is in alpha, so in a more developed version of the game, I’d like a playable tutorial that guides you through the main systems.
With that said, I did enjoy trying to figure out how a ghost would appear and translating the confused sound clips they’d give to come to a viable conclusion. I also appreciated the little details that have clearly had time spent on them. There are specific floorboards creaking when you go over them that could creak again when something other than you passes over it. The temperature reader that gives you the option to switch between celsius and fahrenheit and also reacts to radiators and lights is a lovely touch as is the ability to slow down and speed up sound clips to work out what’s being said. There’s care and attention to the systems here. I just want to understand how they work better.
Among the Whispers – Provocation is shaping up to be a fun ghost hunting experience, with lots of attention to detail that will likely come together well in the end. With some work done on the presentation, this will probably be one worth looking at in the coming months.
It’s currently listed as coming soon to Steam.
