As the world continues to fight an unseen enemy, this month’s selection of forthcoming games shows that developers are increasingly realising that what you don’t know can hurt you. That’s a heck of a thing to try in a visual medium, but cooperative early access hit Phasmophobia (p46) has plenty of tricks up its spectral sleeve to scare the wits out of you and your friends - from a UV light that shows up supernatural footprints to unearthly whispers in your ear. Don’t forget: in team chat, everyone can hear you scream.
In space, of course, your yelps of terror will go unanswered. We don’t normally expect psychological horror from a space shooter, but Chorus (p30) gives us chills thanks to its mysterious antagonists, whose mind-control tactics are their deadliest weapon. As developer Fishlabs explains, it’s designed to stoke our innate fear of the undefined, that creeping sense of not knowing what’s around the corner. Meanwhile, there are plenty of nasty surprises lurking in the shadows of stealth survival game Gloomwood (p42) - its turn-of-the century aesthetic means its enemies are unlikely to frighten you up close, which is probably why its twilit locales like to keep the lights down low. It’s not called Gloomwood for nothing, we suppose.
As a love letter to the early Thief games, it’s one of two throwbacks this month - and who could blame you if you’d rather seek comfort in the familiar right now? Yoko Taro is clearly enjoying himself as he oversees development of Nier: Replicant v1.22 (p34) a decade after the original launched. But there’s a danger in getting overly sentimental about the past - puzzler Bonfire Peaks (p44) invites you to burn your belongings, as you seek solace in a serene forest. But is it our imagination, or is there something rustling out there between those voxel trees? Perhaps we should give the ghost-hunting a rest for a while.