An FMV horror game called Ghosts has been revealed to be in development, and it’ll only be playable in its intended form at 10 pm every night in your local timezone.Ghosts is coming to PlayStation, PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Mac, and will be released by Limited Run Games on February 22, 2022. The game is written and directed by Jed Shepherd, the writer of the 2020 Zoom horror flick Host. Most of the cast of Host will also reunite and star in Ghosts.
Excited to announce that I’m making a REAL-TIME, live-action HORROR video game w/ creature design by @slimyswampghost & made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop!
Released by @LimitedRunGames & starring Haley, Jemma, Emma, Radina and Caroline. They can tell you all about it-#ghosts pic.twitter.com/5PeUa4CrHT
— Jed (@Jedshepherd) April 7, 2021
As for how the game works, players take on the role of a TV producer for a failing cable channel, FrighTV. Ghosts is the channel’s flagship show, a re-branded version of a popular show where viewers used to watch ghost hunters explore haunted locations. It seems like you’ll be watching (and calling the shots on) this new version of the show and following the cast as they are haunted by an antagonistic force called The Long Lady.
Designed to be playable only at 10 pm in your local timezone each night, the game will star cast members from pandemic horror hit Host, including Haley Bishop, Radina Drandova, Jemma Moore, Caroline Ward and Emma Louise Webb. They’re investigating a street reportedly haunted by the Long Lady.
While details are scarce, it seems you’ll be making decisions for them as they search the area. No “floating words or glowing doors” will be presented to guide you, meaning you’re seemingly playing the game through the eyes of the camera only. “There are consequences for all of your choices though,” reads the press release. “Playing it safe is not always the best option!”
As mentioned in the video above, if players turn the game off at any point, they lose, and the cast will die in “really horrible ways”. If players load up the game before 10 pm they will be met with a classic test card. “If you can crack the ‘test’ you will have access to an unlockable pre-watershed version where you can breathe and save your progress, but once you hit 10 pm all bets are off,” the press release reads.
Creature design for Ghosts is being handled by Trevor Henderson, the creator of Siren Head. The feared (and as-yet-unseen) “Long Lady” will also be fabricated by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. A funding campaign is currently underway for GHOSTS on Kickstarter, which you can find here.
FMV games have made something of a comeback in recent years, with the likes of The Complex and Erica taking on sci-fi and mystery stories respectively. Horror is where the genre previously saw its most notable games in the ’90s heyday, and Ghosts is clearly looking to bring back classic live-action scares.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.Source