Ghosthunter details materialize

[Perfect Stu]

We venture into SCEE's darkened conference room to witness some truly spinechilling goings on.

We've already given you the lowdown on Ghosthunter with our E3 preview - third-person, spirit busting game featuring a cop who can see dead people... all the time. But while in Los Angeles, SCEE's Studio Cambridge took PlayStation.com through the latest build of the game to shed light on shadowy corners that man was not meant to see.

First of all, Ghosthunter is not going to be about finding the biggest gun and blasting the ectoplasm out of anything that moans. The hero, Lazarus Jones, does have a gun, but you'll have to use your brain, not just your buckshot, to outwit these wily spooks. For example, on one level you are assaulted by Poltergeists - invisible assailants that attack you with household objects. In order to capture them, you'll need to fill the room with smoke in order to see them and this is where the evocative graphics come into their own. As in the film Hollow Man, the angry spirit appears briefly as a gap in the smoke and it's up to your quick reactions to blast him when he's visible. As with the greatest horror films, it's what's inferred that scares you more than what's on show, and these partly visible spirits are suitably unnerving.

The character design and graphical wizardry really brings the spooks to life (if you'll pardon the expression). As well as the Poltergiest, we were shown a creepy girl spirit inspired by such haunting films as The Shining and The Ring. If antagonised she flees and recovers, so you need to corner her to whittle down her defences, but you'll wish you didn't. The teddy bear that she is clutching so tightly grows enormous and then proceeds to grab the girl by the ankles and hit you with her. So sick it's brilliant!

This is one way the game messes with your perception of reality. Another is by hiding things in plain sight. Like Silent Hill, Lazarus has a torch to light his way and throw spooky shadows around. You can scan a room and find nothing but peeling wallpaper, but switch the torch to UV mode and wherever the beam lands dripping, bloody letters appear all over the wall. This is LA so we're not shivering because it's cold... Ghosthunter rises this winter.

Playstation UK

[bobcat]

Originally posted by Perfect Stu


Playstation UK

Argh the teddy bear again