A one-man studio
Spearheaded by a sole, aspiring game developer from Croatia, Solitude released an indie horror game titled Phantoms while pursuing a more ambitious project inspired by Silent Hill. Phantoms is a retro-style horror game with a terrifically terrible mixture of eldritch, analogue horror, RNG elements, and vicious jump scares. It is certainly not for those who are easily startled (like myself)!
Phantoms was released in December of 2023 and can be played on the PC and Steam.
All aboard the eldritch express
You play as an unnamed man aboard a train to visit his old friend, Floyd. Floyd had apparently gone through some terrible tragedy, and in order to cope, begun worshipping an unknown God. Ever since his nosedive into this religious practice, Floyd has begun acting strangely; not only that, but people within the town that Floyd lives in are beginning to mysteriously disappear.
The player decides to hop on a train in order to check up on his friend and figure out what in the world is going on. However, this “train” is not as it seems . . . is the player really on a train at all?
The goal is to escape the train car, but first players must find and fix the electrical box to open the door. As players roam around, the “train” becomes more and more filled with flesh configurations and eldritch enemies. And . . . watch out, the train conductor is after you.
Simple mechanics, thrilling gameplay
The game manages to perfectly encapsulate the graphical and sound-based eeriness of PlayStation 1 horror. The pause screen is very neat as well, showing up as a creepy blue CRTV screen.
Phantoms blends various horror elements quite interestingly, with the sort of look that analogue horror has, coupled with jump scares and heart-stopping loud noises. These scares are not cheap either, as they appeal to the aesthetic appropriately and are quite horrifying. The RNG elements mix up each level every time, providing a fresh sense of fear and confusion. There are five main story levels in total, with an extra “secret” level being the most challenging after you finish the main game. The difficulty goes up in a linear fashion, and the game takes about 2 or less hours to complete.
The player can walk, look around, run, crouch, and interact with objects. The mechanics are straightforward and operate well (though I wish I could run a tad faster). You are able to talk to other passengers on the train and look at the various random posters on the wall, including a shoutout to SCP horror. Players absolutely cannot sit still in a place for too long, even in a “safe room.” Being idle for a certain amount of time will make the player’s screen increasingly red and fisheye-lensed, and without a doubt you’ll meet your end. Phantoms is all about constant movement and finding pieces to fix the electrical box.
May luck be on your side
The heaviest issue with Phantoms is the poor AI. The game is going to require a lot more luck than skill unfortunately, at least in regards to the train conductor.
You can never quite predict when things are going to happen. Sometimes, the train conductor may randomly spawn right beside you, or on top of you, or in a “safe room” too soon, so at that point there was not much the player could to do except die. This made completing each level, even the “easier” ones, frustratingly hard. The count down to being killed in a safe room can also happen suddenly and quickly. There is hardly a moment in the game where one can take their time and think. As said before, Phantoms is about constant movement. This can be rather irritating to many players.
Final thoughts
In all, Phantoms is an impressive piece of work coming from the only Solitude developer. The PlayStation 1 vibes are on point, and the entities and setting of the game are wonderfully scary. The game plays smoothly and has very little issues, aside from the randomly spawning train conductor.
Phantoms has a lot of potential and can be enjoyable as a short, terrifying experience.
