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Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I'm not built for whatever I heard in Phasmophobia's Chronicle update, which adds terrifying new sounds you can't afford to run from
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The big Phasmophobia Chronicle update launches tomorrow, June 24, and brings a long list of bug fixes and tool reworks with it. As part of the tool shake-up, developer Kinetic Games also overhauled the journal's media section for capturing evidence. It's great if you're tired of being limited to a photo camera. But, if you're a coward like me who usually takes pictures of salt and runs, I've got bad news. The bad news being you can't do that anymore (I tried) and holy shit the new ghost noises are scary. Instead of demanding you strictly take photos as evidence of a haunting, Phasmophobia's ghost-hunting bosses now want pictures plus recorded audio and video. Apparently, all my slightly off-centered photos of disturbed salt piles are no longer worth money. I tried to sell several over the weekend in my early hands-on with the Chronicle update, but no dice. Image 1 of 4 Image 2 of 4 Image 3 of 4 Image 4 of 4 Chronicle adds a bunch of little things, like new social elements to Phasmophobia's UI and other quality-of-life goodies, but I honed in on playing with the new Sound Recorder. Since my old cheap habits were no longer a valid means to score a perfect investigation, I had to confront ghosts and stay in the room to use the Sound Recorder when they acted up. Sure, Phas players are used to all manner of ungodly racket, but forcing you to run toward the noise for a clip is a whole other ask. Especially with so many new sounds, too. I heard the usual creaky footsteps and door-slamming, but Phasmophobia added more hellish whispering and actual phrases. It captures more of the original Spirit Box charm, prompting ghosts to respond with their own disembodied voices instead of relying on bits and pieces of radio broadcasters. It's not as funny as hearing a Microsoft Sam demon get snippy in the dark, but I like it way more than the more boring Spirit Box audio of today. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releasesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together It's not just voices, either. At one point, I heard what sounded like two pieces of metal slamming into each other in a bathroom, and I still don't know what it was (not that I really tried to figure it out, anyway). As soon as I heard the last of it, I was already back in the truck and mashing the control panel to leave. I did a lot of that before finally working up the nerve to truly investigate a haunting. After a solid few rounds of growing annoyed by my own cowardice, my sense of self-preservation was finally out the door, and I barreled into Camp Woodwind demanding a ghost by the name of Jim Emmett tell me how old he is. He kept his age a secret, but he did whisper, "I'm watching you," over the Parabolic. Phas says I need 13 pieces of evidence like this for a perfect game, but I think one instance of ominous murmuring is proof enough—camp's haunted. When it comes to actually recording—not hearing something over the Parabolic from the other side of the map—I struggled with the Tier 1 Sound Recorder. Upgrading to the Tier 3 device predictably made the task way easier, but I still wasn't always clear on why some recordings didn't make it into the journal as evidence. I'm assuming it's some combination of being a huge wuss and good ole Phas jank, but it was never so cumbersome that I drove off in frustration. If it's not obvious already, sometimes I'm the truck friend, but that's more acceptable now. Chronicle makes things harder in plenty of ways, but it's also kind to your easily spooked buddies by adding more options for monitoring the action from a safe distance. They can watch for the usual ghost behaviors from a much nicer video interface or participate in recording footage, assuming you set the cameras up properly. On more than one occasion, I did wind up back in the ghost room trying to move cameras around for a more accurate picture, but it's nothing players aren't used to now. Sometimes a ghost would do multiple things at once, like trigger a motion sensor and throw something, so I'd wind up with a duplicate recording trying to score something unique. Duplicates are worth less and don't count toward a perfect investigation, so it's a bummer when it happens. But I just took it as a chance to play more strategically by picking up tools I was done with or taking a little more care with the record button. It's a patch I was feeling a little on the fence about, not convinced a media rework was a big deal, but I'm happily wrong. It's impressive how careful little tweaks to the Phasmophobia formula so easily reinvigorate a ghost hunt. Add a few unfamiliar sounds and limit some of my old habits, then I'm floundering like it's day one again. It's not punitive either, I don't feel punished for limiting my old shortcuts to bonuses. Instead, the Chronicle update just forces more of that giddy terror, tempting my ghost-hunting gang with more rewards for playing with an expanded toolset.
Geek Tyrant
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster Developing Film Adaptation of Paranormal Game PHASMOPHIBIA — GeekTyrant
Blumhouse is ready to bring the ghost-hunting chaos of Phasmophobia to theaters. Announced during their first-ever The Business of Fear event in Hollywood, the horror production company revealed that it's officially adapting the massively popular indie horror game into a feature film alongside James Wan's Atomic Monster and in partnership with the game's original creators, Kinetic Games. Phasmophobia has become a breakout title in the multiplayer horror space since its 2020 launch. Developed by British studio Kinetic Games, the first-person co-op ghost-hunting game has sold over 23 million copies globally and carved out a unique lane in horror gaming by focusing less on killing and more on surviving and communicating under pressure. While details on casting or a release window are still under wraps, this marks another step in Blumhouse's mission to turn horror games into full-fledged moviegoing experiences, after the success of Five Nights at Freddy's . The announcement came during a broader discussion about horror's evolution. Jason Blum (CEO/Founder of Blumhouse), Abhijay Prakash (President of Blumhouse), James Wan (CEO/Founder of Atomic Monster), and horror analyst/author Stephen Follows all took the stage to break down the genre's future. They say that horror is thriving because of its diversity. According to Blumhouse's own genre survey conducted in July 2024, paranormal horror is one of the most in-demand subgenres today, standing alongside slasher, survival, and psychological thrillers. Blumhouse already has a slate packed with genre-heavy hitters and it includes the upcoming M3GAN 2.0 , Black Phone 2 , and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 . Adding Phasmophobia to the mix gives them another interactive horror icon to mine for scares. It will be interesting to see the creative talent that they bring on board to adapt the film and how they will go about telling the story.
Geek Tyrant
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
THE CONJURING: LAST RITES First Look Reveals a Haunting Farewell for the Warrens and New Details — GeekTyrant
The curtain is about to fall on one of horror's most beloved ghost-hunting duos. The Conjuring: Last Rites , the fourth and final film in the franchise, is set to hit theaters on September 5th, and thanks to new first-look photos and fresh insights from the cast and creators, we now have a much clearer picture of what to expect. If you've followed Ed and Lorraine Warren's terrifying journey since 2013, prepare yourself, because this one promises to be as emotional as it is chilling. Entertainment Weekly unveiled new images from the film, and a short tease is now circulating on social media, offering a glimpse at what's coming. This final chapter will feature a personal reckoning. Set in 1986, five years after The Devil Made Me Do It , the Warrens are semi-retired, older, wearier, and grappling with Ed's worsening heart condition. But as always in this universe, evil has no intention of letting them rest. Patrick Wilson joked, eflecting on Ed's long, exhausting battle with the paranormal: 'There's only so many times you can say, 'This is the worst case we've ever had!'' Vera Farmiga echoed the sentiment: 'My rosary literally busted apart. The beads were like, 'Girl, we're out of here!' I think we've done as much as we can do for this.' Wilson said: "Ed got pretty beat up in the third one, so I honestly didn't want to be on death's door for this movie. First of all, there's no reason to be — he lived another 25 years. But retirement was interesting to me. It was important to show the skeptics. We're not in the middle of Amityville, when [hauntings were] everywhere. What is it like when they're not playing to big crowds? What does that do to them?" Despite the exhaustion, both actors are clearly sentimental about closing this chapter, especially when it comes to each other. 'I'm going to miss Patrick most of all,' Farmiga admitted. 'I mean, not really. He's reachable within seconds on text. But I'll miss him as a fun scene partner who totally understands my kind of neurology… He made all of these life-zapping, exhausting exorcisms feel like a family barbecue.' Wilson added: 'I didn't think we'd be doing this for 12, 13 years… I get emotional. I can't imagine not doing a movie with her.' That chemistry between Wilson and Farmiga is something franchise co-creator James Wan has always viewed as the franchise's backbone. 'The beating heart of this franchise is Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson playing Ed and Lorraine,' Wan said. 'The family dynamic, the faith the characters have, and the faith that they have in each other are really the things that drive this particular franchise.' This time around, the Warrens are drawn into one last case: the infamous Smurl family haunting. If you've ever gone down a late-night paranormal Google rabbit hole, you might already be familiar. 'It is one of the more Googleable ones,' said producer Peter Safran. 'It really fit the bill for us, being able to lean into something that audiences could go and Google after the movie.' The Smurls, Janet and Jack (played by Rebecca Calder and Elliot Cowan), were reportedly plagued by a malevolent force that tormented their family, and the case became a national sensation. 'Janet and Jack Smurl moved their family into a duplex on Chase Street in West Pittston, Pa., in the 1970s. In the years that followed, the Smurls, including their young daughters and Jack's parents, claimed to experience supernatural occurrences ranging from strange odors and voices all the way to ghostly molestations.' The Smurls' sppeared on TV programs such as Larry King Live and Entertainment Tonight 'made it one of the more publicized cases of supernatural activity, but it also gave skeptics ammunition to say they sold out for the public spotlight. The story became the subject of the book The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare (1986) and a 1991 made-for-TV movie starring Sally Kirkland.' Also stepping into the spotlight is Judy Warren, now an adult played by Mia Tomlinson. Her boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy) is also introduced. Director Michael Chaves emphasized the emotional depth behind this version of Judy: 'What is it like when you are living with an artifact room that is filled with demonic items? How hard is that? What impact does that leave on a person's life?' Farmiga added, 'She's obviously inherited this spiritual sensitivity… Judy has been the quiet force right behind everything that Lorraine does. She's the light. She's the reason that Lorraine still fights when she feels like there's nothing left to give.' And while this movie brings all the demonic intensity you'd expect, the story leans more into existential themes. 'It's a moment that makes time stand still,' said Farmiga. 'This one's different than the others. The other three were about hauntings, and this one is about reckoning, in a way.' New images hint at younger versions of the Warrens (played by Orion Smith and Madison Lawlor), flashbacks, and eerie visions of twisted doppelgängers—grinning, warped versions of Ed and Lorraine. 'Whether it's dealing with mortality or dealing with where they are at the end of their career, you're forced to look in the mirror,' Wilson explained. 'Who's on the other side may not be the most pleasant. Those are themes we definitely explore.' While a Conjuring spin-off series is already in development for Max, Last Rites is the definitive swan song for Wilson and Farmiga's time in the cinematic spotlight. As Farmiga put it: 'It is the end of the road. It's got to be the end of the road… It is time to trade her clairvoyance in for crossword puzzles. She's going to take up some tai chi. They're going to Turks and Caicos, baby, and so am I.' The Conjuring: Last Rites opens September 5. Are you ready for one last ride with the Warrens?
