Phantaruk

You wake up in a storage room with a few pills next to you and a note which explains in a few words how you got there and what you have to do. You are aboard a spaceship which has been hit by a mutagenic virus which has transformed the Colonial-02 into an abandoned ship. Escape is your goal but there is a lot that can go wrong.

Phantaruk is a first-person horror game which at this time is in early stages of development but even so, it’s a lot better than you would expect. In the game you will have to explore the hull of a ship while you’re infected with a deadly virus and for which the antidote comes in limited supply and it’s scattered all over the ship.

Since that doesn’t really bring out the horror, there will be a large and creepy monster wandering the corridors and rooms of the ship in search for you and your delicious flesh or soul, or whatever it feeds on. There is no way you can monitor activity around you, there’s no stopping it and it can appear from anywhere.

In Phantaruk, the beast that follows you is not scary because of how it can shred you to pieces. You don’t get to see that so that’s not the fun part, instead, the game relies on a wonderfully crafted dark atmosphere to get to you.

Every room and corridor is dimly lit, the batteries from your flashlight deplete fast and random strange sounds surround you. The atmosphere is totally eerie and that’s great because you will constantly feel the tension of the situation, you’ll always have to look over your shoulder to make sure you’re not about to be ripped in two.

Phantaruk is really good even for an early build. The graphics are great, gameplay is spot on and the atmosphere delivers just the right kind of creepy. I have to say though that the monster needs a bit more work. It moves kind of slow and on some occasions you kind of see it bump into things. It’s not very intimidating.