'Incubus': The New Ghost Hunting Game That Blends Reality & Fiction

The latest offering from Jonathan Boakes of Darkling Room, 'Incubus - A Ghost-Hunters Tale,' is not just a game but an immersive expedition into a very haunted residence located at number 6 Dread Pitt Road.

Forgotten amid the streets of London's East End, this house was once part of a terrace. Its neighbouring houses have long since disappeared, leaving this solitary structure in stark isolation. Its inexplicable survival contributes to an unsettling sensation of it being oddly out-of-place against modern architecture.

The unassuming house defies all clichéd notions of haunted spaces, echoing the words of Michael Parkinson in the iconic 'GhostWatch': "No creaking gates, no gothic towers, no shuttered windows."

'Incubus' transforms this simple and confined setting, comprised of just a handful of empty rooms, into a captivating playground for ghost hunting. It's an accomplishment that resonates with the actual experience of paranormal investigation, which often entails spending hours in abandoned, nearly empty spaces, brimming with uncanny vibes.

Rightly or wrongly, I didn't really expect a point-and-click game to be so immersive, but 'Incubus' effortlessly proved me wrong. The game's photo-realistic scenes and first-person perspective offer plenty of goosebump-inducing moments coupled with perfectly-timed scares.

The game is built of 360-degree captures of an actual haunted location, adding layers to its creepy atmosphere. As if this wasn't sufficient to raise the hair on your neck, the AI-driven ghosts in the game are programmed to be "aware," heightening the realism even further.

The plot and its haunting elements are based on true accounts, which have been investigated by Jonathan and his team many times over the years. The game seamlessly intertwines its fictional narrative elements into the real-world setting, which also includes an arsenal of actual ghost-hunting tools and devices, the likes of which are used in real paranormal investigations. You are guided through the game by your virtual teammates, Bear and Jen, from the O.P.G paranormal team. They communicate remotely through a series of video calls.

Much like the real-world paranormal teams that love a bit of jargon and labelling various phenomena, the game's fictional O.P.G team is no different. 'Incubus' introduces players to a whole new paranormal vocabulary, including types of ghosts such as 'clickers', 'pushers' and 'chatters'.

Beneath its unremarkable exterior, the house is bursting with malevolent energies. True eyewitness accounts describe a sinister, hunched figure making fleeting appearances, contributing to an already palpable sense of dread. The objective of 'Incubus' is to dig deep into these real-world inspired mysteries to unearth why this house is so saturated with dark forces — a quest that throws you headfirst into a riveting storyline encompassing much more than a weeklong investigation of an empty house, culminating in an unexpectedly dramatic climax.

Although part of the same genre, 'Incubus' has a different feel to Darkling Room's previous title, 'Dark Fall: Ghost Vigil.' The strategies employed here require methodical and logical thinking, and as you progress, you'll find yourself developing your own routine and systematic approach to your investigations. Despite the limited space of the haunted house, the game manages to feel expansive and unrestrictive.