Phantom Halls

🪓 The game was abandoned and even the campaign was unfinished, but it's still a very enjoyable experience for horror fans. The visual & music create a comical yet distinct atmosphere. The gameplay is quite unique, since you literally have to control three chars at once. Definitely made for PC, but the standard controls aren't the most convenient (can be reassigned.) The difficulty is casual, but you can ruin the run quite easily (no big deal, because all missions can be completed in a 10 mins max). Random can be a little merciless or very generous. The choice of weapons is decent. Taking out evil spirits is very pleasant, and looting everything is very satisfying. Ash from «Evil Dead» is literally an end-game character, with several unique missions, but w/o Bruce VA. Essentially it's a good game, what happened to its further development?

very under rated 2D side scrolling platforming procedural generated horror action game

It's a fun 2D, side-scrolling roguelite, built within an incredibly charming and cheesy horror atmosphere. There isn't much a story at play; there's a campaign, but it mostly just exists to give you purpose and ease you into new challenges. The characters are cleverly written stereortpes (eg. The Jock, The Nerd, etc.) with a handful of funny dialogue. The environments, while a bit repetitive, are very well designed and haven't ever gotten old to me. Lastly, the enemy design is also well made, and from a gameplay perspective they're all pretty interesting. Edit: I forgot to mention the music; the soundtrack is great! There aren't many tracks on it, and they aren't too detailed, but they set the tone very well and they're very easy on the ears.

It's not the most challenging game out there, and it doesn't have incredible depth to its gameplay loop, but it still has a lot to offer and it's an easy game to play in short bursts, if that's what floats your boat. All-in-all it's a great game, especially if you're a fan of campy horror.

Sadly, not worth it currently. It's 9 hours grind with no proper ending or even acknowledgement. I enjoyed the Evil Dead content, but everything else feels pretty lackluster. Turkey Shoot update took me 3 minutes to complete.

TRUTH: A lot of additional things DEV want to make can't be done because budget cut.

Still, with the core game system and main story of the game is here.
It did not feel lacking content or unfinish. It's a SOLID fun side scroll game.

Also, the price is right.
You get more out of what you pay with the normal price already.

I want to say yes. But I can't. I seriously can't.

I played the game at EGX and I loved the concept, but found the execution to be flawed. Paying for it and only having done the Evil Dead 2 content (Ash), all the flaws become ever more excacerbated.

The options, at best, are good enough. For some reason FXAA is a slider and is constantly off leaving only SSAO.

Gameplay is simple - choose a character and objective, go achieve it. Each character has an ability which isn't shown until you're in game and look in the inventory. A neat little encyclopedia for each enemy detailing stats and their abilities would be nice, but I feel that the game shouldn't even go down that route.

Phantom Halls feels like its trying to be an old timer, a classic horror and a modern horror at the same time. Simplistic sidescroller gameplay combined with multiple weapons and a basic 3D design do not combine well.

I would recommend the following:
1. Ditch the action-adventure component. Reduce ammo drops and eliminate weapons like the SMG. Introduce mechanics that make firearms a less reliable weapon and make melee weapons more fragile to emphasize a more horror-esque system. A simple stealth mechanic similar to a game I can't remember the name of (you have to make time move forward whilst avoiding enemies in a randomly generated house) would encourage the horror aspect.

2. Take it on wholly. More enemies, more guns and ammo, quicker and longer lasting melee weapons. Ability to barricade doors as well as damage them. Healing items and potentially lengthen the gameplay to encourage more gameplay.

Finaly, I have one main concern - long-term enjoyment for the player. There's currently 10 characters with another 3 locked off for a total of 13 characters with between 1 to 3 different objectives for each one. Gameplay lasts for around 10 - 15 minutes, and even at best going for 39 plays, that's only around 505 minutes - 9 hours of repetitive gameplay with no long-term goal. You don't EARN anything but 'congratulations, you won".

I truly want this to succeed, but I want the developers to know currently their game feels fairly empty right now and they'd ought to fill it with ways to improve gameplay and longevity before worrying about partnerships like Evil Dead 2 unless it benefits them in some way besides spreading the word.

Great gameplay. Lots of suspense. The different "missions" that characters have are great fun.

I can't seem to figure out how to do a few things though... The game really doesn't explain these things well:
How do you unlock the locked characters? Why isn't there a check-box or something next to the missions so you know which ones you have done? Why is there no description of what the characters specials are? The specials have names in the inventory menu, but it explains nothing, so you're left with having to try them out to see what they are, and not even then do you always understand what just happened....


But as a composer, the biggest downer from this game for me is that you can't seperate music and SFX. I don't think I've seen a game in recent time which doesn't have this option!

Nearly 5 hours of play, having a blast. Looking forward to future fixes and content updates. Some levels seem painfully under-resourced for items and weapons, but this is rare. Definitely recommend giving it a go, it's a charming little romp for any fan of haunted houses and horror. And, of course, now there's Ash and the Cabin!

Just wanted to post this while the game is on sale still and just got an Evil dead update. This is a pretty cool and fun gme that is a time killing roguelite where you choose a character and try to make it through a level alive avoiding traps and finding survivors. You can contorl the survivors together with your main as a group, and switch control for lead between them. It could be alittle confusing at first but only for a moment, till you get the gist of it, like attacking effectively between lead and followers. The items are random, same with traps enemies and room layout. I've used the contorller, dunno how the mouse and kb hold up, but it's pretty smooth with the controller. There is an ultrawide setting, but it cropped out the top/bottom portions of the UI which made it tough assigning items so I had to switch back to 16:9. It's in EA though so to be expected. While it's 5 dollars it's definitely a steal. Still worth it at 10 too imo.

Ace artstyle and hilarious comedy horror gameplay.
The way it is designed is loads of fun, with lots of replayability from randomly created scenarios.
Horror film references abound and oozes atmosphere.

A great casual game.
I would say that the overall gameplay while fun will need far more interaction for the full release, just searching things while exploring and using the weapons on enemies to complete a quest i feel isnt enough, but i realise it is Early Access.

love this so much imlike being ash but its hard to move 3 guys at once co-op would be nice besides that i love it

(This Review has been updated for the V1.0 release of the game)

A fun sidescrolling action game with a cool spooky atmosphere.

Pros: Great visuals and artstyle.
Killing things in this game is satisfying as hell. Bash their brains in and shoot em all up.
The missions are pretty damn fun and diverse.
Each character is unique with their own skilltree, special abilities and spawn weapon.
Has a large variety of areas, weapons and enemies.
All sorts of upgrades can be obtained in your HQ to gain certain advantages or
cosmetic changes in game.


Cons: Not too much of a con for me to be honest, but it's worth metioning. For some people the gameplay in this game can seem repetitive. You search things, kill things, explore, do your objective, finish your mission, then leave the mansion. It can seem repetitive for some users, but I haven't found much of a problem with the gameplay. I'm still having just as much fun as I did back in the early access version of the game.

Overall, I give it 9 skeletons out of 10. I can see this game being a cult classic in the future. I really think you should buy it. It's worth the 20 bucks.

Early Access Alert: Opinion is subject to change during development.

Worth It? NOT YET

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER
(After struggling with the control scheme and overall repetitive, boring gameplay, I lost all desire to continue playing, hence the low play time.)

LIKES

• Charming paper-craft aesthetic
  
• Evil Dead "Ash" character tie-in is rad
  

DISLIKES

• Controls are cumbersome on keyboard/mouse, feels a bit better using controller
  
• Combat consists of spamming one button
  
• Enemies are one-dimensional
  
• Animations are rigid
  
[*]Pacing is slow

The Final Word

despite being early access, this game gets real boring and repetitive quickly. The developers need to expand on gameplay in general. I will revisit this when it is released to give it another shot

I really like the game, and it is a lot of fun, and scary too for a pussy like me :D

I ended up making a funny moments of my first play with the nerd :)
You can check that out here if you want https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgxNGpNcQ-k&t=25s

Update: The additional updates have been exactly what the game needs. More challenge and traps from each room making the journey through the mansion much more tense. I'd say the controls are a bit awkward (moving with A and D while attacking with Q W E) and the back tracking through empty spaces kills a bit of the fun, but I can safely say it's enjoyable as it is and headed in the right direction!

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I hope they plan on doing some major updates because right now it's incredibly slow paced, extremely dull with many empty areas, and finally it's extremely easy for a rogue-like game.

The hardest part is convincing yourself it's worth slowly walking through rooms to complete mundane objectives while finding locked doors forcing you to slowly walk back through all the rooms you went through that are now empty if there were any enemies in them to begin with. They also overload you with equipment so nothing ever feels like a threat... the only time I ever really take damage is from falling chandeliers.

Basically, it's boring and there's a major lack of action... the complete opposite of Evil Dead.

Bought this game because the Evil Dead movies are some of the best horror movies ever made and you can play as ash and it looked like cool game to. Played one level died trying to master keyboard and mouse controls switched to controller much easier if useing keyboard and mouse I would remap keys not sure if you can. Managed to escape on second go all in all this game is good but after a few updates and hopefully multiplayer this game could be excellent.

Just completed my first playthrough on the first try. This game is extremely fun, and has a lot of potential. Basically, so far, you are given a mission that you have to complete by going through the mansion, picking up machine guns, rifles, shotguns, flare guns, and an assortment of other ranged and melee weapons. An interesting but hard to control mechanic is that you can 'rescue' two people in the house that will aid in your battle. The problem with this is that they follow close behind you but you cannot control their movement. This makes giving them a melee weapon basically useless, as they will take damage because they wont be able to move away. This means that you will end up giving them the guns and you having to slowly melee your way through the mansion, not that thats a big inconvenience. The monsters are classic: skeletons, bats, and zombies. Although they are basic they can be a pain to put down, especially with melee weapons. I would like to see scarier monsters in future update, and maybe some more movie tie-ins. Overall a fun that reminds me of old school slow paced survival horror like alone in the dark.

Neat looking game, with a quirky graphics style. Reminded me slightly of a more modern day Darkest Dungeon, except this isn't turn based - it's real time, which works pretty well.

I started off as Ash (who wouldn't?) and fought my way past several undead with my trusty boomstick, before it ran out of ammo. Uh oh. Well, I'd found a fire axe and a crowbar, so I could melee further undead - this requires decent timing to move forwards, strike (hope you proc a knockback) and withdraw until you're ready to swing again.

Pretty quickly though I found a pistol, rifle and SMG, along with just enough ammo to keep me going.

Also, I rescued two other people, who travel with me on my quest to kill Evil Ash.

This gets pretty neat, because now you can equip all 3 characters and activate their weapons using the keys Q, W or E.

"Hey, Evil Ash!" *boomstick* *rifle-shot* *continuous SMG fire*

"Uh huh, that's what I thought, bitch!"

Quest successful, it's then a case of fighting a way back out of the haunted house (new monsters spawn) and done!

Yup, finished it first go, without too much difficulty.

I may have been very lucky? Dunno.

Not sure on the longevity of the game though, but it's early access, so I'm hoping they'll keep adding to it.

Would be nice if there was some sort of cut scene / ending appropriate to the character when you complete - would add incentive to complete with the variety of different characters. :)

Overall, thumbs up - took me bang on 30 mins to play through.

Genre - 2D Survival Roguelike Horror

This is my first impression of Early Access. 30 minutes and dead.

I got this game today with a small discount as it has the Evil Dead License and looked quite a nifty little game. The art style is an origami based horror.

You wander around a haunted house salvaging what you can from the various furniture items in the background. You will get such things as a torch, shotgun, machine gun, medi kit, flare sledgehammer, axe etc. All the Zombie killing tropes are satisfied here.

There are chandeliers that will fall on you doing 3 dmg, when you can only take 10 dmg, these will be painful (pretty much the reason I died). I found my first fellow survivor who will follow you around and will allow you to equip items.

You have a main questline. As Ash it was to find Evil Ash and not die (which I failed by dying), although I seemed to be getting close. The foes I encountered were zombies, skeletons and clowns. There are a lot of items to get although medikits seemed rare.

At the moment there doesn't appear to be a clear save function as I assume it is going roguelike. Although it might be nice to have one if you want a break. Also other survivors lends its way to a co-op mode that isn't currently there, even if it was just local. Although online would double this games appeal. Also there are no achievements, and we all (mostly) love achievements.

As an early build this game is already fun and has loads of potential so it gets a thumbs up from me.