Forget Spooky VR Demos: Ghost Town Just Dropped on PSVR2 and It's a Proper Supernatural Thrill Ride
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Fireproof Games' *Ghost Town* is a mind-bending VR puzzle adventure that just hit PSVR2, dragging you into a brilliantly authentic 1983 England to solve a supernatural mystery that's far more cinematic than your average ghost hunt. It's easily one of those unexpected gems that sticks with you, mate, offering a uniquely immersive and engaging experience.
Right, gather 'round, folks, because I've been doing some serious digital spelunking, and I've stumbled across a gem that's finally made its way to PSVR2. We're talking about *Ghost Town*, developed by the clever clogs at Fireproof Games. Now, I've seen my fair share of 'cinematic' VR games – most of 'em are about as cinematic as watching your mate try to untangle Christmas lights. But this one? This is a different kettle of fish entirely, and honestly, it’s been rattling around in my brain like a loose cog in a magical device since I first got wind of it.
From the moment you hit play, before you even get to a menu, *Ghost Town* doesn't muck about. You’re just… there. Plonked in a dingy, rain-lashed South London car park under a moody moon. Fog slinks across grimy tarmac, sirens wail in the distance, and a brutalist council block looms over you. And just for a moment, as Matt Wales pointed out in his brilliant Eurogamer review that first piqued my interest, it feels incredibly, almost unnervingly real. That's a powerful start for any game, let alone one that's about to drag you through multiple planes of reality. Seriously, the sense of time and place here is utterly transporting – a digital portal to another dimension, if you will.
Fireproof Games, bless 'em, are masters of atmosphere, and *Ghost Town* is no exception. One minute you're navigating a haunted theatre – all dusty red velvet and fading grandeur – the next you’re out on the choppy, grey waters of the North Sea in a fishing boat, probably wishing you'd packed a digital waterproof. Then it's back to London's back alleys, so vividly realised you can practically smell the (ahem) *authentic* urban aroma. Wherever this game takes you, be it the mortal realm or the planes beyond, its gloomy invocation of 1983 England is wonderfully convincing. This isn't your saccharine, neon-soaked, '80s pop montage. Oh no, mate. This is the era of Thatcher, the burgeoning bedroom coding scene, the rise of the New Romantics, and the shiny new pound coin. It’s a grittier, greyer, and frankly far more refreshing take on the decade than the overplayed crop-top-and-shopping-mall nostalgia we usually get.
Now, none of this directly intrudes on the core narrative, but there’s an air of authenticity to it all (speaking as a wizard who grew up with *Willo the Wisp* and *Manic Miner*) that brilliantly grounds an otherwise fantastical game. Fireproof, known for the intricate occult Victoriana of their award-winning *The Room* series, has traded the puzzle boxes for a full-on urban fantasy. And frankly, it’s a refreshing turn. Urban fantasy remains curiously underrepresented in video games, so to see a studio of this calibre dive headfirst into a world where magic co-exists with the mundane – where witches and wizards do spywork for the Ministry of Defence – is bloody brilliant. You play as Edith Penrose, a South London witch and ghost hunter, desperately searching for her missing younger brother, Adam. The core premise might not reinvent the wheel, but what it loses in radical originality, it gains in the telling.
And on that front, Fireproof's first-person supernatural mystery adventure is a gem. Before I get too lost in the bigger picture, I should probably remind you that *Ghost Town* is, at its heart, a puzzle game. If you've ever lost an afternoon (or three) to *The Room* series, the evolution here is clear. *Ghost Town* is similarly obsessed with manipulation, where interactivity and physicality intertwine to pull you deeper into its world. And in a world that feels as richly realised as this one, that's a particularly potent combination. They've taken the fascinating tangibility of *The Room's* beloved puzzle boxes – those wonderfully intricate, alchemical contraptions fashioned from magic and machinery – and gone further. They're as well-represented as ever, but now their innate inward nature combines with puzzles spanning outwards, forming elaborate chains across entire rooms. It’s satisfying stuff, if rarely especially challenging; Fireproof sensibly prioritises narrative momentum over difficulty, which is a smart move for a VR experience like this. But you’ll also encounter more mundane interactions – levers to yank, elevator buttons to punch, jerryrigged computers with clicky switches and chunky dials – adding another layer of engrossing verisimilitude. It all just adds to the brilliant illusion, making you feel like you're truly *in* this world.
But back to the telling. It's easy to bandy around the word 'cinematic' where games are concerned, usually meaning 'we slapped a few fancy cutscenes in here.' *Ghost Town*, though, is *properly* cinematic as it unfolds around you, with a real flair for a set-piece and some impressive mise-en-scène that's genuinely like being plopped into the middle of your own film. It kicks off with a flashback: you, Edith, investigating a haunting in a long-abandoned London theatre, with Adam tagging along. It’s a brilliantly choreographed opener, immediately setting the tone. The dialogue feels authentic, the naturalistic performances exude warmth and wit, and the vibe is cinematic in all the right ways.
There’s a cracker of a moment just a minute or two in, for instance, as your wanderings around the theatre’s tatty foyer lead to a barred set of double doors. You grip both handles with your hands (VR, remember?) then fling them wide, doors swinging open to reveal just the most perfectly spooky corridor – all awkward angles, ominous graffiti, and moody lighting – stretching away beyond. Minutes on, you get a first big 'wow' as the claustrophobic corridor suddenly opens out onto the theatre’s cavernous auditorium. And it only gets better from there. Soon, the past makes way for the present, and you’re bobbing along in a tugboat out at sea. Two minutes after, you’re dodging seagulls and scrambling up jagged rocks as a perfectly framed lighthouse stands stark against the Scottish sky, waves crashing perilously below you. Still later, a flashback to suburban comforts and a hard cut from day to night; then it’s back to the rain-lashed present of your towering tenement block, creeping through its grey concrete corridors.
You’ll scout out grimy London alleyways, explore long-forgotten Underground stations; there's a sequence set on the sea bed, another that launches you skyward on an out-of-control elevator as your surroundings waver unstably back and forth in time. It just feels relentlessly, effortlessly cool, and always, Fireproof finds fun, surprising new ways to present its action. At one point, a conversation plays out simultaneously across two planes of reality, and you're free to toggle back and forth at will – the studio just going that extra mile because, one, it works for the story, and two, well, because it *can*. And that’s before things get *really* weird. It's just genuinely fantastic stuff; pacey, propulsive, and consistently engaging across its five-or-so hour runtime, every little element, all that attention to detail, coming together in a way that just feels right.
Honestly, I've played a fair few corkers this year, but it's *Ghost Town* – with its many, many brilliantly orchestrated moments – that has burrowed its way into my brain like a particularly catchy earworm. It’s a masterclass in atmospheric VR, blending subtle world-building with clever puzzles and genuinely surprising set-pieces. If you’ve got a PSVR2, a Meta Quest, or a PC VR setup gathering digital dust, do yourself a favour and dive into this magical underbelly of England. You won't regret it.
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*This article was inspired by and drew insights from the original piece by Matt Wales titled 'Brilliantly cinematic supernatural thrill ride Ghost Town is finally on PSVR 2 and it's easily one of my favourite games this year' published on Eurogamer on December 14, 2025.*
Tags: VR Games, Puzzle Games, Supernatural Thriller, Fireproof Games, PSVR2
Original article: Eurogamer