The Chant: PS5 Review

Developed by Brass Token

Published by Prime Matter

Platform: PS5

Horror is well served in the gaming world.

Whether it's the lurching thrills of the likes of Resident Evil with its jump scares, or the more cinematic edges of titles like Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures series or The Quarry, there's no sign of the gaming tide going out yet on this genre.

So, once again the survival horror is back with The Chant, a game that puts the cult front and centre of proceedings, and somehow manages to feel like a cross between all of the above, the Far Cry series and yet a fresh enough new entrant into the pantheon of proceedings.

When Jess is welcomed into a spiritual retreat by an old friend Kim, despite her misgivings, she heads along. Things get freaky when Tyler, the bearded guy in charge of the cult-like camp in the middle of nowhere ends up opening a portal called The Gloom to everyone's issues - can Jess survive the spiritual freakiness?

To survive The Chant, players must craft, fight, and escape the prismatic creatures and cultists set loose when a ritual goes wrong and awakens a psychedelic dimension of cosmic terror. It's fairly freaky and yet familiar stuff for those versed in the genre.

While graphically the game's colours, depths and textures soar, close ups of faces feel a little too uncanny valley and undersketched for the PS5 console - and with an occasionally clunky crafting system and a need to mash buttons to get by, the Chant feels like it's on a hiding to nowhere.

Yet, there are moments when it does provide a level of freakiness and a depth of darkness that's welcome, ensuring there are jolts and surprises when there need to be.

It may be destined more for a cult classic than anything else, but The Chant may cast a spell long enough on you to make you forget its flaws and just float away with its cosmic vibes.