Killer Frequency puts you in the shoes of Forest Nash. A once big-time radio personality who now finds himself running a late-night radio show with his producer Peggy, in the small town of Gallows Creek.

An eery setting with a unique premise involving some puzzle-solving and quick wits. With branching dialogue options you’ll have to think carefully about the choice you make as they could shape a terrible fate for the citizens of Gallows Creek. All-in-all makes for a great horror adventure game.

Developed and published by Team17 who are also responsible for publishing other titles such as Trepang2 and Moving Out, alongside one of my favourite indie titles so far this year, DREDGE. Let’s get right into it!

The Scream 189.16

A Small Town

It’s a late night in the 80s at the KFAM radio station in Gallows Creek located in the mid-West USA and you’re presenting the adequately named “The Scream” show on 189.16. Forest Nash starts his shift and receives a troubling phone call from a police officer informing him that the sheriff has been murdered and that there is a killer on the loose. Armed with this information Forest and Peggy are left responsible for handling all 911 calls for the evening.

You’re a radio station first and foremost, so you have to keep the tunes rolling and the adverts playing when not dealing with potential victims over the phone. Citizens will unknowingly be put through to The Scream show when dialing the police and it’s up to Forest Nash to guide these callers to safety and give them the best advice possible so they don’t suffer a horrible fate. Of course, you don’t want to go outside yourself with a killer on the loose, so you’ll have to think quickly and try to use anything you find laying around the radio station to your advantage to give panicked callers the edge over the killer.

Initially, a slow start answering phone calls and getting to grips with how the mechanics of the game work left me feeling like I wouldn’t be doing much more than manning the decks and talking to people (which is a massive part of this game) but it does open up somewhat which was a bloody nice surprise, especially since the premise doesn’t feel like it allows room for it to do so. That’s not to put it down for this either, as the main aspect is basically just answering phone calls for the majority of the evening but it’s executed very well, and having some excellent voice-acting only strengthens what the game is aiming to do here and nails it in my opinion.

It has a very simple approach to its gameplay but still manages to deliver a lot without asking too much from the player or making them feel overwhelmed. The puzzles you will face throughout aren’t painfully hard and I appreciate that as I never found myself getting frustrated or stuck doing one thing for too long. They’re just right in their ability to make you think a little bit but not drive you insane and make you feel like you’re stupid or missing something which ultimately can end up killing all the tension but with Killer Frequency, the tension is always with you. In fear of spoiling a great experience, I don’t want to mention what exactly the situations and puzzles do actually involve, but they are very interesting and engaging. Helping people over the phone feels tense and engaging considering the fact you are actually just standing there, which is again elevated by the brilliant voice acting which helps bring characters to life, even if you never get to see them. Avoiding spoiler territory yet again and being as vague as possible here, the story is very intriguing and certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. There’s so much I adore about Killer Frequency to the point I would honestly have to rattle my brain to think of something I didn’t like.

Front desk at KFAM 189.16

1980s Comedy Horror

While the tension remains high they successfully manage to sprinkle in a healthy dose of comedy, too. Found myself having a good little giggle multiple times when talking to people and trying to find clues. There are plenty of highs with some good humor and lows where it ramps up the tension. It also keeps away from throwing endless amounts of jumpscares at you, instead relying on a good atmosphere and tension in all of the right places. That’s not to say that they don’t utilize a good ol’ jumpscare here and there, but that’s honestly all you need in that department. As a massive horror fan, it was very cool to see references to some of the greatest names in horror on the world map. Gallows Creek contains places like Carpenter Avenue, Romero Street, and Myers Lane to name but a few.

Killer Frequency’s visuals aren’t anything to shout home about, but they’re not bad either, they’re just nice and that’s perfectly ok. I love the 80s vibe the game gives off, accompanied by your choice of 80s tunes, you are the DJ after all! The story is the key standout here and it is surprisingly quite in-depth and it kept me hooked all the way up to the ending. There is no combat or anything of the sort here, which by no means is a complaint, but if that’s what you were hoping for then you’ll have to look elsewhere, sadly. For me, it’s great and this style of game works perfectly without the need for combat.

Explore the radio station

Survive The Night

Killer Frequency is an absolute delight to experience from start to finish. I can’t think of anything I didn’t enjoy. It all just works so well. You’ve got an intriguing story that keeps you invested, accompanied by superb voice acting some fun exploration, and really good character-building. It’s amazing how Killer Frequency kept me so engaged and gets you to care about characters you will never get to lay your eyes on. It’s a job well done for portraying as much emotion as it does considering all of your interactions are done over the radio waves.

Overall I just had a really good time playing Killer Frequency and honestly, at the time of writing this I can’t think of anything about it I would have liked them to have done differently or changed. I just had a very enjoyable experience from start to finish and I can’t recommend it enough. Taking me around 6 hours to complete it didn’t overstay its welcome there either. The length is another thing I appreciated about it too. Of course, I played on Xbox Series X but it is also playable in Virtual Reality, which I can only imagine is a very cool experience!

Launching on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Meta Quest Pro, and Quest 2 for around £25!

Kudos to Team17 for creating a unique horror adventure that’ll stick in my mind for a long time after. Don’t sleep on Killer Frequency.

95/100

Pros: Engaging Story, Superb Voice Acting, Fun Puzzles, Good Mix of Humour, Atmosphere.

Cons: N/A