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Hand on heart, I wasn’t convinced when I first saw the announcement trailer for the upcoming Halloween game. And in a lot of ways, I’m still on the fence. It is launching as the latest in a very crowded genre of isometric PvP games based on iconic horror franchises, where games like Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Texas Chainsaw Massacre have struggled to keep players after launch. However, the trailer at the most recent PlayStation State of Play has given me just a spark of hope.

The first thing that the new gameplay footage for Halloween highlighted was the 1970s aesthetic, which is perfectly in keeping with the era of the original Halloween film. Everything from the panelled walls to the floral wallpaper to the rotary phones (for our younger readers, those are the things attached to the walls in the video) makes it feel exactly like you’ve just walked into your Nana’s house. The only thing missing is the decorative jar of butterscotch candies on the table.

However, the thing that really makes it feel like we’re in the world of Halloween is the Shape Jump ability that the gameplay trailer shows off. While I’m generally opposed to giving Michael Myers any supernatural abilities other than being ridiculously durable, it is hard to disagree that he clearly can do something akin to teleport. The massive dude shows up out of nowhere without making a sound to jump scare viewers and horny teenagers alike.

I’m not convinced that I like the way Shape Jump looks (why does he turn into an inky blob?), but I love the fact that it exists at all. Clearly, the developers know what makes Michael Myers actually scary, which gives me hope that the game will find an audience. 

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