14 DAY TRIAL // 
It’s weird how little vinyl disks I have in the crate next to my radio host station. I’ve gone through all of them once and now I’m trying to decide which of them is worthy of a second listen. I might have been playing music even during important conversations, only stopping when my engineer actually demanded that so I could take a call.
Now I have a pretty pompous journalist on the line, now pretty terrified that the Whispering Killer might be stalking him. There’s a plan to save him from this murderer, who’s whistling constantly as he prowls this small city and has already eliminated the sheriff and forced the deputy to go to another town to seek help. I’ve already gotten one citizen of this city out of trouble tonight and I’m pretty sure I can guide this one to safety.
So I go scouring the shared office space of this small radio station, trying to find the fax machine. I get a small, badly drawn map. My only other tools are a good brain for puzzles, the advice of trusted producer Peggy, and the ability to call any phone that I know the number for (this is the ‘80s, so no mobiles yet). Let’s puzzle and talk it out to capture a killer.
Killer Frequency is developed and published by Team17 Digital. I played on the PC using Steam. It is also available on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older devices from Microsoft and Sony. The game is designed to use the Oculus Quest II virtual reality headset. This is a narrative-focused game with good writing and voice work.
Players become Forrest Nash, former big-time radio host now relegated to hosting the only late-night show in a town ominously named Gallows Creek. The show is called The Scream and all the records in his collection hint at violence. His evening gets really interesting when the sheriff gets murdered by the Whistling Man. The other two police officers drive away to get help and settle Nash and producer Peggy with working the 911 line. It’s not easy to keep citizens alive while hosting a decent radio show.
The story walks the fine line between actual horror and a cheesy 80’s B movie. On the serious side, terrified citizens call the radio show and players have to find a way to get them out of danger and find out more about the killer stalking the streets of the city. But there are also incredibly fun commercials on cassettes that players need to get on air, a repeated gag about a local business, and plenty of ironic versions of VHS tapes and magazines from the era.
It’s an intriguing universe, even if the actual space that players will move through only encompasses the actual radio station and a little open space on its outside. Forrest Nash is a wordsmith and talking is his main way of interacting with the world. Paggy, the producer, helps by telling him how to operate the equipment and by pointing out when something important comes up.
Because it’s developed with VR in mind, the game is very tactile. Players need to put records on the player, push all kinds of buttons, and they can fiddle with microphones and a pretty decent soundboard. There’s an endless supply of paper to crumble and then launch toward the miniature basket hoop. Plenty more objects, some of them crucial to the story and some designed to only add flavor, are spread around the many rooms inside the radio station that will require keys from Peggy to unlock.
But Killer Frequency mostly asks players to talk, trying to understand the situations callers are in to then figure out a way to get them out alive. Conversations require choices, some of them with added time pressure, that will decide character fates and what ending the player heads toward. It’s a sign of good writing that the small town and its citizens feel alive although players have to imagine the places they visit and how they act.
The game can be finished in three sessions, with Peggy helpfully talking about the best moment to take a break. I found that its final act moves a little too quickly and fails to give players enough time to fully appreciate some of its reveals. But the game has a strong premise and delivers solid immersion to compensate for that.
Killer Frequency creates a relatively small universe that looks good and is filled with a lot of small details. Because this is a virtual reality title, players can interact with a lot of objects that aren’t directly involved in gameplay. I like the artwork for the albums players can find and play, as well as the design of the magazines, which add to the immersion level.
But the best part of the title’s presentation is the audio. The game is fully voiced and everyone involved does a good job, conveying terror when it is required but also sneaking in jokes and references. The quality of the music that gamers can play is also good and it’s very cool to hunt for new records through the radio station. It’s a shame that all tracks are instrumental, which doesn’t fully vibe that ‘80s atmosphere.
The Good
- Good serial killer story
- Great voice work
- Puzzle design
The Bad
- Rushed final act
- Needs more records
- Some conversations moves slow
Conclusion
The voice actors deserve a lot of praise, especially for making their narratives interesting enough that I often forgot to constantly try to make crumpled paper free throws from my DJ station. The title does not outstay its welcome, at around 4 hours for a first run, and there’s replayability if players really want to keep everyone alive. Killer Frequency doesn’t reinvent its genre but it is engaging and simply fun.
A review key was provided by the publisher
