Bureau of Contacts Review (PC)

So there I was, calling out a mischievous spirit that had been stalking me for the duration of the evening hunt, blissfully unaware that AI, of all things, was listening in on the conversation, and was turning my own curse words against me to create a rather opaque ambiance. I had a spirit box—a nifty tool that just so happened to restrict itself to a mere hundred uses—and a vague idea of what I wanted to do. But in this world, a location in which paranormal activity was commonplace and movements were unpredictable, it felt as if I didn’t stand a chance of being able to gather the evidence of the afterlife, for the AI was cruel, and it oh-so desperately wanted me to perish, flee, or dart for the nearest exit with my tail tucked firmly between my legs. That, at least, was Bureau of Contacts.

Contrary to poplar belief, Bureau of Contacts isn’t a direct clone of Phasmophobia. Well, it is, and it isn’t, for it most certainly sports a lot of the same natural progression tactics and equipment as the cult classic, but at the same time, it does have its own cross to bear—a cross that, in all honesty, can be a total nightmare to navigate. As it turns out, there isn’t a map in the latest first-person AI-centric ghost hunting game, nor is there a lavish inventory system for you to lug your tools and fuses around in, either. And believe me when I say, we’re only just beginning to scratch away at the surface here. But, for the sake of lathering a bit of context over the matter, allow me to rewind it back to the midnight hour. Care to join us as we wage war with the afterlife? *sobs*

Commencing the Hunt

Bureau of Contacts operates in a similar fashion as Midnight Ghost Hunt, Paranormal Hunter or, if you can believe it, Phasmophobia: in each dive into the spiritual realm, you, a curator of paranormal intelligence, are given the opportunity to embark on mind-sweltering hunts—expeditions in which you must not only document and gather evidence of the supernatural phenomena in question, but also channel your inner voice to extract vital information from your trusty spirit box. But there’s a catch: the ghosts don’t tend to adhere to any particular pattern, but instead use the choices you make along the way to either outsmart you, or make your goal of harvesting information a living nightmare. Joy.

Let’s start out with the positives: the graphics — they are, for the most part, an absolute delight to marvel at, as is the clever, although somewhat limited usage of artificial intelligence—a feature that, while not naturally scary by any stretch, can churn out some pretty interesting events and outcomes. The only downside to this feature, of course, is that you cannot use your spirit box for indefinite periods of time; in fact, once you’ve hacked through all of your available credits, you’ll have to pay for more, otherwise the ghosts that haunt you won’t be able to respond in the same creative ways, and so on and so forth. So, there is a paywall of some sort in Bureau of Contacts — and that’s a crying shame, to be fair, as it would’ve been perfectly passable without it.

The Short Straw

While a lot of the gameplay features in Bureau of Contacts can be a lot of fun to explore, I can’t say that much of the actual ghost hunting experience is, I don’t know, scary. It isn’t scary, mainly due to the fact that, as far as setbacks go, the only thing the spirits in question are really capable of doing are transporting you to another portion of the map, or killing you outright with no formal warning. In other words, the expedition itself mostly consists of aimlessly wandering around a single map (without a map, weirdly enough), and completing short fetch quests—tasks that involve locating fuses for power points, and items to perform rituals and what have you. Sure enough, there are cliches, and a lot of them; the spirits will shut the power down, toy with your mind, and ultimately stalk you as you attempt to progress.

Speaking of making progress, it isn’t exactly made clear what it is you’re doing in Bureau of Contacts, or even what your purpose is other than to document your travels and activate the AI-generated communication model. And that’s, you know, fine — or at least, it would be fine, provided that the actual process of hunting ghosts was consistently engaging and entertaining. Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun in short bursts, but for me, I can’t say that I enjoyed the act of having to play hooky with the spirit realm just to slot a few fuses into a circuit breaker several times over. Presumably, the ghosts had a whale of a tormenting me, though I can’t say I was on a similar wavelength; frustration got the better of me.

Room to Grow

I’m certainly not about to shower Bureau of Contacts with eternal doubt and hatred, because it doesn’t deserve that sort of reception. Yes, it does seem to have left the gate a little prematurely, and yes, it could do with a few technical tweaks and all-round quality-of-life improvements, but that doesn’t change the fact that, at least from a concept standpoint, it’s still a genuinely interesting game, and not to mention one that’s more than capable of ironing out a few creases over the coming weeks or months. As for whether or not it’ll be able to hold a candle to the likes of its rivals, however, is unclear — at least at the time of this report, anyway. And yet, there’s room to grow; it’s merely the case of allowing it the room to breathe, that’s the problem.

While the future is uncertain for the likes of Bureau of Contacts, one thing still remains abundantly clear: if there’s a ghost hunting game that pulls on all the same trappings as a cult classic co-op horror, then chances are there’ll be a market for it. It’s still early days, though, so while we can really only comment on a set amount of its current contents and in-game values, we’re still only just about scratching away at a frosting of paint on a much, much larger canvas. In other words, we’re still learning the ropes, as are the folks over at MIROWIN — and so, if you’re looking for a definitive answer to whether or not Bureau of Contacts is worth pouring some time and effort into, then heed our warning: it’s still a fair ways off from reaching its final destination.

Verdict

I’m on the fence with this one, to be honest, as on one hand, I can almost envision its potential to become a riveting experience that could very well bring all of the seasonal trappings of a fantastic ghost hunting experience. But on the other, I’m a little more impartial towards the idea of having to fork over money for a “complete” story; naturally, if a game exhausts its greatest assets at the first hurdle and suddenly resorts to cheap marketing strategies to replenish them, then it’s likely to draw a one or two complaints. And on that note, I’m a little disappointed, for a game that’s still without a huge amount of content shouldn’t really be willing to sell itself at first dawn. And yet, it seems it wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to squeeze the cash cow before it even found a field to graze upon.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of potential here, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t keen to see a bit more of it once it has successfully managed to establish a foothold and lather a bit of extra content over the experience. At the time of writing, though, I can’t say that the product, at least in its current state, is fit for consumption, for it lacks the basic necessities of a touch-and-go co-op ghost-hunting game. Sure, its visuals are tidy, as are the audio and AI components. However, with only the one map to call its own, as well as an array of technical faults and misguiding factors, it seems that there’s still a bit of work left to do before it reaches its final phase. Fingers crossed, then, that we’ll be able to witness it reaching peak maturity before year’s end.