Taken for a Quickie | White Noise 2

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Milkstone Studios’ White Noise 2 looks to horrify players, but are the shudders it induces brought on for all the right or wrong reasons? Join us in our eerie, torch-lit tent for a spooky quick one.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Developer: Milkstone
​Studios
Publisher: Milkstone
Studios
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Players: 1 - 5

Sooo, White Noise 2?

You’re easily forgiven never having heard of White Noise 2 or its Slender-inspired predecessor, though the change in direction between instalments is reason to take note. Now an asymmetrical multiplayer experience akin to Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight, the game sees up to four investigators hunt clues in order to banish an otherwise unkillable creature.

How does it compare to the games you mentioned?

Pretty well. It’s the cheapest of the bunch by a good margin at just £7.99, it has less technical issues - though they’re not absent altogether - and it nixes dreary waiting periods by having dead players respawn as ghosts and continue to serve an important role.

Sounds promising, but is it scary?

It’s definitely unnerving to know you’re being relentlessly stalked, especially considering you’re relatively unable to defend yourself. Creatures can be stunned by exposing them to limited light sources and subsequently fled at the mercy of a restrictive movement system; these limitations coupled with the inability to harm or truly escape the creature until the very end of a match keep tensions high throughout.

Investigators are progressively driven insane when observing the creature, leading to intense hallucinations that cause confusion as individual members of the team begin to see and hear different things. Communication and teamwork are absolutely vital to coming out on top, necessitating that you go against your instinct and turn your back on the deadly threat, catching only the odd glimpse to know it's approximate whereabouts. It’s often said that what you don’t see is scariest, and whoever said it first wasn’t wrong.

Investigators are progressively driven insane when observing the creature, leading to intense hallucinations that cause confusion as individual members of the team begin to see and hear different things.

How does playing as the creature fare?

Naturally switching from hunted to hunter saps the scares, but it’s nonetheless devious fun being the one to inflict them. While it’s an entertaining means to mix things up now and then, it can feel quite solitary, which had us missing the camaraderie of working in a tight-nit team to overcome the odds.

Does it get your stamp of approval, then?

White Noise 2 has plenty of maps, creatures and investigators that can be taken in on your own, cooperatively or competitively with any combination of players - adaptive balancing seeing to it that things remain challenging but fair - making for an accommodating and long-lasting experience in which you can both be terrified and inspire terror. If that sounds at all like your bag, it’s an easy recommendation at just £7.99.

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Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming let's play in which Sam and James fumble their way through a few early rounds of White Noise 2. It doesn't end well for them...