General Information
You play Rebecca Owens, fresh out of mortuary school and starting her job at River Fields morgue. The head mortician takes her through the paces of embalming a fresh cadaver, before leaving her to fly solo on the first night shift. That first shift doesn't quite go as planned, as Rebecca learns that her real job is to banish demonic forces from the host bodies they inhabit.
After a shaky start, with clunky dialogue and fiddly controls, The Mortuary Assistant takes a serious turn into one of the most atmospheric horror experiences on PS5.
At the start of each shift, the clock is ticking as Rebecca is slowly possessed by one of the many randomized demons inhabiting the morgue's deceased residents. Scribbling on a notepad in the inventory will reveal her current level of possession, as will the severity of the strange occurrences around her.
Defeating a demon is a multi-stage process that will require you to find out the name of your possessor and cremate the corpse it hides in. As you go through the motions of embalming bodies, you'll have to search the office and handy demon database for clues. All the while you'll be harassed by visions, a UI you can't trust, and several haunt sequences that need to be experienced without spoilers.
The scares are so effective that we were shocked to discover, after a few nerve-shredding shifts, that the game's 'haunt aggression' slider was set to low.
The story has multiple endings and there's a wealth of secrets to unravel if you can evade the demons long enough to poke around.
Not since P.T. has PlayStation seen such an effective single location horror experience. With its simple setup, looping story, and inventive scares, Mortuary Assistant is borderline essential for genre fans.
