History VideoGame / Ghostship

* ObviousBeta: The games were all made by a single programmer, who was largely self-taught and learning the Unreal engine on-the-fly while making the first game. As a result they're all incredibly janky.
** The first game has extremely limited graphics options (including only 2 available resolutions, 720p and 1080p) as well as the complete inability to rebind keys.
** The tactics of the enemy aliens largely consist of jumping into your hitbox and bouncing around half-clipping inside you until you die.
** The scripting of several missions is unclear, and it's often impossible to tell whether you're doing something wrong or the game is just broken.
** If you change maps while hold a laser weapon, its battery stops recharging until you fire it. If its battery is at 0 when this happens, it effectively becomes useless.

* LetsPlay: The first game had featured playthroughs by [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee Croshaw]], Creator/JimSterling, and Website/GiantBomb, all of which took it as hilariously bad.

* KillEmAll: In the second game, you know you're on track for the bad ending if the first thing [=ASMI=] asks you to do is hunt down and kill all surviving crew members, who she claims are infected. Said crew members are usually your allies in other playthroughs, but in a "kill all crew" playthrough they'll attack you on sight, making it impossible to ''not'' follow [=ASMI=]'s orders.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Your squad leader Captain Krillon from ''Ghostship Chronicles'' certainly sounds the part, though you never see his face since none of the characters ever remove their armor spacesuits.

The third game in the series, ''Ghostship Chronicles'', was scheduled for a 2019 release before being pushed back, finally being released in November 2020. It features an entirely new engine with completely overhauled gameplay and presentation. The game takes place on a new ghost ship, the [=CDF=] ''Heckel & Thomas'', which has also been infested by the same zombie-creating alien infestation that befell the ''Goliath''. The player and 3 A.I.-controlled teammates comprise a [=CDF=] spec ops team sent to investigate the missing ship, and must explore the ship to discover what happened to it. It is somewhat more linear than the previous 2 games, with more maze-like levels. The game is divided into 6 chapters, with multiple endings based on factors such as how many of your squad mates survive the journey.

The third game in the series, ''Ghostship Chronicles'', was scheduled for a 2019 release before being pushed back to 2020. It features an entirely new engine with completely overhauled gameplay and presentation.

* AIIsACrapShoot: [=ASMI=], the ship's onboard computer, seems to be heavily influenced by such luminaries of human-computer relationships as [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} GlaDOS]] and [[VideoGame/SystemShock SHODAN]]. While she often serves as your MissionControl, she has quite a few "off" moments that make you wonder whether or not you can really trust her. She doesn't do anything overtly hostile in the first game, though one path in the second game shows she's genuinely a manipulative villain.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: The second game has been rebalanced to be less frustrating; enemy speed has been rebalanced so that killing them before they can reach you is easier, and dying no longer causes the game to delete your save file.

The third game in the series, ''Ghostship Chronicles'', is scheduled for a 2019 release. It features an entirely new engine with completely overhauled gameplay and presentation.

The ''Ghostship'' series are a set of non-linear, open-world SpaceIsolationHorror FirstPersonShooter PC games by [=MAG=] Studios, a one-person U.K. indie development studio consisting of self-taught programmer Shaun Williams. The games are set on an abandoned space dreadnought, the [=CDF=] ''Goliath'', which has become overrun by zombies and hostile insect-like aliens.

Not to be confused with the [[Film/{{Ghostship}} film of the same name]].
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One key feature of all the games is that the plot is randomly generated on each new playthrough; each game has about 4 entirely different story paths, and character dialogue and behavior is randomly chosen from several different possibilities. Certain areas that could be accessed in one playthrough may be locked down in another playthrough because the character that you needed to open them for you is not alive in that playthrough.

** The second game has 1 story path in which [=ASMI=] asks you to repair the ship (which ends with you escaping with Brown and Yasov), 1 in which you asks you to kill the "infected" surviving crew members (which ends with you escaping with Brown and Gibbons), and 1 story path in which you meet up with Captain Frank instead and explore the Icarus Space Station instead of the ''Goliath''. The two [=ASMI=] story paths also have an alternate ending where you side with [=ASMI=] instead of the survivors, which is also much faster than going for the survivor endings.

** The second game has 1 story path in which [=ASMI=] asks you to repair the ship (which ends with you escaping with Brown and Yasov), 1 in which you asks you to kill the "infected" surviving crew members (which ends with you escaping with Brown and Gibbons), and 1 story path in which you meet up with Captain Frank instead and explore the Icarus Space Station instead of the ''Goliath''. The two [=ASMI=] story paths also have an alternate ending where you side with [=ASMI=] instead of the survivors.

* MultipleEndings: Each game has 4 different endings, based on 4 different storyline paths which are randomly determined whenever you start a new playthrough. The first game has 2 endings focused on [=ASMI=] and 2 endings focused on Riggs (your partner). The second game has 1 ending where you follow all of [=ASMI=]'s orders, 1 ending in which you side with Sgt. Brown and escape with the help of Yasov, 1 ending in which you escape with the help of Gibbons, and 1 completely different story path in which you team up with Captain Frank and explore the Icarus Space Station instead of the [=CDF=] Goliath.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: The plasma shotgun kills most enemies in one shot, and is the ideal weapon for dealing with enemies at close range.

* MultipleEndings: Each game has 4 different endings, based on 4 different storyline paths which are randomly determined whenever you start a new playthrough. The first game has 2 endings focused on [=ASMI=] and 2 endings focused on Riggs (your partner). The second game has 1 ending where you follow all of [=ASMI=]'s orders, and 3 endings in which you escape with one of 3 different survivors (Gibbons, Yasov, and Captain Frank).

* CouldntFindAPen: Messages written in blood by the crew are found all over the ship; they often give you hints as to the location of useful items or the solution to various puzzles.

* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: The plasma shotgun in the second game kills most enemies in one shot, and is the ideal weapon for dealing with enemies at close range.

* MultipleEndings: Each game has 4 different endings, based on 4 different storyline paths which are randomly determined whenever you start a new playthrough. The first game has 2 endings focused on [=ASMI=] and 2 endings focused on Riggs (your partner). The second game has 1 ending where you follow all of [=ASMI=]'s orders, and 3 endings in which you escape with one of 3 different survivors (Gibbons, Yasov, and Captain Frank).

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: The game has two weapon types, laser and plasma. Laser weapons recharge their battery over time, but do relatively low damage. Plasma weapons fire ballistic projectiles and deal better damage, but need to be reloaded with ammo clips.

* ObviousBeta: The games were all made by a single programmer, who was largely self-taught and learning the Unreal engine on-the-fly while making the first game. As a result they're all incredibly janky. The first game has extremely limited graphics options (including only 2 available resolutions, 720p and 1080p) as well as the complete inability to rebind keys. The tactics of the enemy aliens largely consist of jumping into your hitbox and bouncing around half-clipping inside you until you die. The scripting of several missions is unclear, and it's often impossible to tell whether you're doing something wrong or the game is just broken.

The first game in the series, ''Ghostship Aftermath'', was released in 2014. Originally conceived as a VR title, the game has a rather unconventional HUD seen from the inside of a spacesuit helmet, with pop-up windows and weapons being aimed with a free-floating crosshair. The game also has SurvivalHorror ResourceManagementGameplay elements as ammo is somewhat limited and you only have 98 minutes of air in your spacesuit (though this can be refilled repeatedly in one particular location on the ship) and 60 minutes of battery time in your flashlight (which cannot be refilled). The game also deletes your save file whenever you die, forcing you to start a new playthrough.

* LetsPlay: The first game had featured playthroughs by [[Creator/BenCrowshaw Yahtzee Crowshaw]], Creator/JimSterling, and Website/GiantBomb, all of which took it as hilariously bad.