While Blair Witch is rough around the edges, it’s a survival-horror treat that will no doubt delight fans of the long-running franchise. It stays true to what makes the myth so alluring while propelling it in some unpredictable new directions. Certain mechanics feel clumsy and don’t always hit the mark, while the console controls combined with inconsistent performance feel quite unwieldy. But with Bullet by my side, I wasn’t alone in the Black Hills Forest, and it’s a journey I’ll happily take again.
advantages
- Staying true to and building on the Blair Witch universe
- Exploring the forest alone is unpredictable and scary
- Bullet is adorable and adds some mechanical complexity
- The feeling of isolation is brilliantly implemented
disadvantage
- The original film is discreetly left behind
- Not all mechanics work as well as you would hope
- Iffy performance on consoles
key specifications
- Evaluation Price: £24.99
- Developer: Bloober Team
- Genre: survival horror
- Release date: August 30, 2019
- Platforms: Xbox One, PC
I’ve always been fascinated by The Blair Witch Project. As a young girl I watched it with my siblings, the low-budget found footage phenomenon drew me so much that I didn’t sleep for several nights.
A relatively unremarkable horror film became a superstar thanks to one of the world’s first viral marketing campaigns, which convinced audiences that the film was real and portrayed three people as realistic as they are. With this card in hand, The Blair Witch Project defined a generation of horror fans.
This grew into a franchise that led to two sequels, several books, and video games that helped expand the mythos of Burkettsville, Maryland. But many of these failed to capture the subtlety of the original film, prone to lazy jumpscares and exaggerated theories rather than terrifying the viewer with what they couldn’t see.
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Archaic technology like old-school phones and walkie-talkies help make the world feel authentic and extra spooky
So comes Blair Witch, a survival horror experience from the minds behind Layers of Fear and Observer. The development bloober team has a consistent record when it comes to immersive first-person experiences, so lending their craft to this franchise could be a dream come true.
For the most part, it delivers by expanding the universe in cleverly unexpected ways, even as it sacrifices the delicate touch its ancestor valued so highly. It contains a narrative that begins with a melodic sense of panache, drawing me into a mystery surrounding the witch before descending into psychological horror that doesn’t always work but is frightening nonetheless.
Set in 1996, Blair Witch inhabits a world where Heather, Mike and Josh are long lost to the Black Hills Forest and nothing has been recovered except for tapes chronicling their deaths. The local population is afraid of the forest, either out of genuine fear or exaggerated paranoia. It’s a place you don’t enter, although our protagonist Ellis has no choice when a little boy disappears.
A former cop, Ellis and his controversial past, after a few hours, approach the narrative setting of Blair Witch – blessing or curse depending on one’s connection to the universe. I would have loved to have explored the forest and found historical details that explain why this anachronistic legend was born. The franchise has proven it has staying power of epic proportions, attracting hardcore fans desperate to brood over all the small details. I was willing to do something like that, but it didn’t work.
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Even in the rare instances of light, Blair Witch never makes you feel safe
However, the story of Ellis remains compelling. His past as a soldier in the Gulf War left some serious mental scars, a condition that fits well with how The Witch of Blair plays with her victims, trapping them in a world that is inevitable and never changing. This results in some brilliantly inventive visual showpieces, turning a damp, dark wood into a shower of artillery blasts and machine gun fire. While it works, it’s also a far cry from the subdued elements I come to this series for.
However, that element of terror is still there. Exploring the forest with little more than a flashlight, archaic means of communication, and your trusty canine companion, Bullet, makes for some harrowingly tense moments.
Survival horror titles rarely leave you in complete darkness, but Blair Witch often does so and is not afraid to leave the player in a world of utter helplessness. I’m a fearful cat, so I kept sprinting, praying nothing lingered between the trees that flanked me in every direction.
Blair Witch’s use of atmospheric sound cues and foreboding ambient music is among the best I’ve seen in the genre this generation, and instills a level of palpable fear that had me cowering behind the controller. Often there was nothing to fear, the sound design working its magic as I jumped onto shadows and objects suspiciously peering into the periphery. When the monsters, ghosts or whatever they are called appear, the mechanical inconsistencies also come to light.
Bloober Team is definitely ambitious and has created a semi-convincing combat method for Blair Witch. You’ll encounter all kinds of beasts throughout the campaign, but ethereal monsters are by far the most common. These linger in the dark, and you’ll need both a flashlight and a bullet to hold them back. Bullet will bark in their general direction, and you can damage them by aiming your flashlight directly at them. Do this a few times and you’ll be safe, alone in the woods again.
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In fact, if I ever see one hanging from a tree, I’m leaving the country
Bullet is a good boy and can be instructed to stay, follow you, or lead the way in search of objectives or hidden items. You can also rub his stomach at any time, which of course is very important. It’s an intriguing mechanic, although selecting options from the cumbersome radial menu is frustrating – especially amid a series of panic-inducing panic attacks. Bullet can also invade the environment at times, ruining the illusion that this is a living, breathing world of terror.
Ellis also possesses a video camera that allows him to manipulate reality, drawing on the reality-altering elements that the new age of Blair Witch draws so heavily on. Tapes can be found throughout the Black Hills Forest, providing context to the events of the game while presenting themselves as intricate puzzles. For example, an early tape showed two characters walking toward a tunnel, one of them trailing a baseball. When you hold the viewfinder to the real scene, the ball magically appears.
These situations are pleasant and sometimes really head-scratching. On one occasion I was perpetually at a loss trying to move a fallen tree blocking my path. Turns out I used the wrong tape and the solution was obvious, but I still had fun playing with the environment to make it feel alive. The camera comes into its own in later encounters as well, reflecting the 2016 film brilliantly. As divisive as this film has become, it got some things right.
verdict
While Blair Witch is rough around the edges, it’s a survival-horror treat that will no doubt delight fans of the long-running franchise. It stays true to what makes the myth so alluring while propelling it in some unpredictable new directions.
Certain mechanics feel clumsy and don’t always hit the mark, while the console controls combined with inconsistent performance feel quite unwieldy. But with Bullet by my side, I wasn’t alone in the Black Hills Forest, and it’s a journey I’ll happily take again.