Disorientated and overwhelmed, I’m lost. Again.
It’s not surprising, really. This place is terrifying; it’s pitch black, my torch is useless (why do horror game protagonists carry such shite flashlights?), and when my canine buddy and I started this stroll, the camera panned out to show a very disquieting symbol stamped irrevocably, if surreptitiously, onto the footprint of Black Hills Forest.
Blair Witch reviewDeveloper: Bloober TeamPublisher: Bloober TeamAvailability: Out now on Xbox One and PC
Also, we’re in Burkittsville, Maryland, home of the infamous Blair Witch. As anyone familiar with the movie(s) knows, she’s not known for her hospitality (although to be fair, she’ll cheerfully invite you in – just mind the corners).
In many ways, this Blair Witch horror game is every bit as terrifying as you might be expecting. The woods are dark and confusing, full of twisted trees and rotten roots, secret whispers, and spooky totems. Sometimes a pathway will pull you back to where you started in a way that defies all logic and geography. You’ll move between times and places that shouldn’t co-exist, losing all sense of time and reality. Sometimes an old videotape can inexplicably manipulate the real world, pulling objects out of thin air, or sometimes it will show you something the naked eye alone cannot perceive. Sewn together, they’re an evocative patchwork of sensory spooks that emulate the crushing claustrophobia and terror of the (good) movies thanks to its stunning visuals and masterful use of sound.
Blair Witch delivers a twisted tale that’s neither unique nor particularly subtle – enough that I anticipated several of the major plot beats hours before they dropped, I’m afraid – but it’s to developer Bloober Team’s credit that my desire for resolution and corroboration kept me powering on in spite of the suffocating darkness. You play as Ellis, a former cop, as he and his canine partner head out to help search for a young lad that’s gone missing. As night falls, however, you’ll soon realise that the missing boy isn’t the only one at risk in the woods tonight.