After Layers of Fear 2, Bloober Team tried something new, a horror walking simulator in the dark woods and specifically straight in the woods of Blair Witch. That is, from the films that started the found footage genre and which introduced the Blair Witch to the world. In the game, the creators will take us to her forest in a new relaunch of the brand.
As the authors have said, the game will be the basis of the brand's further development and will fit into the story of other films. This leads us to the Black Forest, where, according to legends, the witch hides and is still controlled. But we're not going there for her or for a trip as a youth in movies. We're going in search of a lost boy who is another of the many disappeared in these forests.
More precisely, we come to 1996, the skin of a cop and former soldier Elis, marked by the trauma of the recent situation and the war. His girlfriend is taking it away, his work is mentally bad. However, he hopes that finding a lost boy in the mountains will help him. It will help you forget about the past, get rid of stress and get back to work. However, it will not be as simple as that. He is facing a difficult road and is questioning whether the dark forest can help him.
You go into the forest in the footsteps of a boy. You are not alone, the company is doing the police dog Bullet, which you also recently received and became your best friend. It soothes your depression and, on the contrary, you soothe him, and since you are following in the footsteps of the lost boy, he will be very helpful. It is part of the gameplay, it will look for things in the forest, can track by the smell and can lead you to a certain goal. You can praise him or give him a treat. It can also alert you to nearby dangers.
With the dog you will gradually get deeper into the woods, where you will discover the first tracks, the boy's tent, but also find his camera. Since the camera is the foundation of the entire Blair Witch brand, it is a natural complement. You will gradually find tapes to show you what has happened in that area. But not only show. Short videos are one of the basic elements of gameplay. These are not ordinary videos, you can rewind tapes and the environment around you changes as you rewind. You will use them to open doors, overcome obstacles and get the necessary things to move forward. It is an interesting game element and well integrated into the game.
But there is no need to think that you are alone in the forest. The forest is obsessed or dominated by something, and you will gradually find it very uncomfortable. Light-sensitive beings of darkness will appear and will want to stop you. But not only those, it will gradually expand to other dangerous enemies and you will know your main opponent. All this nicely revives the basic adventure game play, adds a real threat and creates a real horror atmosphere.
Most of the game will not know what it is all about. It combines the search for a boy, the mental problems of the character and the strange changes in the forest. You don't even know what's going on around you. Whether it's just in your head or it's real. You are brought back to reality by a radio that reminds you that the surrounding world still exists. Added to it is a Nokia-style phone that you used to be a friend of yours and has completely redesigned options from messaging, sms and animated small games. Who wouldn't play a snake in the woods in the evening?
More specifically, you have a serpent and a space shootout on your phone, but these are not really necessary features. You will use mainly SMS, which you will receive and alert you to various things and, for example, that not everything is here with the church order, because they come when you have no signal and from an unknown number. Not to mention the voices on the radio.
Expect a nice 6 hours of gameplay, with several ends, but as we are used to at the Bloober team, it is not clear which decisions are crucial or when you make them. It is hard to say whether any end is good or bad, but they are slightly different in how it turns out with the main characters. In addition to pursuing other ends, however, the game does not have great replayability options, you can only try to find all the collectible things.
The visual is very impressive. The authors were able to capture the forest, marshes, and the environment and everything in the woods, from old huts to small railways. Everything is mostly dark and your loyal friend is not only a dog, but also a flashlight. You will shine on the way and will also be your weapon against the dark. Maybe sometimes too weak, as the authors chose places too dark in places with little points to navigate, when it is already depressing. For example, you only navigate with shadows or a camera where you see otherwise invisible tracks.
Compared to Layers of Fear and similar adventures, environments are more open, so you can explore more deeply. Although it is mostly just finding the right path, if you unnecessarily turn somewhere, it often leads to straying. This "labyrinth" of forests along with darkness are such questionable design decisions of the authors. It may be a pity that if you go astray, the dog will not automatically help you and will not lead you on the right path. give him something to sniff and start hitchhiking, or if something is hidden in the area, he will find it.
The environment is detailed, as everywhere here, dense vegetation has an impact on the framerate. However, it is not somewhat optimized, or the framerate moves rather wildly according to your current area. Some go very well, others go slower. Obviously, the authors haven't tried such a challenging game yet and have not solved the optimization deeper. For example, RTX 2080 Ti will not give you 4K / 60fps, in more demanding areas it is about 40fps.
Overall, the Blair Witch development team Bloober very nicely pulled out. After such hesitant and less horrific Layers of Fear 2, Blair Witch is a brilliant example of what a psychological horror game should look like. It's scary, dark, and especially atmospheric. Although not perfect and guidance through the environment could be better done without straying and unnecessary darkness, but the dog is a unique addition. Just like camera flipping, time changes and various other mysterious things that you don't know what to think up to the last minute. Simply impressive.
