Blair Witch in the Test

1999. The Internet for private use was in its infancy and far from self-evident, which it holds today as a source of information. Therefore, the curiosity was great, as the first rumors emerged that three of his students in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland, while filming a documentary about a local legend, disappeared. Doubts about the authenticity of the alleged a year later, found Tapes, had the audience hardly. Sent to the responsible Studio used the Internet to spread information, the “truth” to underline. The Blair Witch was born, and with this we get it now in the latest work of Bloober Team to do.

Ellis, a former policeman and war-scarred Veteran, heads into the woods of Burkittsville, to find the lost boys, Peter Shannon. The vanished child by a very strong sense of guilt connected Ellis to find that he is too late and the large-scale search operation, the local police just before the crash is. Not accept, wanting, for the Small hope, the traumatized Snoop with his dog Bullet in the ominous forest. All the warnings about a dark curse, which is to lie on the forest, in Spite of…

I think I’m in the forest…

The Blair Witch project, proposed in 1999, is a like a bomb and raised in the Found-Footage Genre from the baptism. Embedded in a fascinating Folklore of this peculiar Mix of fiction, facts know me and damn it to fascinate more skillful staging until today. Therefore, I asked myself often, why it came so far, to any (usable) implementation of the substance in the field of video games. The mythology around the Blair Witch offers a more than fertile ground for an exciting Horror Game. The combination of Found Footage and an uneasy forest environment as the Gameplay can work, the Free-to-Play title Slender – The Eight Pages back in 2012 impressively proved. Where, therefore, remained you, my Blair Witch?

Now it seems my prayers have been to be, as with Blair Witch , it has none other than the Polish development Studio Bloober Team , the material can match the daring, the developers behind my beloved and often-cited Layers of Fear are. Similar as in the Play of the Layers – series hatch, we are also in Blair Witch in the skin of a mentally broken character. As Ellis, we make us of a supernatural presence or is it maybe just a Manifestation of our guilt feelings, which make us, forcing us in the past? Bloober Team succeeds, once again, very good to keep open, whether we are dealing with a real threat, or the figment of our traumatised mind to do. An unpleasant question whose answer we don’t have to explore alone.







The best friend of the people

In the case of Blair Witch is a Horror-Walking-Simulator. Like in a Ghost train your strips through a forest, which seems to be not to the rules of the time-bound, and his very own plans with Ellis followed. It hurls us through different time levels or back to the dramatic moments in the life of the police officer. Always at his side and his most important anchor point in reality: his dog, Bullet. Bullet provides the largest unique feature of Blair Witch, in comparison to similar Games of its kind, is. It is used for Navigation through the forest, leads you to hidden Clues and points to approaching hazards. A Central Element of the gameplay of Blair Witch is your behavior toward the dog. You are rude and cold to him, will you be Bullet less sympathetic, and his support deny. You are showing him empathy and Affection, he will be a faithful companion. The relationship to Bullet also has an influence on the end of Blair Witch.

The Gameplay in General is somewhat rudimentary. We stroll through the macabre forest, solve frightening and mundane tasks (Find the valve!) and crossing the path of monsters. This we scare in a classic Alan Wake-style with our flashlight. Real Horror is, unfortunately, rather rare. Although the hallucinations in the forest staged a great, but surreal, as that would scare me. There would be a more subtle approach, similar to Slender, in my opinion, have been better. Is broken up the monotonous course of the game through the use of our camera. Again and again we find the Tapes we can watch. We keep the recording to a particular point in time, we can manipulate our environment. So we are faced with a spill door, and it is shown in the record as a freely accessible, we can pass this, after we have pressed in the right place to Pause.

Blair Witch gurgles most of the time, but with a, I think, is a very strong Story points. The Narrative relating to the processing of guilt feelings has me very close to that of Silent Hill 2 is remembered. This is one of the biggest compliments I can give, because I the Writing of Silent Hill 2 today still adore like the first time! In terms of Horror departs Blair Witch mostly with hand brake turns but in the last third, once it is a well-known building enters in the right and could my to fear a hungering heart but still with enthusiasm to fill.







Graphics for the creeps

What are the technology is concerned, is Blair Witch , not necessarily on the top rung of the ladder. The forest is during the day, to be considered absolutely beautiful. Even on the highest settings, the edges look a little pixelated and some of the textures are washed out. The sets in the night scenes, and it comes with the light of the flashlight, but a good atmosphere. Strangely, I found that Ellis has seemingly no body, because he can run through bushes and thickets of climbing without these respond somehow to him.

Unfortunately, Bullet is a sometimes life. Actually, I liked him Yes, but he is unfortunately he is not the smartest flower in the Meadow. So it can happen that he refuses to go to, in the Meadow slopes, or running away and in spite of several Calls no longer come back.

The controls worked well and the soundscape did a good job.



CONCLUSION

Long I have me a new computer game implementation of the Blair Witch longed for and even if the new titles are worlds better than the attempt from the year 2000, is Blair Witch 2019, unfortunately, no great success has become. This would give me the maue Gameplay not even bother if the staging of the Horrors would be good, but this is in Blair Witch , unfortunately, is rarely the case. The confrontations with the monsters while I had to re-search a subject, I went rather to the nerves than they scared me. Only towards the end of the turn and the Blair Witch right on and reveals what Potential this Game contains. Praise I want to mention the Story. To me the idea that it is in the case of Ellis, a man who is never really sure if he has it to do with a supernatural entity, or whether his sense of guilt begins to manifest itself liked. I look back on my time with Blair Witch back, I repent it not, this forest walk experience, but a pleasant high feeling, triggers that memory for me, unfortunately, is not.

What Blair Witch is? A Horror Game based on the myth of the film The Blair Witch project
Platforms: PC, XBox One,
Tested on: Intel Core i5-6500, 8GB RAN, Radeon RX Vega
Developer / Publisher: Bloober Team Bloober Team
Release: 30. August 2019
Link: Official Website