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Like most people, I was surprised by the announcement of the next Blair Witch Game. Film film adaptations are not uncommon, but they normally appear as film next to the film's release. Notoriously mediocre and almost always forgotten outside of the comic listicles, this cynically commercial plastic waste has earned its poor reputation. For those who are not familiar with this scourge, imagine how difficult it is for you to get excited about the fifth installment of a horror franchise. Now stretch this torture for 6 to 10 hours and strike a price of 30 to 60 dollars.
However, there are a few things that the Blair Witch game did to distinguish it from the pack. First of all, the game will not come out of the most recent movie. It's been three years since we saw our last Blair Witch film, and I can say generously that the hype for the franchise is not at its highest level. Secondly, the game will come out just a few months after the unveiling of E3. It's quite unheard of, especially for a title with that kind of story behind it (though now that I think about it, it looks a lot like what the recent Blair Witch film.) Last but not least, it is developed by Bloober Team, a studio behind the superlative Layers of fear and Observer. Add it all up and that's enough so that I'm at least curious.
That being said, Blair Witch was always fighting me. I am not a fan of the franchise. I know that some people swear by The Blair Witch Projectbut I was 10 when he came out. I was not able to see it in the movie theaters, I was not part of the hype, I did not hear about it through flyers posted in festivals, I did not discover the web page nor any of the others various factors people show why I do not understand. I will never have this authentic original The Blair Witch Project experience. And as a movie to watch in your living room with popcorn on the stove and your cat on your lap, it's not so great. I felt that the most recent Blair Witch was pretty good, although a little vague and fuzzy. I watched Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in preparation for the match (never tell me that I do not win my share), and I can say with certainty that this is the cinematic equivalent of being forced to listen to your nephew sing with Kidz Bop during a long drive.
It's a lot of installation, but I want to explain why I'm writing this article. I watch a lot of games and most of the time, I'm mad. Preview articles do not really make a lot of money. I'm not a big guy Blair Witch fan, delighted to hide from the spooky witch in the first person. I am a lover of horror games and I just want more good horror games. Blair Witch did not impress me because of the name behind it. This impresses me because what I played was really very good.
My practical demonstration lasted about 40 minutes and took place in five different areas of the game. Blair Witch, you take on the role of Ellis, a former cop looking for a missing child. The sites were a little shortened to focus on the key mechanisms, but it was said that the final product would have much more extensive levels. Having already played at Bloober team games, I knew what to expect: walking in the hallways, opening doors, lots of drawers, but scary things galore. All things that are still in peak form in Blair Witch. However, the phantasmagorical ghost rooms are now accompanied by a whole new mechanic. The most important of them is Bullet, the canine companion capable of Ellis.
Unlike most horror movie / game dogs, Bullet is much more than a symbolic conspiracy device used to escalate tension and make you take root for the good guy. Police dog trained, Bullet acts both as guide and guardian. He can show you the way, sniff clues and alert you to the presence of potential enemies. From a game design perspective, it's a great way to incorporate the practical need for goal markers with a non-existent user interface. You can also rent or punish Bullet, which will influence his behavior and change your moral status in the match. He is also adorable when you give him treats. Good boy, Bullet.
Besides the dog (as if you needed more), Ellis has many other tools, each with multiple functions. Ellis' cell phone can be used to make and answer calls. A walkie that speaks blips and bloops, and the frequency can be changed in ways that, I'm sure, will come in handy. It would not be Blair Witch without a camcorder, but the game takes a unique approach by allowing you to watch old tapes again and pause them to edit objects around the world. At the demo level, I would rewind images of a fight to open doors along the way.
Some other mechanics that I discovered just by browsing them. By opening the phone, you'll find a wealth of text, call history, voice messages and even a full version of Snake. Items in your inventory can be detected by Bullet, which, I'm sure, does something in the final game. The tools at your disposal are not only used as one-time keys to solve various puzzles, but are also used as narration devices. It's a treasure trove of mechanics that far exceeds your typical walking simulator. There is so much to explore here, and I can not wait to see how things are going.
Of course, none of this would matter if Blair Witch It was not scary. From what I've seen, the game is up to the lineage of the Bloober Team. There was a party in a cave where the lights went out (a cheap thing I knew). While tiring my eyes in the dark, I could distinguish the shape of a policeman with bright yellow eyes. This seems pretty typical. The kicker is, he did not do anything and did not attack me. Just a vague shape looming in the shade, it was more terrifying than any fear of jumping.
Then I entered a spooky house, full of opportunities for things to come up and go, "boo". But nothing has happened. Until … It's a simple idea, but all too often, games overload the shock and the impression. This decreases its effectiveness as you become immune to high-pitched cries and jack-in-the-box ghosts. Blair Witch was more economical with the jumps of fear, but the little that they had was won. If the demonstration is an indication of the final product, stimulation and mixing of puzzles to the action are perfect.
I will stop my summary here because I can not say more about the demo. Blair Witch is superb. The graphics are a whole level above Layers of fear 2. The dog is very nice. I wish to deepen the question of the plot. Although I have my speculations to make, fortunately it will not be a talk about how I think the game will end. I had the chance to chat with Blair WitchNarrative designer Barbara Kciuk. Here is what she had to say:
DC: with Blair Witch, you adapt a franchise that has evolved in several directions. Which films do you mainly shoot, and how did you balance that?
BK: Yes, it was really a challenge. You have the first film that was very minimal and vague with its plot, and the third one that was much more direct. Then you have the second who claims that the first movie is not real, it's a completely different beast. Let's not forget the mockumentaries of short films either. In addition to all this, what would Blair Witch be without the fans and the culture around him? The do not know, picking through the pieces to try to find the ultimate truth when there might not be one. In the end, we took pieces of each to create our own game. Blair Witch has his own story with his own themes and mystery, without having to directly reflect a specific inspirational element. In this way, he feels very comfortable in this extended universe.
DC: So you go with the Blair Witch like a literal monster or a metaphor?
BK: It's both for sure. In Layers of fearEverything was under the guise of an illusion, a metaphor for the broken spirit of the artist. In Observerthere was a line between the real world and the virtual world. In Blair Witchthis line between real and unreal does not exist. Real things happen to you, but they also reflect the character. It's not "all a dream," even if the laws of reality do not always apply.
DC: Bloober Team's previous games all had a central theme that defined the story. Layers of fear was about to deal with loss and denial, Observer was about escape into a hopeless world, and Layers of fear 2 was about the choices we make in impossible situations. How about is the theme of Blair Witch.
BK: The fall of human nature. How your past can lead you on a certain path, and how that path can lead you to many different places. As I said in the overview, Blair Witch has a system for judging the choices you make to dictate where Ellis will go. Maybe it affects the end, or maybe it alters its past. With the passage of time in the Black Hills forest, they may not be identical.
DC: So, how will that play in the gameplay? Will there be "good" or "bad" options?
BK: It's more subtle than that. We follow a number of actions of the player to dictate the unfolding of the story. Petting Bullet versus punishing it is only a part of it. You can not pet him 100 times to get the good end. More subtle factors come into play, such as whether you stay close to him or listen to his clues. Even when making a choice, it is not always easy to do so. We did not want the player to feel as if everything came down to a few different times when you choose left or right. In a certain way, you are always watched and judged. Does that not make it more scary?
DC: Speaking of Bullet, how was it decided to include it in the game?
BK: Who does not want to do the cute dog game? * laugh * No, more seriously, with the open environments we have, we needed a way to guide the player without him feeling like his hand was holding. From the point of view of the story, it also gives you a person with whom you can create links. You are alone in the woods. Bullet allows you to talk to someone, even if it does not answer you. You care more about what might happen when you get the impression that Bullet is not just a tool, but your friend.
DC: … So is he dying?
BK: No comments.
My time with Barbara and Blair Witch was brief, but enlightening. I thought I knew what to expect at once from a Blair Witch title and a game of Bloober Team, but Blair Witch has so far managed to meet my expectations and exceed them. The plethora of mechanics is a bold departure for a well-known studio to walk the hallways. We already know that Bloober can tell a damn horror story, but the myriad of methods he uses to deliver this story make it really special. I can not wait to see how all this will come to fruition.
Blair Witch is available on PC and Xbox One on August 30 for $ 29.99. Then come back for our comprehensive review!
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