Without having healing items or ammunition or any other consumable supplies, the ability to send the dog out to find things feels like a sorely under-utilized mechanic.īullet is very well-introduced, and is integral to the early levels of the game. I probably would have been a bit more impressed if not for the fact that Bullet seemed to lose relevance as anything other than a monster compass, for a large chunk of the middle of the game. Who's a good doggy?īlair Witch's most innovative feature is probably the dog companion (named Bullet), but even that feels pulled straight from Fallout 4. territory - but, you know, without all the nuance or careful pacing that made P.T.
Eventually, the whole game descends (rather predictably) into P.T. Navigating the forest and occasionally picking up other people's trash also reminded me of Firewatch. Wandering through the woods and defeating monsters by pointing a flashlight at them gives me flashbacks to Alan Wake. Using a camcorder as a tool for navigation, exposition-delivery, and puzzle-solving feels pulled straight from Outlast or Resident Evil VII.
Nothing that Blair Witch does feels particularly new or creative, even though most of the game's ideas are competently executed. This is the case with Lionsgate and Bloober Team's new Blair Witch game, exclusive to Microsoft platforms. Plenty of games (such as Outlast ) have used tropes inspired by The Blair Witch Project. So when a game comes out that actually bears the "Blair Witch" name, it's kind of hard for it to stand out in the larger horror landscape. Games such as Outlast, Alan Wake, and even Resident Evil VII all have a little bit of Blair Witch in their DNA. It single-handedly popularized the "found-footage" genre against the backdrop of a creepy, supernatural forest. The Blair Witch Project has similarly left a mark on the horror landscape. So much of the iconography of Alien and Aliens have been borrowed by these games, that when someone comes along with a game based on the Alien intellectual property, it's hard for that game to not feel like it's derivative of one (or all) of the myriad Alien impersonators. Sci-fi games from Starcraft, to Metroid, to System Shock, to Dead Space have all taken heavy inspiration from Alien and Aliens. Both were innovative horror films that set numerous standards and conventions within their sub-genres, and which have been copied and ripped-off numerous times. ( < indicates platform I played for review)īlair Witch, as an intellectual property, is in a frustrating place similar to the Alien franchise. XBox One < (via retail disc or XBox Live digital download).
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