The original Blair Witch Project movie had a budget of $60,000 and grossed a staggering $248 million at the box officelater stages of the game, showing
otherwise invisible threats and hints.
A mechanic which proves intensely
annoying rears its ugly head early
on: Blair Witch frequently forces you
to walk around in circles, ending up
where you began regardless of the
route you took. At times, particularly
towards the game’s end, you have to
walk Ellis around until he passes out,
which is not our idea of fun.
Blair Witch, at times, is far too
cryptic and unwilling to provide hints
- sure, inexplicable, confusing events
form part of its general ambience, but
too often, you find yourself unable to
fathom what is going on – and almost
makes you want to abandon it in
favour of another game. An impression
which isn’t exactly ameliorated by
the unrelentingly harrowing and bleak
nature of the game’s subject matter.
Lost in the woods
Glitchiness doesn’t help, either: a
number of times we found Ellis glued
to a particular spot in the scenery,
forcing reverts to autosaves. All of
which was a shame, since there were
rewarding sequences of gameplay,
particularly when bringing Bullet into
action and working through some
quite decent puzzles, especially the
mechanical ones.
And even more annoyingly, Blair
Witch experiments wildly with visual
effects. Sure, that’s in context
with the films’ visuals, but all too
frequently, you find yourself unable to
see anything. All very well in a film, but
surely not in a game?
At times, Ellis seems to go
backwards and forwards in time, which
rather adds to the confusion. He can
also see off the Blair Witch monsters
by shining his flashlight at them,
which feels a bit fiddly, but becomes a
rewarding mechanic once you master
it. But those moments of satisfaction
prove all too fleeting.Blair Witch is the archetypal
curate’s egg of a game: pretty good
in parts, but overall let down by
gameplay that too often descends
into positively infuriating levels of
quality. It does great justice to the
films, which renders its shortcomings
even more frustrating. Ultimately,
though, it’s strictly one for fans of the
films or complete masochists. QDOGS IN
GAMES
Bullet has been
brilliantly executed- the way he rolls
around when bored,
and circles back to
make sure you’re
keeping up rings
impressively true.
Dogs, of varying
degrees of realism,
have brightened up a
number of games,
often providing
companionship in
otherwise lonely
scenarios. Over the
years, canine pals in
some fine games
have stuck in our
minds, notably the
dog in Fable II and
D-Dog in Metal Gear
Solid V. In Silent
Hill 2’s secret ending,
you can hilariously
encounter a Shiba Inu
wearing headphones
and pulling levers.
“You have to
walk Ellis around
until he passes
out, which is not
our idea of fun”
FAR LEFT Of
course you find
a camera – it’s a
game based on
The Blair Witch
Project.
RIGHT The forest
setting is
utilised well,
and feels
suitably eerie
and foreboding.OXM VERDICT
Nails the
atmosphere of the
films, but falls
horrifically flat in
gameplay terms.5
LEFT Tape
puzzles are
quite unique and
fit well into
the whole Blair
Witch theme.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 077REVIEW