Video Game Review: Blair Witch: VR Edition

Developer: Bloober Team

Publisher: Bloober Team

Genre: Horror

PSVR

Bloober Team has a solid record when it comes to horror games, with solid hits like Layers of Fear and Observor scaring even brave players. More recently, they have had a solid VR experience with Layers of Fear VR. The latest Bloober horror game to be ported to VR is Blair Witch, a solid walking simulator with some great scares and sometimes questionable level design.

Blair Witch: VR Edition is a survival horror game that takes place a couple years after the events in the Blair Witch film Players take on the role of a Veteran as he searches for a missing boy in the spooky woods. The player is accompanied by Bullet, a wonderful canine companion. While searching for the boy, players will be stalked and attacked by ominous creatures. There’s a lot of walking and puzzle solving on the way, peppered with jump scares here and there.

The game’s story and the exploration throughout are easily some of Blair Witch: VR Edition‘s highlights. As a video game attached to a movie IP, it’s certainly one of the better written experiences out there. Throughout the journey players will learn about the protagonist through flashbacks and hallucinations as they live through the character’s PTSD. Of course, there is much more to this than mental horrors, as the game takes place in the same woods that haunted the characters in the film.

The campaign isn’t too long at about 5 hours, but this is a great medium for a game like this. The level design is fine, and a few chapters are just a bit too long and dampen the experience. When players aren’t trudging through annoyingly long stages, they will be interacting with the woods, collecting items, and surviving the horrors. Like most horror games, the experience is absolutely enhanced by the immersion that VR brings.

Blair Witch: VR Edition shines in VR thanks to great looking environments and some great lighting effects. The graphics throughout the game aren’t stellar, but they are good enough to keep players’ heads in the universe. It’s easy to be creeped by the woods thanks to the solid visuals. Some of the animations leave a lot to be desired, so there are certainly some visual shortcomings that could have been improved upon.

The encounters themselves are certainly harrowing. Players will rely on their dog to help them find the shadows that stalk them. Shining the flashlight on them will scare them off, but they can be hard to detect. It’s not an innovative system, but it gets the job done. The puzzles themselves are entertaining too and avoid being a chore.

Like Layers of Fear VR, the game looks solid from a first person perspective. It isn’t too blurry and there isn’t any hampering fish eye effect. There are multiple locomotive options, as well as a few other quality of life options to make the experience better for players.

Some of the stages are a bit too long, but Blair Witch: VR Edition is a solid horror experience that stays faithful to the movie’s lore. Anyone who enjoys the Blair Witch franchise or just wants a good scare will want to check this one out.