The first Blair Witch gameplay trailer for the upcoming video game promises a genuine survival horror experience on par with the best in the genre. One of the biggest surprises of E3 2019 was Blair Witch, based on the 1999 film, The Blair Witch Project, which became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its revolutionary "found footage" aesthetic. The greater story of Blair Witch was expanded in a series of comics, several fake documentaries about the mythology, a trio of PC games released episodically in the year 2000, and a pair of sequels, released in 2000 and 2016, which are hotly contested to this day, but all add to the mysterious mythology of the titular Blair Witch.
The latest entry in the mythos is the upcoming video game, Blair Witch. A first-person survival horror game teeming with psychological terror and haunting imagery, Blair Witch seeks to capture the sheer terror of the original film while providing a unique video game experience for Blair Witch fanatics and general horror fans alike. The main character is Ellis, an ex-cop searching for a missing boy in the Black Hills forest in 1996. As expected, he himself becomes lost and encounters the legendary supernatural entity known as the Blair Witch.
Released by Bloober Team, the first Blair Witch gameplay trailer shows off a smattering of footage, which reveals some of the monsters and challenges Ellis will encounter on his journey through the woods, as well as some of the more intimate moments audiences can expect when they play the game. Ellis is armed with little more than a video camera and a cell phone, though he at least has a dog at his side, a trusty companion named Bullet. The player can order Bullet around, having the dog search for items or dig up hidden secrets buried under the dirt. Throughout the trailer, Ellis talks to someone named Jess on his cell phone, and it seems their relationship will play a key role in the game's story and characterization.
Most importantly, Blair Witch looks scary, though we'd expect nothing less from developer Bloober Team. This studio has a strong track record in the horror genre, being responsible for the Layers of Fear games and the chilling cyberpunk title, Observer, starring the late Rutger Hauer.
Blair Witch is still shrouded in mystery, as it should be, but fans of the franchise have long been clamoring for more clues to the central legend at the heart of the series. If this video game lives up to its potential, it will be an integral part of the Blair Witch mythology while serving as an essential horror title for all fans of the genre. Prospective players will find out for sure when Blair Witch releases August 30 for Xbox One and PC.
Source: Bloober Team