DESCRIPTION

It’s 1996. A young boy disappears in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland. As Ellis, a former police officer with a troubled past, you join the search. What starts as an ordinary investigation soon turns into an endless nightmare as you confront your fears and the Blair Witch, a mysterious force that haunts the woods…

Unfortunately, my first encounter with Blair Witch left a negative impression. Despite my quick arrival at the abandoned camp, I spent over an hour searching the surrounding paths, only to find myself continuously returning to the campsite. With numerous clues scattered about, I assumed that further exploration was required.

Along with the performance issues, it created a very annoying and even nauseating experience. The camera movement was hindered by slowdowns and stutters. Fortunately, a patch was launched to tackle most of the performance issues. Although the game is not flawless, it runs significantly better now.

Once the performance issues were (mostly) resolved, it became much simpler to determine the necessary steps to advance the storyline. I had to review the recorded footage from a camcorder positioned at the campsite, which caused an object to suddenly manifest in front of me. By showing this object to my companion, Bullet, I could then follow the scent trail. This finally broke the loop, enabling me to move on to the next area.

This technique can be used in almost any situation involving the tapes. But, you don’t always need Bullet’s help. You’ll also come across many puzzles to solve and discover hidden areas that require certain items which you can only find or use in later stages or during a new game.

But, for the most part, it’s not hard to figure out what you need to do in this game.

What Works:

The Visuals:

The developer has done an amazing job in creating a dark and chilling world filled with creepy locations to explore. While the content may not be extensive, the visuals are stunning! The game is enhanced for Xbox One X and can be played in 4K resolution if your TV/display supports it. Additionally, it has also been optimized for 1080p displays.

The Story:

The game is short and doesn’t require much time. It can be finished in under 5 hours, especially on the second play-through when you can skip cut scenes.

Although the game tries its best to introduce doubt, the story is actually quite predictable. There won’t be any surprising twists in the final act. However, your fate in the game will be shaped by the choices you make along the way, resulting in either a good or bad ending.

The Atmosphere:

Playing with a headset is essential for a complete gaming experience, especially in a game like this where the atmosphere is crucial in creating the game’s mood. With a headset, you can hear every footstep, whisper, and even the faintest sound from the depths of the woods.

It’s particularly advantageous in the early stages of the game, before you can see the demons. As you approach them, you’ll be able to hear them, making it easier to avoid them if you decide not to engage in combat.

What Doesn’t Work:

Game crashes:

I have completed the game twice and experienced 4 crashes or freezes. Luckily, the game automatically saves your progress, but after a crash, I had to replay that section of the chapter. It’s not a major issue since you can progress quickly, but it’s still annoying to reach a point in the story and have to replay it right away because of a bug or glitch.

Performance:

When I played this game on launch day, the framerate on Xbox One X was absolutely terrible. It can be really nauseating to play a first-person game when the framerate is inconsistent. It was so bad that I had to stop playing and wait for the patch to fix it.

The patch did fix some performance problems and made the framerate better, but it’s still not consistently at 30fps. Nevertheless, it’s better than before, and I didn’t experience significant performance issues apart from occasional crashes.

Hopefully, they’re still working to optimize the game further.

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