In the late nineties, the movie that everyone was talking about was The Blair Witch Protect. The story of three filmmakers who get lost in the woods looking for a local legend, the movie was a huge financial hit as well as reviewing the found footage genre. While the series spawned countless books and other media, most people would be surprised to learn that three video games were created. While the second and third game have their moments, Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr was the best game of the three. Created by Terminal Reality, this was a survival horror game which had links to the one of the company’s most successful games.
in 1941, Elspeth “Doc” Holliday has been sent to the town of Burkittsville by an organization dedicated to investigating and fighting supernatural threats. The case involves a man named Rustin Parr who murdered children under the orders of a witch. She has four days to find out what happened with Parr and also try to save his one victim who survived. As Holiday wanders around the town, she finds that there are much more sinister forces at work.
Elspeth “Doc” Holliday might be a familiar name. She was a character in Nocturne, a game developed by the same studio. The Stranger, the main character of the game, also makes an appearance in Rustin Parr. You did not have to play Nocturne in order to understand this game, but it did allow for a bit more understanding of the world. The enemies include Daemites, one of the main foes in Nocturne. The studio did not take all of it’s inspiration from that game. Walk into the dinner and you will talk to an FBI man who has a strange and yet familiar love of a damn fine cup of coffee.
The game is scary, alternating between attacks from the Daemites and creeping unease as you feel things happening just off screen. The town, which was not the best place to begin with, suddenly turns into a nightmarish version when the suns goes down. One of the best scares happen earlier on. You hear something in the bathroom in your hotel. You go to the door and flick on the lights. You are ready for a jump scare, but nothing is there. After you take a few steps in, a dark figure suddenly appears and rushes at you.
Rustin Parr works because there are so many stories around the Blair Witch. The second game dealt with the stories around Coffin Rock while the third was directly tied to Elly Kedward, who would become the witch of legend. Taking one of these stories mentioned in the movie, the three developers were able to craft three different stories. While the legacy of Blair Witch was tainted by the underwhelming sequels, the games still hold up. If you ever come across any of them, pick up the first one. A good story, solid gameplay and a pretty decent running time. A worthy game to have the name Blair Witch.
