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When Gathering of Developers announced that they had obtained the rights to release video and computer games based upon the theatrical summer blockbuster The Blair Witch Project, there was a solitary collective groan from the rest of the industry. Movie to game transitions usually end up becoming a curse; there have really only been a few occasions where movies have become successful games (such is the case with Rare’s GoldenEye on Nintendo 64). And heck, what could be possibly be fun about controlling three filmmakers out in the middle of a forest, being hunted down by an “evil” they never actually see? It might make a freakish movie, but it doesn’t exactly work as a game. Against all odds, however, Gathering of Developers has assembled three top-of-the-line developers to work on three separate titles that are not based on The Blair Witch Project movie itself, but rather the Blair Witch mythology. All three titles in the Blair Witch trilogy use Terminal Reality’s Nocturne engine, and the first title in the series, Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr, has actually been developed right at Terminal Reality. BWV1: Rustin Parr is a continuation of the actual Nocturne game released last year, where a secret government organization held in incredible secret is given the task of investigating the paranormal and unknown, similar to the X-Files television show. Nocturne’s main character was the Stranger, a cloaked bad ass with no fear. In BWV1: Rustin Parr’s case, however, Terminal Reality has introduced Doc Holliday to investigate the ritualistic murdering of children by Rustin Parr in the town of Burkitsville, Maryland. There have been rumors that the “Blair Witch” is involved, and Doc is sent to see if there is any truth to substantiate them.
The second and third Blair Witch titles are more action oriented, but to introduce the series Terminal Reality has decided to take a more adventurous approach that works perfectly with the scare-your-socks-off type of atmosphere that has been developed. This isn’t to say that BWV1: Rustin Parr is completely devoid of fighting with the evils that lurk in Burkitsville woods, but it isn’t the center of attention. Rather, the Nocturne engine has been used to create one of the creepiest environments and scenery ever created for a game. Combining detailed and animated pre-rendered backgrounds with great character models, BWPV1: Rustin Parr will have goose bumps appearing over your body in minutes, and making you wonder whether or not having the lights off is a good idea. You’d think that creating miles and miles of forest would result in more than a few repetitive scenes, but the combination of elements results in you keeping on your tiptoes the entire time. And I'm not afraid to admit that BWPV1: Rustin Parr actually made me literally leap out of my chair a couple of times. Even with the most realistic graphics in the world, BWV1: Rustin Parr would not be half the experience it is without the implementation of Terminal Reality’s simply amazing sound job. Leaves crinkle as Doc treads over them, her shoes sink into the soil while she trots around, twigs snap in the background as if someone is walking around in the distance (as simple as it might seem, it increases the tension of the situation ten fold) and eerie and distorted voices can be faintly heard fading in and out like the wind. Combine these with an equally excellent yet subtle musical score that tones in at the right times to enhance a certain event that’s taking place, and BWV1: Rustin Parr is able to completely immerse the player in the world of Burkitsville and the ancient legends that are haunting the town. Despite all the advantages that the Nocturne engine brings to the table, it also has a few disadvantages that hurt the game as a whole. For one, if you happen to be a bit behind on the technology curb, BWV1: Rustin Parr will have trouble running properly. The processor speed requirement isn’t too up there, but running with a Pentium II 400Mhz computer ran the game into load times that crept into around three or four minutes. The game also needs 64MB of RAM to practically run at all, and 96MB is required for 3D acceleration to be enabled. And not only that, but it takes up nearly a whole GB of space on the hard drive, which is quite a bit to spare for a single game. The only other real mentionable problem that I encountered is one that was brought up numerous times for Nocturne: the control. Put simply, it’s a bit hard to adjust to at first. From my experience, the easiest method is the combination of the keyboard and mouse, although only keyboard (Resident Evil style), gamepad and almost entirely mouse driven options are available. The mouse is used to control the direction that Doc heads in and where the gun or flashlight she’s holding is pointing, the up and down keys move Doc forward and backward and left and right to strafe. Learning how to aim with the mouse from the changing camera angles can be troublesome at first, but the better control that you get from mouse aiming is worth it in the end. There are some other minor problems here and there, such as the game being a bit on the short side (but for only $20, it is a sweet deal) and that you can open a door even when Doc (she even does the animation) she isn’t near it, but in the grand scheme of things, BWV1: Rustin Parr is able to not only overcome the incredible movie license hurdle, but it also one of the creepiest and most entertaining adventure titles released this year. It isn’t often that a game becomes so engrossing that I actually do have to turn on the lights to continue playing without whimpering, but that’s the type of game BWV1: Rustin Parr is (even after shutting off the lights, my body was still at full alert at all times). There's no reason to not go pick this up now.
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