Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr

"An enjoyable companion game to "Nocturne""

Since some of the other reviews for this game here seem to lack insight (not to mention grammar), allow me to give a fan's review that will nevertheless retain some objectivity.

As far as Survival-Horror games go, ''Nocturne'' definitely belongs in anyone's top-ten. Most detractors complain the loudest about how clunky the controls are. Yes, they can be at times, especially to the newbie. But they are not *that* difficult to master, people, with a little patience. What makes this game, and ''Nocturne'' so great are the stories, characters, atmosphere, and glorious graphics and sound.

It takes place in the year 1941, after the events of the game ''Nocturne''. Most of the characters from that game are found here. Your character is an agent of a secret government organization code-named ''Spookhouse'', whose job is to investigate the paranormal and hunt down monsters. Instead of playing as the enigmatic bad-ass known as The Stranger this time, you assume the role of Elspeth ''Doc'' Holliday, ''Nocturne's'' resident scientist. This beautiful woman with a charming English accent is a distinct contrast to Stranger's gruff personality and proclivity to violence. In this respect, ''Blair Witch 1'' is the Yang to ''Nocturne's'' Ying. ''Nocturne'' was mostly about killing monsters, with a bit of puzzle solving and detective work thrown in. ''Blair Witch'' is primarily about solving a mystery, with combat being of secondary importance. This is not to say that there isn't a fair ammount of monster killing, but the bulk of the game is gathering and analyzing evidence, searching for clues, talking to people to get information, etc. If The Stranger is the muscle of Spookhouse, then Doc Holliday is definitely the brains, and the compassion. While Stranger has little patience for people and is only interested in the hunt, Holliday is sympathetic towards the people of Burkittsville and is able to win their trust.

Holliday is sent to Burkittsville in the wake of the Rustin Parr murders that are mentioned in the Blair Witch film. Her mission is to discover the truth about the witch. Her journey will take her throughout the town, into the woods, and to Coffin Rock and the spectal home of Rustin Parr himself.

The graphics and level of detail are impressive. The Town will make you feel like you really are in some tiny back-woods hamlet in the 1940's. The woods are astonishingly detailed and creepy as hell. Not only are the graphics fantastic, but the sound work is incredible. The music and ambient sounds come at just the right times to make you jump out of your chair. The game features a wide variety of interesting characters, with excellent voice work all around. The character models look great, especially Holliday whose facial expressions effectively relate fear, surprise, or frustration. The only problem I have with them is that, unlike in ''Nocturne'', the character's lips move when they speak. This would be great, if the lip movement synced with the dialouge. Most of the time, it doesn't. Try not to watch their mouths while they talk, and it won't bother you too much.

As for the gameplay, it can be a bit clunky at times, but there have been some improvements over ''Nocturne''. The most welcome addition is a ''quick-turn'' button, which is invaluable for quick escapes or turning to face an attacker behind you. Also, the flashlight no longer goes out after 20 seconds, and stays on as long as you need it - which is good, because you'll need it a lot. The weapons aren't as powerful, but there is a nice mix of bullet and charged light particle weapons, one for physical enemies, the other for spectral ones (ghost-like creatures). Switching between the two weapon types to deal with either threat seems like a pain at first, but with practice you can do it quickly, and it adds a nice strategy feature to the game. Most combat is not too tough once you've mastered the basics. There is some heavy puzzle solving in this game, so if you are not patient, then this is not for you. Still, the normal mode is fairly easy and won't tax you too much.

People have also complained about there being too many monsters, because they weren't in the movie. This may be true, but you need to remember that this is a ''Nocturne'' game set in the ''Blair Witch'' universe (or vice-versa). As such, the game does a nice job of blending the style and themes of ''Nocturne'' with the Blair Witch mythology.

The Breakdown:

Graphics: 10 - they were the best I'd seen at the time, and still comparable to what you can find in most new games.

Sound: 10 - Very creepy and effective, from the voice work, to the ambient sounds, to the music, it all comes together quite nicely.

Story/Characters: 9: Very creepy tie-in to Blair Witch legend, and a nice look at the Doc Holliday character from ''Nocturne''. Great supporting cast, and the occasional appearances by The Stranger are most welcome.

Combat/Gameplay: 7 - the quick turn feature, and the lack of any annoying jumping puzzles, will certainly help reduce your frustrations. But the system is not perfect, and controlling a character in the Nocturne engine's 3rd person perspective can sometimes lead to wrong turns and misplaced shots at critical moments. Still, save often and take the time to learn the nuances of the controls, and you'll be fine. Some puzzles might seem a tad demanding, but perserverence will yield satisfying results.

Replay value: 6 - Not as much replay value as ''Nocturne'', since re-doing all the puzzles and detective work, not to mention running around lost in the woods, can get tedious. Still, the ''hard'' mode definitely adds enough new twists to the story to make it worth going back through at least once.

The Good: unlimited flashlight, quick-turn feature, great character models with facial expressions, lots of scares and creep-outs, fun story for ''Nocturne'' and ''Blair Witch'' fans.

The Bad: Puzzle solving and investigating sometimes breaks up the flow of the story more than enhancing it. Combat can be cumbersome at times, especially in close quarters. Lip motions on characters look like a badly-dubbed kung-fu movie most of the time.

These days, you can get ''Nocturne'' for $10 or $20 and ''Blair Witch 1'' for $5 these days, so if you are a true survival horror fan interested in something besides the redundant ''Resident Evil'' zombie fest, you owe it to yourself to pick up these titles and give them a try.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/02, Updated 08/06/02