Creepy Innovation
The world of VR is a fickle thing. On one hand, it’s a stage and platform the latest innovation, creativity, and wizardry in gaming, productivity, art and media as a whole. On the other hand, it is a swampy mire of shovelware, expensive ports, and even more expensive tech demos that leave me cold. With trying out the majority of VR units over the past several years, I have found a few bright spots in said mire and Blair Witch that I played on the Oculus Quest 2, is definite one of those bright examples.
Based upon the full Blair Witch game, which is free right now on the Epic Games Store for a limited time, the game has not only been ported to the Oculus Quest but features completely revamped mechanics and interactions for VR that result in a much more interactive experience. Playing fetch with petting with your dog Bullet, picking up items to examine more closely, grabbing your radio at your hip and many other activities not only feel interactive, they just work in VR for that extra dose of reality. Even though the mechanics are great, it’s not until you start to hear the audio kick in where the chills, thrills, and immersion really begins..
Quality gaming audio has always been important to me and what the Bloober Team has done for Blair Witch is nothing short of amazing. Leaves rustle in the wind, twigs snap around you, haunting voices tease you at every turn; all beautifully rendered by not only the Oculus’ stellar audio, a pair of headphones will raise your blood pressure and then some.
The graphics portion of the game is fine while some textures are extremely muddy, overall, it’s still immersive and everything about the title just drips quality, especially compared to most titles on the Oculus store. Whether you are new to the game and/or VR or a veteran, experiencing all in VR is definitely a transformative experience.
