Blumhouse Games
When I first heard that Blumhouse was going to start publishing video games , I had some very specific expectation in mind . The moving picture studio apartment is behind some of this genesis ’s most dear horror films , so I expected it to go a cinematic route for its games . Perhaps we ’d see an approach similar toUntil Dawn , giving player an interactional slasher movie loaded with A - leaning actors . That ’s not the typeface .
As revealed at this calendar week ’s Summer Game Fest stream , Blumhouse is or else focusing on small - scale of measurement indie , some of which feature a retro feel . dread the Spotlightis one of the first games in that craw . It ’s a love ode to video recording biz horror , not movies . It ’s a retro atavism to 1990s classic like Resident Evil , complete with eerie exploration , teaser - solving , and crunchy PS1 - era visuals . That puts it more in line with smaller indie game likeCrow Countrythan Blumhouse ’s cinematic inheritance . Would that style really work for the novel newspaper publisher ? Based on a 30 - instant demo I played at Summer Game Fest , the prospect is keen — but you should n’t gauge Blumhouse Games by that just yet .
Returning to the Spotlight
WhileFear the Spotlightmight strait like a make - raw biz , it actually is n’t . Developer Cozy Game Pals to begin with launch the project last September , but took it off Steam one month afterward . Anote to its communitysaid it would be retool the gameplay , offering more translations , and land it to cabinet .
That odd publication story should n’t eclipse what Cozy Game Pals has been manipulate up since October . The demo I played at Summer Game Fest showed off a promising horror game that ’s much more than a retro throwback . Though it wait like a PlayStation 1 biz , it ’s really more of a cross betweenSilent HillandLife is unknown . I take on the role of Vivian , who break into her mellow school one night with a friend . I rapidly learn some backstory as I happen out the school had a deadly ardor in 1991 that killed multiple students . While there ’s some classic interactable traditional knowledge titbit strew around , a lot of the demonstration ’s story is told through more advanced voice acting and lo - fi cinematic sequence .
The pith gameplay will be familiar to rooter of ’ 90 horror game . To get a spirit board out of a locked pillow slip , I need to track down a key in a depository library . And before I do that , I want to find a keycard to the office it ’s locked in . It ’s a traditional Resident Evil puzzle boxful gameplay cringle , but it ’s a little more tactile here . I can actually come home and drag to slew launch the shabu case , making it feel more like a point - and - click game in those import .
The mysterious I get , the more the horror elements begin to seep in . The end of the demo has me using a spirit board to reach out to the dead . of course , that goes south when a ghost appears . A surreal chase sequence ensues where I have to run out of the subroutine library as it sting around me , its dense pixels slowly getting engulfed in flaming as I run around . It ’s the kind of chronological sequence you ’d expect in a big - budget game , but done with a retro twist . It ’s a fusion of Modern and old that feels right in line with Blumhouse ’s own signature timbre .
While you could ball up it for yourself and watch a playthrough of the original on YouTube right now , the developer stressed that there ’s significantly more story coming in this version . They ’re keeping the inside information of what ’s new very closely hold , but they confirmed that this version will be close to a five - hr plot . The couple came up with most of its history subject matter after the Blumhouse deal came togethe , and they have worked fabulously fast to put the newfangled version together considering the fact that it run low offline in October . I ’m shocked that the twosome has been able to work that fast , but ca n’t wait to see what they ’ve cook up with extra resources .
Though the circumstance surroundingFear the Spotlightare peculiar and do n’t really give a honest sense of what Blumhouse Games will be , it ’s a neat first step for the publisher . It shows that Blumhouse does n’t just want to deform game into movies , but rather want to engage with the spiritualist ’s own horror history . In that sense , backing a bright ’ 90s throwback that needed more bread and butter feel like a good faith first gradation . It depict that Blumhouse is pay attention to the space enough to see something particular in a retro quirkiness that was barely a radar target on Steam . I desire the relaunch benefits every tortuous — and based on my demo , I imagine it will .
dread the Spotlightis congeal to relaunch later this year on PlayStation 4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , Nintendo Switch , and PC .
