Yes. You can pet the dog.
Bloober Team, the developer behind VR horror experiences Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2, is bringing one of the most terrifying video games ever to VR. Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition will cut you out from reality and drop you into the mysterious lore of the Blair Witch. A terrifying story of a witch that roams the woods of the Black Hills Forest located just outside of Burkittsville, MD.
Unlike other VR horror games that rely on basic jump scares to spook players, Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition features more psychological horror. Your mind gets lost in the virtual world as you move through the experience; actions as simple as catching, throwing, and stacking objects or drawing on a piece of paper can be unnerving. Even breaking a tree branch can cause a little bit of anxiety.
If you are a true fan of horror-based VR games or a fan of the Blair Witch story, then Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition is something you should absolutely check out.
While exploring the woods of the Black Hills Forest, you’ll use a series of tools to collect items hidden throughout the environment. The cursed forest seems to creep up on you, the shadows start to play tricks on your mind, the trees feel like they’re reaching out to touch you, and you start to wonder why you even ventured off into these mysterious woods in the first place knowing that there might be an evil witch lurking in the darkness.
Thankfully you’re not alone in Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition. You’ll be joined by your faithful dog Bullet as you make your way through the woods. Just be sure to give him an occasional pat on the head to let him know he’s doing a great job. You can also give him treats from your hand or shake his paw just to remind yourself that you’re not alone. Bullet is also there to help you throughout your journey. He can track scents for you through the forest, and who knows, maybe you might need him when things get a little too scary.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the games features as provided by Bloober Team:
- New ways to interact with your sidekick, Bullet
- Newly-designed interactive environments to immerse you in terror
- Catch, throw, and stack objects that you find throughout the woods
- Map out your theories with an interactive marker to draw on paper and other objects
- Drawers, doors, gates, and car trunk open at your touch in your investigation
- Snap branches with your hands
- Operate handles and buttons and unlock doors with keys and codes plan escapes
- New control system optimized for horrifying VR gameplay
- Eerie new sounds and spine-chilling in-game events to surprise and scare players
- Additional encounters with the mysterious forces that lurk in the forest
If you’re not familiar with the story of the Blair Witch, legend has it that back in 1785 a woman named Elly Kedward was found guilty of practicing witchcraft. Her punishment was to be taken into the woods where she was horribly beaten, tortured, then hung from the branch of a tree and left for dead.
In 1825, the town was renamed Burkittsville, and over the years, right up to today, many locals claim that the Blair Witch didn’t die that night and still roams the woods just North of Burkittsville. Locals even believe that she is responsible for multiple murders, violent attacks, and missing person cases in that area throughout the years.
Even just as recent as 1994, three film students traveled to Burkittsville, MD to produce a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. During their investigation, the students chose to enter the woods with just their camping gear, food, and their video cameras in hopes of recording any evidence of the Blair Witch. The filmmakers never reappeared from the woods and are currently presumed missing. A year later, their video footage was found under a rock near the edge of the woods, and when investigators examined the found footage, they saw snippets of disturbing video of the filmmakers as they slowly spiraled into madness and desperation.
The last piece of video was the most disturbing with one student frantically screaming in panic as she makes her way through an old abandoned house in an unknown location in the woods. The final image is the female filmmaker running into a room and finding her friend facing the corner of what looks like a stone basement. You can hear her scream one last time before she drops the camera. At that point, the camera ran out of batteries and went black.
But is this all real or is this just a story told to children to make them behave? That’s up for you to decide.
You can find it in the Oculus store starting October 29th for $29.99, just in time for Halloween! For more information visit the official Blair Witch website and Facebook.
Image Credit: Bloober Team