Fear the Spotlight review: Blumhouse’s lo-fi horror game is imperfect, but sincere

High schoolhouse tin beryllium a existent scary show. Bullies roam nan halls for illustration zombies, each trial has life-or-death stakes, and nan threat of expulsion hangs complete your caput for illustration a guillotine. For a young kid struggling to navigate nan world, it tin consciousness for illustration being thrown into 1 of Jigsaw’s torture chambers.

Fear nan Spotlight, nan first publishing effort from Blumhouse Games, taps into that dread. The communicative of 2 girls breaking into their schoolhouse to commune pinch nan dormant turns mundane suburban sights into haunted houses. It’s a microhorror task trim from nan aforesaid cloth arsenic teen media for illustration Buffy nan Vampire Slayer, but placed done nan lens of gaming scary greats for illustration Resident Evil. That sets nan shape for a creepy communicative of teenage rebellion told done nan connection of lo-fi visuals and old-school puzzle container gameplay.

As a activity of throwback video crippled horror, Fear nan Spotlight passes, but only pinch partial credit. It’s a concise creepshow pinch a dual communicative twist that digs into nan psyche of some of its teen heroines. Its attempts to look and consciousness for illustration a PS1 crippled miss nan mark, though, arsenic it can’t shingle nan emotion of a modern indie crippled successful a shape costume. The tonal discrepancy dims nan spotlight astir what’s different an awesome passion task for a two-person improvement team.

Throwback meets modern

Fear nan Spotlight originates amid a late-night schoolhouse break-in, arsenic Vivian and Amy sneak done nan halls successful hunt of a locked-up Ouija board. The duo dream to get immoderate accusation astir a tragic occurrence that happened astatine nan schoolhouse agelong earlier their time. They get their wish — but you tin ideate really that goes for them. That reliable haunted location premise kicks disconnected an eerie first campaign, arsenic Vivian learns nan school’s acheronian secrets via notes while evading a memorable monster pinch a spotlight for a head.

The reside is location betwixt Life is Strange and Silent Hill, a operation that isn’t ever a neat fit. It almost looks nan portion pinch its jagged characteristic models, but a grainy TV select is doing a batch of activity to create nan illusion of an atmospheric PS1 game. Strip that distant and Fear nan Spotlight doesn’t look each that different from what you’d expect from an indie crippled successful 2024 (this year’s Crow Country nails nan retro scary look overmuch much convincingly). It’s an imitation that makes nan creation style consciousness for illustration a spot of a schtick alternatively than a meaningful usage of ’90s ocular language.

It tin beryllium difficult to find nan headspace that Fear nan Spotlight wants to put you in.

That’s not to opportunity that it doesn’t usage its creation style good successful moments. When occurrence spreads done nan room aft nan opening séance goes awry, I tally arsenic pixelating flames eat up nan crunchy scenery astir me. Stealth sequences play pinch agleam yellowish spotlights that trim done nan musty school. All of nan scary imagery cuts done nan vulnerable scenery for illustration a knife, ripping nan suburban scenes apart. I tin consciousness that I’m successful a deteriorating schoolhouse pinch decades of civilized rot successful its floorboards.

Still, nan tonal disparity often bubbles backmost up to nan surface, particularly successful nan adventure’s penning and sound acting. Vivian and Amy whitethorn look for illustration they stepped retired of Silent Hill 3’s amusement park, but they’re afloat of hammy quips that person a measurement of cutting nan tension. It’s difficult to get a consciousness of clip and place, arsenic I’m ever torn betwixt its superficial ’90s touchpoints and its 2020s attitude. It tin beryllium difficult to find nan headspace that Fear nan Spotlight wants to put you successful astatine times.

Blumhouse Games

There are moments, though, wherever it clicks together. Fear nan Spotlight useful champion arsenic a video crippled balanced of a young big novel. It takes nan haunting group dressing of a psychological crippled for illustration Silent Hill, but replaces its big trauma and grisly unit pinch relatable teen issues. Its communicative weaves done bullying narratives, play nine anxiety, schoolyard stalking, and more. It feels-tailor made for a younger procreation of players who person possibly grown up connected nan jump scares of Five Nights astatine Freddy’s and are looking to postgraduate to thing that’s a spot much mature, but applicable to their lives. The trade-off is that nan communicative tin extremity up emotion for illustration a heavy-handed anti-bullying PSA. One series moreover takes spot successful a gym that’s been turned into an emergency bullying assembly, afloat of student-made standees explaining why bullying is wrong.

The communicative tin consciousness disjointed successful moments too, a quirk seemingly tied to nan game’s overseas improvement history. This is really nan 2nd motorboat of Fear nan Spotlight; it was primitively released arsenic a overmuch smaller task for only a fewer weeks earlier patient Blumhouse Games offered developer Cozy Game Pals much rate to grow it. The dev duo quickly delisted nan game, doubling its communicative content. This type now has an full 2nd run that leaves nan schoolhouse and focuses much connected family skeletons and trading nan spotlight monster successful for a motherly ghoul that looks for illustration it crawled retired of The Ring. That dual communicative makes for a much well-rounded communicative that tells some heroines’ stories, but they tin consciousness thematically distant, for illustration 2 tales duct-taped together.

Extracurricular horror

While nan task has plentifulness of warts, its bite-sized puzzle container scary mostly delivers. This is Resident Evil successful miniature form; Vivian solves her measurement retired of nan schoolhouse successful nan first two-hour campaign, while a puerility location becomes much of a surreal situation afloat of locks and keys successful nan 2nd half. Both scenarios let Cozy Game Pals to much efficaciously show disconnected their emotion for ’90s scary classics pinch clever, tactile puzzles.

Fear nan Spotlight is mini successful scope, but that useful to its advantage.

In 1 section, I find myself successful a gym searching for a measurement to move connected nan school’s HVAC system. To do that, I request to hunt down a fistful of lettered fuses scattered successful connected rooms. When I find them, which comes done search down pumps to drain pools aliases nan mislaid grip of a bingo shot tumbler, I request to ace unfastened nan fuse box, plug immoderate cables into nan correct spot, and fig retired nan correct wattage by turning a adjacent dial. It’s a multipart solution that has maine poking and prodding objects to interact pinch them alternatively than sticking nan correct cardinal successful a door.

Fear nan Spotlight is mini successful scope, but that useful to its advantage. Cozy Game Pals are capable to play pinch immoderate minimalist ideas that mightiness beryllium a resistance successful a longer crippled for illustration Silent Hill 2. For instance, there’s nary combat here. Instead, Vivian has to sneak astir desks to debar a searchlight’s gaze. If she’s caught, her lungs return a deed and she’ll request to usage 1 of nan fewer inhalers recovered astir nan schoolhouse to calm down — different awesome teen-centric variety connected nan established scary formula. Rather than flooding nan communicative pinch stealth interludes, they’re only strategically deployed successful a fewer cardinal moments built for tension. In 1 puzzle, I request to prevention a projector transparency to a floppy disk. As a agelong advancement barroom starts, nan monster bursts into nan room. I request to evade it while nan prevention finishes, and past get it to a machine connected nan different broadside to commencement nan agelong process of sending it to a adjacent printer. It’s 1 of nan fewer moments wherever Fear nan Spotlight’s ’90s artistic gets put to bully use.

Blumhouse Games

While nan 2nd run has akin puzzle loops, it introduces caller mechanics that freshen nan look up. Here, I’m picking locks done a ray minigame and getting jump-scared by large compartment telephone notifications that person my leader reliving her family trauma erstwhile again. There are conscionable capable bully puzzles and structural twists to capable a sleek four-hour game, moreover if immoderate of that clip is bogged down by slow backtracking done nan aforesaid fewer hallways.

When nan sparse credits walk by astatine nan end, reminding maine that each of this was mostly nan activity of conscionable 2 devoted developers, I’m greeted by a statement from nan studio. The duo is nan first to admit that their crippled is by nary intends perfect; it’s a plucky passion task made imaginable some by Blumhouse and babysitters successful adjacent part. It’s a infinitesimal of susceptible sincerity that makes it easier to clasp each nan limitations and unsmooth edges. Isn’t that nan correct cognition for a communicative of 2 teenagers uncovering themselves amid nan nightmares of an unassuming coming-of-age backdrop? There’s a charming awkwardness to Fear nan Spotlight arsenic it wades done its nostalgic inspirations and indie imperfections to find its ain sound successful nan scary gaming landscape. It whitethorn not afloat get location by nan end, but I time off nan creepy escapade optimistic that, for illustration Vivian and Amy, Cozy Game Pals has travel retired nan different broadside pinch a tighter grip connected its identity.

Fear nan Spotlight was tested connected Nintendo Switch OLED.