New Blair Witch game from Layers of Fear dev Bloober promises "psychological horror based on the cinematic lore"

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One of the best horror game developers and one of the most famous horror films - watch the trailer

Xbox promised a lot this E3, and one nice E3 2019 surprise has been a new Blair Witch game from Layers of Fear developers Bloober. It's promising a "story-driven psychological horror game based on the cinematic lore" and looks like a cross between Outlast, Alan Wake and Silent Hills. So I think we can agree we're all in, right?

The trailer seems to focus on exploring a forest at night, which is all sorts of yay. You play as an ex-policeman called Ellis who's investigating the disappearance of a small boy, accompanied by a dog called Bullet. Obviously the internet has agreed that if anything happens to the dog, we riot.

It's an exciting proposition. Bloober has got some amazing horror chops when it comes to messing with your head, and the brief glimpses of gameplay look like it's pulled out all of its best tricks. So cue things changing as you look away, and "did I just see that" head messing that suits the Blair Witch legend perfectly. 

The story centres on the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland. Former policeman Ellis is described as having a troubled past, as he searches the forest with an Outlast style video camera that doesn't always appear to show what's actually there. Throw in a torch and enemies it seems to burn, just like Alan Wake, and what looks like a Silent Hills style loop as you keep returning to the same ruined house, and you can see where this is all going.

It'll be out on Xbox One and PC on August 30th, 2019.

Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.