The latest trailer for the Blair Witch game is light on the adorable dog interactions, but it makes up for that oversight with atmospheric horror that evokes the original film. The first-person horror game from the developers of Layers of Fear and Observer follows an ex-cop named Ellis as he heads into the Black Hills forest to help with the search for a missing child, and this trailer shows that he brings some demons of his own into the same creepy woods where a group of film students will disappear a few years later.
Previous gameplay footage has shown Ellis coordinating with the rest of the search party via a walkie talkie, Firewatch style. Here we see him using his cutting-edge-for-1996 cell phone to talk with someone named Jess, and it sounds like he has a lot of history with her. I think that phone may be anachronistically svelte for the 1996 setting; its internal antenna and candy bar form factor look like they were inspired by a Nokia 3210, which wouldn't arrive until 1999. But I digress!
I was surprised to find out that Ellis will be able to carry on cell phone conversations in the woods despite the horror genre's strict ban on cell reception anywhere outside city limits, though it looks Bloober Team will use that for dramatic effect at certain points of the game as well. Even if none of these beats have felt all that unpredictable - how much do you want to bet if we ever see another living person they'll be stock still and staring at a wall - they're still encouraging. They're all what could make it feel like playing your own Blair Witch movie on PC or Xbox One rather than just another first-person horror game in the woods.
Find something else to scream about while you wait for the Blair Witch game with our list of the best horror games.
