The decision to release the Blair Witch series at a budget price
during three consecutive months is one that should be applauded by the gaming
community. In an industry where imitation and sequels have become the norm, it
is refreshing to see a company go out on a limb and harkens back to the early
days of Infocom, when different was welcome. In today’s profit-above-quality atmosphere,
too many companies have become bottom-line corporations that would rather release
Star Wars Episode Ninety-two Phantom On-Line Racer or Quake Really Unreal
Tournament XII and won’t even take a chance on a project that smacks of innovation.

Blair
Witch 3 is the conclusion and also the beginning of a new mythos. The writing
and dialogue in all three games has been superb—part two, The Legend of
Coffin Rock, is an understated tour de force that slowly unfolded its secrets.
The Elly Kedward Story skips such subtlety and goes directly for the jugular.
We are immediately told a story of a crazed local woman, Elly Kedward, who in
the year 1786 is accused of witchcraft and left in the woods to die. Now children
are disappearing and the citizens are fleeing in terror. Enter Jonathan Pyre,
a reverend turned witch-hunter, who has decided to visit the town of Blair and
hunt down and destroy the witch in hopes that confirmation of the dark side may
restore his lost faith. Conversations with the town drunk, who of course knows
more than anyone suspects, the local magistrate and pastor, and a female prisoner
suspected of witchcraft advance the storyline while providing clues to your next
objective. Mysticism, witchcraft, black magic, and Indian folklore intertwine
to provide the backdrop for the theme of the story.

BW3 is more action-oriented
than the first two games, but if you have played either of them, chances are you
will be comfortable with the keyboard- or gamepad-based combat system. The combat
is spell-based, with some weapons familiar to the period—such as a flintlock—also
available, and besides the usual lightning and fire spells, there is also a nifty
voodoo doll that chatters like a rattlesnake when danger is near and a book of
exorcism that sucks the souls from your enemies. For adventure gamers who might
be reluctant to try the Blair Witch games because of the action elements,
be advised that there is a god code that can be activated to prevent your character
from dying. Rather than view this as cheating, see it instead as alternate path
through the game.

As with the first two volumes, there is a considerable
amount of time spent in the woods. Not only has the auto-mapping feature been
improved, but it seems the developers have taken some of the previous criticism
to heart, as what would have been an elongated romp in the first volume has now
been shortened by having some characters meet you at the end of certain quests
instead of your trudging back through the woods to their location. The puzzles
mostly consist of finding an object and then exploring who or what to use it with,
but this is a game that is more concerned with telling a story rather than frustrating
the player. BW3 did at times seem to be too easy, but I suspect this was
because I was already familiar with the layout of the woods and town from having
recently played the first two volumes.

The voice acting and music has been
consistently good in all three games. The actors convey that B-movie edge without
going overboard. The music has a nice Chiller Theater feel to it and helps to
propel along the last third of the story. The graphics, especially in Elly
Kedward, are splendidly detailed. In fact, after I switched from a nVidia
16 MB card to a Voodoo 5 video card, they actually became even crisper. The choice
of camera angles has been much improved since the first volume also and is often
used for short, dramatic effect to heighten a scene much like a suspenseful horror
film. Additionally, lengthy conversations always feature multiple changing viewpoints
and character movement. Such innovation would have helped tremendously in a game
like The Longest Journey that was very static during the drawn-out dialogues.

Overall,
the Blair Witch trilogy is of a surprisingly high quality for a budget
title based on a B horror movie. Yes, the games are very linear, but not every
game needs to be a brain-buster; sometimes the operative word is fun. The games’
subtleties and recurring characters are what make the series so interesting. For
example, in the third game—which is actually first in chronology—the
green forest is covered with pure, white snow. By the time the series has reached
the 1930s, the same forest is now black and forbidding; it has been permeated
by evil. It is unfortunate that so many other reviewers are so focused on graphics
and blood and gore that they overlook the small touches that elevate some games
to a higher level.

If you have not yet played any of the Blair Witch
games, I would recommend starting with volume 3. One thing that did disappoint
me was that I was waiting for a startling explanation as to why the game was released
in reverse chronological order, but unless I overlooked the obvious, none was
ever forthcoming. Still, if you’re just looking to have a good time and enjoy
horror based action/adventure games, then the Blair Witch trilogy is a
nice walk in the woods.

Final Grade: B

If you liked Blair
Witch Volume 3:
Read: Urban Myths & Legends
Watch:
Blair Witch 2
Play: Blair Witch Volume 2

System
Requirements: PII 233 or higher
64 MB RAMSVGA
Video
Sound board
Windows 98
Mouse/keyboard or gamepad