Over the last few years, the horror genre has been at its best. In an era where the superhero genre has become an oversaturated market and the video game industry feels like it’s bordering on collapse, horror experiences have managed to stay relevant and appealing to audiences all around the world. There is no better example of that than the success of Blumhouse.
Blumhouse is known for films such as Black Phone, Happy Death Day, M3GAN, the recent Halloween films, and the Oscar-winning Get Out. Recently, they’ve started to dip their toes into the video game industry. First, they released the most financially successful horror film to date, Five Nights at Freddy’s, a video game adaptation of the 2014 horror hit. While the film’s sequel is still in development, Blumhouse is working on yet another foray into the industry: Blumhouse Games.
Blumhouse Games is a new venture that combines the publishing prowess of Blumhouse with the creative potential of countless indie developers around the world. Six games have been announced thus far, with Fear the Spotlight being the first. On the surface, its easy to regard Blumhouse Games with some skepticism. However, after playing Fear the Spotlight in its entirety, there is no doubt in my mind that the future of Blumhouse Games and developer Cozy Game Pals is incredibly promising.
Horror In Its Simplest Form
Fear the Spotlight doesn’t have the most groundbreaking premise, but the one it does have is phenomenally endearing and compelling. You play as Vivian Singh, a young high schooler who accompanies their punk friend Amy Tanaka to the school library in the middle of the night. Their goal? To use the Ouija board from the school’s newly created Occult section to speak to spirits within the school.
The seance session goes wrong, but not in the way you’d expect. A mysterious spirit takes Amy and buries her deep within the school. As a result, Vivian is forced to scour the school to find her. Instead of being armed with a gun, a flashlight, and a melee weapon, Vivian is armed with nothing but a candle.
Fear the Spotlight is not a traditional survival horror game. There is only one monster that is actively trying to hunt Vivian down: a mysterious figure with a spotlight attached to his head. She is virtually defenseless against this monster. Instead, she is forced to hide in the shadows in order to evade its menacing gaze.
The titular spotlight isn’t as terrifying as Silent Hill‘s Pyramid Head or Resident Evil‘s numerous horrors. In fact, there were very few moments where I was genuinely terrified during the moment-to-moment gameplay of Fear the Spotlight. That said, I found the Spotlight to be an effective antagonist, especially as you learn more about his history through the game’s many pages strewn about.
To speak more on Fear the Spotlight‘s horror, there are some moments where shadows will play at the corners of your vision. This is one area where the game’s terror definitely shines: not in what you can see, but in what you can’t. There were countless moments when I’d see something at the corner of my field of view and wonder if that was a monster or just a shadow.
What helps this feeling of suspense is the game’s visuals. It’s inspired by PlayStation 1 games of the past, an aesthetic that a lot of recent horror games have pulled from. The common inspiration still manages to be effective, as that art style adds to Fear the Spotlight‘s charm and fear factor. While you can turn the retro filter off, it feels like a betrayal of the game’s design to do so.
While the atmosphere of Fear the Spotlight is good, it definitely could be better. The game doesn’t have much of a soundtrack to speak of, for example. While it doesn’t need one, it would definitely add to the atmosphere in unique ways. I also think having the different shadowy creatures do more than just stare at you would be appreciated so that there can be some more variety in the game’s monsters.
The final payoff to the threat of the Spotlight monster also isn’t really satisfying. As I’ll mention later, there’s a conspiracy that underlies the entire plot. While there is a payoff to the conspiracy, there really isn’t much of a payoff to the actual monster at the heart of the narrative. Sure, you find out the monster’s backstory, but there isn’t any justice given to those who suffered at his hands. The ending feels very rushed in that aspect.
While Fear the Spotlight isn’t as terrifying as its contemporaries, it still uses its simple premise in a way that will at least unsettle you and leave you engaged. I, for one, am curious to see if I missed any secrets hidden within the narrative. With all this being said, however, it’s worth asking the question: if Fear the Spotlight isn’t as terrifying as its contemporaries, then what does it bring to the table? The answer is some creative puzzles and a charming story.
What Lies Between the Terror
Like other horror games, puzzles are key to Fear the Spotlight‘s formula. In the first moments of the game, you must look for the right key in order to open the cabinet where the Ouija board is stashed. As the game continues, you must solve increasingly more complicated puzzles. Some of them involve keeping an eye on your surroundings, while others ask the player to explore the environment in-depth in order to find the right key to open the right lock.
Depending on the player, these puzzles can range from either being really fun to really frustrating. As someone who has personally struggled with puzzles, especially in horror games, I found myself deeply enjoying all of the puzzles spread throughout Fear the Spotlight. While there were some examples of backtracking, they never felt too egregious or frustrating.
Some of the puzzles in Fear the Spotlight are actually really creative. You get a unique feeling when you complete a difficult puzzle, retaining information you see and using it to progress without any help or assistance whatsoever. I particularly liked the puzzle where you have to use a floppy disk while being hunted by the Spotlight monster.
Besides its horror, the other main thing you’ll take away from the game is its story. At the end of the day, Fear the Spotlight‘s best aspect is its narrative. Vivian is a deeply charming character. She feels realistic, and her portrayal brought me back to my days in high school. Her desire to save Amy feels genuine, especially as we learn she has romantic feelings for her classmate. The dialogue is also great, and the conspiracy she slowly unravels buried deep within the heart of her school is both compelling and unnerving.
The biggest surprise of Fear the Spotlight is, after beating the game, there’s a surprising amount of extra content. While I’ll keep the extent of the game’s extra offerings a secret, I will say that it provides a great amount of additional depth to the experience. Further, most of my favorite moments in the entire game come from the additional content and how much gameplay and story it adds to the overall game.
Fear the Spotlight isn’t a ten-hour saga that invites you to uncover different endings by using different playstyles. Instead, it’s a six-hour thriller that earns its runtime with a great narrative, well-constructed brain teasers, and memorable characters.
The Future is in the Spotlight
The horror genre is unique in that there are many ways to approach it. We’ve seen countless developers use the video game medium to tell terrifying tales through its gameplay, narrative, visuals, and a mixture of all of the above with different sub-genres that appeal to many different audiences. Fear the Spotlight fits neatly into that last category and continues the trend of indie developers bringing the genre to new heights.
It’s not a slasher, a sci-fi cosmic nightmare, or a city-trotting quest to escape an ongoing apocalypse. What it is instead is a deeply personal story of two love-struck teenagers, who must work their way through hell in order to find each other again. While I didn’t get nightmares from the experience, I enjoyed every minute of Fear the Spotlight, thanks to its engaging story, great characters, and challenging puzzles.
The horror at the heart of Fear the Spotlight, while perhaps not explored to its full potential, is still effective enough to keep you engaged. Further, while there is likely no chance for a sequel, there is plenty of room for both Cozy Game Pals and Blumhouse Games to explore their place within the video game horror genre.
This is the biggest takeaway from Fear the Spotlight: what it does for the indie horror game scene at large. Not only does it show off the talents of Cozy Game Pals and prove that they are capable of doing so much more in the genre, but it also shows the validity of the Blumhouse Games initiative. If this is the level of quality we can expect from Blumhouse’s venture into the gaming medium, then I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.
Disclaimer: Blumhouse Games provided Final Weapon with a PlayStation 5 copy of Fear the Spotlight for review purposes.
