Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr
Developer(s)Terminal Reality
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Joe Wampole
Designer(s)Joe Wampole
Programmer(s)Mark Randel
Writer(s)Joe Wampole
Jeff Mills
Peter Besson
William Haskins
Composer(s)Kyle Richards
SeriesBlair Witch
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: October 4, 2000
  • EU: October 6, 2000
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr is a survival horror video game developed by Terminal Reality and released for Microsoft Windows in 2000. Two sequels titled Blair Witch Volume II: The Legend of Coffin Rock and Blair Witch Volume III: The Elly Kedward Tale were released subsequently.

Plot

The story takes place in the year 1941, and with the exception of the opening section in the Spookhouse HQ, the game takes place over four days. Following her training, research scientist Elspeth "Doc" Holliday is dispatched to the town of Burkittsville by the Spookhouse, a fictional classified government agency charged with investigating paranormal occurrences. When given the assignment to look into the legend of the Blair Witch, she is partnered with the Stranger, but decides to go on her own as the Stranger is skeptical of the witch's existence. It is reported that during the early 1940s, a hermit named Rustin Parr abducted eight children from Burkittsville and, apparently without motive, murdered all but one in his basement. The player must guide Holliday through her investigations, to see if there is any truth to Parr's claims that he was under the influence of otherworldly forces when he committed the murders.

Reception

Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[1] In the United States, Volume 1 sold 49,000 copies by October 2001.[15]

GameSpot awarded the game a 7.1 out of 10, praising its atmosphere but calling its combat "mediocre".[8] Eurogamer also highlights the game's atmosphere but said this about the game's length:

"Sadly, there is one big crux as far as Rustin Parr goes, and that's longevity. Like a film or book with a twist in the tail and an engrossing story-line, you can happily read it again and the odd bit here or there will make more sense, but you'll never get quite the same level of enjoyment out of it as you did before. Add to this the fact that Rustin Parr is over in what seems like an instant and you have cause for some alarm".[4]

ActionTrip was more critical of the game and awarded it a 5.9 out of 10. Cited are its bad controls, problematic camera angles and its re-purposing of a classic adventure game engine for a more action-oriented game. On the positive side of things, the author approved of the game's story and mood.[16] AllGame described the game as "one of the scariest games you're likely to experience on the PC in the year 2000" but that the greatest drawback was the controls, saying that the players would have a difficulty to re-center the character, especially when fighting against undead creatures in the forest. He also criticised the game as short, taking only about 10 hours to finish.[3]

Jeff Lundrigan reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and called the game a short and occasionally frustrating adventure.[12]

Rustin Parr was a nominee for GameSpot's 2000 "Best Adventure Game" award, which ultimately went to The Longest Journey.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Fournier, Heidi (May 20, 2002). "Blair Witch Volume 1". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on September 17, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Chung, Terry. "Blair Witch Vol. 1: Rustin Parr – Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (October 1, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  5. ^ Brogger, Kristian (December 2000). "Blair Witch Volume One: Rustin Parr". Game Informer. No. 92. p. 135. Archived from the original on November 14, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  6. ^ Brian Wright (October 10, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  7. ^ White, A.A. (September 2000). "Blair Witch Volume One: Rustin Parr Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Dulin, Ron (September 27, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr Review". GameSpot. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  9. ^ Buecheler, Christopher "shaithis" (September 25, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume One: Rustin Parr". GameSpy. Archived from the original on September 21, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  10. ^ Lambert, Jason (November 17, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr Review – PC". GameZone. Archived from the original on March 17, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  11. ^ Lopez, Vincent (October 17, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr". IGN. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Lundrigan, Jeff (December 2000). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 3, no. 12. Imagine Media. p. 145.
  13. ^ "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr". PC Gamer. 2001.
  14. ^ Porter, Alex (September 27, 2000). "The Blair Witch Project [sic] Volume 1: Rustin Parr". Maxim. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  15. ^ Keighley, Geoff (October 2001). "READ.ME; G.O.D.'s Fall from Grace". Computer Gaming World. No. 207. pp. 30–32.
  16. ^ Jojic, Uros "2Lions" (October 26, 2000). "Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr Review". ActionTrip. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ GameSpot Staff. "Best and Worst of 2000". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 2, 2002. Retrieved November 8, 2018.

External links

Blair Witch
Terminal Reality
Categories