Current Events > Anyone play Bloober's games (Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, Observer)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've played Layers of Fear and Blair Witch and both games just sort of annoyed me because of how much promise they had but they just fumble and drag on.

Like they love doing these over and over again

• You walk and hit a dead end. You turn around. Everything is different!
• The lights go dark and something runs past
• You wait in a room as the walls change around you and ghosts whisper

It's crazy how much they just drive the same 'scares' into the ground.

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So I should avoid those games?

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I don't really expect much from a team called Bloober

SrRd_RacinG posted...

So I should avoid those games?

Eh I dunno. They're not awful. They have their charm. They're like a good deep discount or Game Pass game (which is how I played them) that can be finished rather quickly.

They're basically spooky walking simulators.

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no, but I watched full playthroughs on YouTube (of Blair Witch and Layers of Fear; haven't seen any for Observer), and while I'm not sure if the games were for me, I liked seeing the streamers go through them and their reactions.

Darmik posted...

You walk and hit a dead end. You turn around. Everything is different!

I dunno, I think that this is pretty cool, even if it's overused in the games. those transitions just seem so seamless

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Observer was cool for a while, but then it wasn't.

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i enjoyed most of observer then it suddenly turned into survival horror and that was lame.

boxington posted...

I dunno, I think that this is pretty cool, even if it's overused in the games. those transitions just seem so seamless

They are cool. But sometimes I think less is more y'know? Especially for horror games. At a certain point you hit a dead end and know exactly what's going to happen.

hockeybub89 posted...

Observer was cool for a while, but then it wasn't.

Layers of Fear and Blair Witch are the same.

Blair Witch is kind of interesting because it is pretty different to start with but gradually becomes more and more Bloober as it hits the climax. But I liked the simplicity of the woods better.

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The other thing that's a sort of weird thing about both games is that the plots are both vague and about mental illness.

Layers of Fear is their own thing so sure. But Blair Witch's movies weren't really like that. The vagueness is about what happened to her victims. Not what the killer experiences.

I'm not even joking but I'm pretty sure in Blair Witch it's up to interpretation that the main character is both the serial killer villain brainwashed by the witch and is the child that was kidnapped that needs to be rescued.

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Darmik posted...

But sometimes I think less is more y'know?

true.

I guess it's not as effective when you know it's coming.

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I really liked Observer, but then I like the gritty cyberpunk aesthetic as well. Layers of Fear was fun but something about 2 just...kinda lost its luster quickly. Not sure why.
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I have heard Observer is their best game.

I think they have the potential to be a really talented studio. But their games are just bloated with too many ideas, story beats and samey moments. It's like they need an editor to trim things down.

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I tried Blair Witch and was immediately turned off by the framerate and performance. I actually got like 3 hours into Observer and was loving it, but again, the performance issues were really irritating and I dropped off.

Great ideas, unique parts of gameplay but they must iron out the technical problems and terrible performance of their games. I'm usually not picky but it's been an issue for me in 2 of the 3 games you mentioned.

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Observer definitely has more to it than it just being like a haunted house tour. The fact it has sidequests really surprised me.
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MabusIncarnate posted...

I tried Blair Witch and was immediately turned off by the framerate and performance. I actually got like 3 hours into Observer and was loving it, but again, the performance issues were really irritating and I dropped off.

Great ideas, unique parts of gameplay but they must iron out the technical problems and terrible performance of their games. I'm usually not picky but it's been an issue for me in 2 of the 3 games you mentioned.

I played Blair Witch on Xbox One X and found that the performance in the intro area was awful but calmed down once it hit night time. Not sure if I just got used to it or if the dark areas just hid it better.

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