Earlier this year, we attended Summer Game Fest, an event for media and influencers to try out upcoming video games from companies. During the event, Jason Blum and Louise Blain of Blumhouse Productions announced that the studio that brought you films like Paranormal Activity and Five Nights at Freddy’s would be jumping into the gaming sphere with Blumhouse Games. Blum and Blain showcased six new games they planned to launch within the next year, the first being Fear the Spotlight.

Fear the Spotlight is a game developed by Cozy Game Pals, a small indie dev team consisting of a former Nickelodeon art director and a game designer who worked on Uncharted. Cozy Game Pals was originally a passion project for the duo to make smaller indie games, but they are now launching their first major title.

Vivian and Amy

Fear the Spotlight is a story about two high school friends, Vivian Singh and Amy Tanka. The former is a nerdy goody-goody, while the latter is a rebellious goth. One stormy night, they sneak into their high school to use the Ouija board on display in the library to contact the spirits of the dead. Unbeknownst to them, their school has a tragic past and a dark spirit has been following Amy around. They use the board and make contact with something that is not friendly, and all hell breaks loose.

Fear The Spotlight’s style is very much a throwback to the days of PlayStation One graphics. I found it oddly fitting that this game will be released not long after the remake of Silent Hill 2‘s release, but I feel like a lot of fans could find a lot of comparisons to the original Silent Hill. The game relies more on its atmosphere and storytelling than some of the elements of combat and stealth, but the latter is not the driving point of the game’s narrative.

The gameplay is more about building tension and dread, and sound plays a major factor in that. You can hear whispers from around the corner and small creaks in the floorboards become unnerving. There was a part in the game where a machine made a constant noise in your vicinity as you traversed the level. I didn’t even notice I had become accustomed to it until I finished a puzzle that turned off the machine, and I was met with uncomfortable complete silence.

Darkness and Shadows

This game is not about jump scares like many modern indie games. However, darkness and shadows play a major role in the game. A shadow could move in the darkness just outside your peripheral vision. You could find yourself staring down a hallway and seeing a dark figure peering from behind a corner. Much of the uneasiness you feel from playing Fear the Spotlight comes from navigating the school’s dark corridors alone, armed with only a flashlight. You do pick up other items along the way, like a screwdriver or a wrench, but a majority of these items are only to help assist you with the game’s puzzles.

Silent Hill and Resident Evil Inspirations

The team of Cozy Game Pals was clearly inspired by Silent Hill and the PlayStation One era of Resident Evil because I easily found myself right at home with the game’s puzzle. They were challenging enough that a few times I was stumped, but I never felt the need to turn to the internet for help. I also like how the developers used the physicality of the puzzles as a way for the player to interact with the game. As the player, you must click and drag to connect wires or open panels. I would have loved to have seen the Nintendo DS version of this game because I feel like the puzzles would have easily lent themselves to that handheld.

While I did mention the game is not combat-heavy, there is a boss and constant threat, The Spotlight. He is the main baddie of the game and you will encounter him in different areas of the school as you navigate through the game. You can’t fight him, so your best bet is to hide outside his vision and sneak around. This can be tricky because when The Spotlight walks, everything around him begins to burn, which can damage your character. He also sometimes lingers in a central area where you need to visit several different rooms to open up the next section of the map. He’ll even come into the room you’re in if you complete a puzzle or task that makes a lot of noise. His identity and what he represents are an intricate part of the story that you’ll begin to unravel as you progress through the game.

Different Perspectives

One thing I have yet to mention is that you can play Fear the Spotlight from both Amy’s and Vivian’s perspectives. Once you have played through Vivian’s version of the story, the option to play as Amy becomes available. I like this feature because even though they both are part of this story, their playthroughs are completely different. Vivan’s story is more about uncovering the mystery of what happened at the school so many years ago. A fire broke out and killed several students. She’s also trying to rescue Amy from the dark spirit that has been haunting her.

Amy’s story is more about her personal family issues and the events that have led her to be at this school with Vivian. It’s a far more personal story and she even has her own bad guy that is not the Spotlight. I like that the game does not retread any of the areas or puzzles used in Vivan’s playthrough.

Final Reaction

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Fear The Spotlight. It reminded me of the games that got me into survival horror but with a storyline that could easily have been a Goosebumps book or an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? I was completely engaged with the story from beginning to end and wanted to see Vivian and Amy make it out the other side. The best way I could explain this game is if Life is Strange and the very first Silent Hill game made a baby, it would turn out to be Fear The Spotlight. I can’t wait to see what Blumhouse Games and Cozy Game Pals do next.

Fear The Spotlight will be released on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 22nd.

Rating: 4 of 5 Atoms