Blair Witch Episode 1: Rustin Parr 1941

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $20.98

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PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Brilliant and Chilling! [Posted on 2003-06-30]
When I began playing Rustin Parr I didn't like the game because of the controls and the camera angles. But after playing it and getting use to the system, the game became fascinating. I'm a person who loves horror things, so it takes a lot to scare me. This came has accomplished that! It's hair-raising spooky! The storyline of the game is excellent also. I only gave it 4 stars because of the controls, camera view, and it takes a while to load the next level, but the rest makes up for it. It is a great game once you get the feel of how it works! Play it and you'll think twice about the dark!

Rustin Parr reaches new heights of creepiest for the genre [Posted on 2004-11-03]
At first glance, Rustin Parr looks like it should be passed off as a joke. The intro to the game is odd and far from what you would expect from a blair witch title. Get past the intro and the game picks up drastically. To be honest, the game suffers a lot from it's oblvious beginnings. In fact, it seems some of the game (namely the beginning) was developed before acquiring it's "Blair Witch" license. You start off in a secret underground government headquarters known as "Spookhouse" as FBI agent Doc Holiday. Doc Holiday is a an attractive young detective who is being guided and directed by a military leader and some-sort of kirate sensei. First impressions are not on the side of this one. Why is there a sensei when Doc Holiday does not in anyway use any form of martial arts in the game. This just adds to the out of place and irrevelance factors that infect the game's initial impression. The game pushes you into a room of confusion and frustration. This inevitability makes you want to instantly put the game down and walk away. Goofy controls, choppy animations, and meaningless chatter amongst characters puts you in a dreadful disposition. Horror takes a new meaning. The intro was designed to give you a feel for the controls of the game but seems far distant in it's relation to the rest of it. Choppy animation plagues the beginning and settles it's way all the way through. Buggy and just careless. Some tweaking with keyboard configuration and mouse sensitivity are necessary in order to master the controls. And some monitor adjustments with brightness and contrasts are also required in order to get the proper "fix". Get past the intro and you are on you way into a very satisfying title. Burkittsville, the town in which Rustin Parr resides, is where all the fun begins and really where the game should have started. Your assignment is to investigate the murders of 6 children who were all mutiliatted by a really small town hermit Rustin Parr in his basement (sound familiar?). The small town of Burkittsville, Maryland seems to be the perfect scene for this horror-inflicted blair witch project. Minor frustrations remain but the enticing creepiness and story leave you drawn to the game's gravitional pull. And you won't be able to put it down until it leaves you hanging for Volume II.
Gameplay lacks much in controls and action. Combat with the dead is more of an annoyance than actual fun. Combat is more of a chore routine to progress to the real awards: Revealing storyline and entriguing puzzles. And that's exactly what makes up for the clumsy controls and weak combat, the intense progression of storyline and the appropriate level of challenging puzzles.
Also, the environments will leave you sweating at the edge of your seat. It's the scariest, creepiest game I ever played resembling authentic north-eastern Fall landscape. The subtle crackle of the woods with dynamic lighting and shadows are enough to mess with your head. Add in the cries of children in the distance and you have one terrifying title that emulates it's theatrical counterpart. When you lose your way in these woods, you really feel lost and desperate to get back. Despite clumsy controls and combat, the daemons, zombies, ghosts, and creatures in this game all add to the intensity with their haunting animations, creepiness, growls, and sneakiness. The town itself is enough make your heart thump faster against your chest with it's small town eccentric attitude and feel. And characters of the town are very dynamic which adds to the overall story and dimensional texture. Getting caught up in the hauntings of Rustin Parr is what makes this game. So turn out the lights and enjoy this thrill ride.

Great creepy atmosphere, but decidedly lacking in terms of gameplay [Posted on 2006-10-29]
I've had the three Blair Witch computer games ever since I bought The Blair Witch Experience set several years ago, but I've never really taken any of them for a spin until now. Given the pathetic nature of the second movie, I had to wonder what kind of content might be stretched across three whole games. The Rustin Parr case makes a natural choice for the first volume, as it's really the most visceral and disturbing part of the fictional Blair Witch legend. You all remember Rustin Parr - the guy who killed seven kids in his basement, walked to Burkittsville to announce he was finally finished, and testified that the Blair Witch made him do it. You don't actually get to meet Rustin Parr in this game, but you do sort of follow in his footsteps.

In many ways, so they say, this is a sequel to Nocturne. It uses the Nocturne engine and borrows the character of Elspeth "Doc" Holliday, a sort of pre-X-files agent investigating weird stuff for the "Spookhouse." After a rather annoying but somewhat helpful tutorial-type workout at home base, you (as Holliday) are dispatched to Burkittsville to see if there's anything to the whole Blair Witch story or not. It's 1941, just after Parr's arrest, and you have to explore the town, interview townsfolk, and - of course - explore the dark forests where evil is said to lurk. The locals are rather tight-lipped and pretty darn lacking in personality, and your contact with them mostly consists of cut scenes - so there's not much challenge there. You'll spend most of your time in the forest, which can be rather mazelike. I don't know why computer game makers think we enjoy wandering around lost in a maze so much, but there you go.

You do get to kill things, though. Since you can't go around shooting the residents of Burkittsville (unfortunately), the game makers came up with the idea of zombies, wild dogs, and stick creatures wandering the forests. It's quite a stretch, really, as the whole Blair Witch thing sort of fades into the background of ancient Indian folklore (as recounted by a strange Indian living in the dark forest). Clearly, gameplay and story depth are not this game's major strengths.

What makes the game interesting and, in its own little way, somewhat impressive is the atmosphere provided by the Nocturne engine. The look of the game is quite effective, as are the sounds. As you walk through the forest, your ears are treated to the sounds of the leaves crunching under your feet and the eerie sounds of children's voices somewhere off in the distance (some of whom are calling for help), while ghost-like images of children as well as beasts pop in and out of your sight. The creepiness multiplies when you get the chance to explore the infamous Parr house, where shadows of children suddenly appear in the corners before fading away before your very eyes. None of this is going to make you start calling for your Mommy, but there is a definite level of creepiness to this otherwise bland gaming experience.

In the end, though, the lack of challenging gameplay (and all the ridiculous wandering around in the forest trying to find your way) trumps the creepy atmosphere. There's just too little to do, with too little payoff for your time and effort. Different camera angles make for awkward control at times, and the third-person perspective keeps you from really being drawn into the action. The ending is particularly blasé, and so it is that I must declare The Blair Witch Volume 1: Rustin Parr a decidedly average gaming experience.

Just so everyone knows... [Posted on 2007-04-20]
You can pick up all three games, along with both movies and a stickman necklace for around $7 (used, of course). Just run a search for The Blair Witch Experience in DVDs.

Not worth the shipping [Posted on 2007-12-11]
This game is ridiculous- I couldn't even finsish it. In fact, I barely started it. It's obviously just a ripoff of all the Blair Witch hype from a few years ago- a movie I love. Disappointing.

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