Blumhouse Productions is arguably the biggest name in Hollywood horror today. The studio’s ubiquitous logo appears before what feels like every other theatrically-released horror movie. It’s clear the company has made the genre its focus, and I love that. It means there’s always more to look forward to, even as results surely vary. With Fear The Spotlight, Blumhouse marks its debut in video games, which similarly excites me. Its games will also surely vary in quality, but this indie ghost story is a memorable debut, both for the burgeoning publisher and the pair of developers who built it together.
Fear The Spotlight stars Amy and Vivian, two high-school friends sneaking around school after-hours as soon as the game begins. Amy is dressed like a Hot Topic kid, while Vivian looks bookish. It gives the pair the air of an odd couple, but exploring their friendship while things go bump in the hallways helps introduce the story as they uncover a shady school history over the course of the game’s initial three-to-four-hour campaign.
Fear The Spotlight uses a PS1-style aesthetic mixed with modern touches like an over-the-shoulder perspective. In many moments, the game also switches to point-and-click mechanics, mostly whenever the game’s puzzles are being toyed with. It’s both those puzzles and the game’s scares that give Fear The Spotlight its gateway-horror vibe, and I enjoy it for that even if I’m no longer in the target audience. Though I love when games are especially terrifying, I also feel like younger or less-experienced horror fans deserve entertaining scares they can stomach. Not every game should be Outlast or Amnesia on the spooky scale.