Whilst it may not maintain the scares throughout, Fear the Spotlight works very well as a retro horror game.
I like what Blumhouse Productions are trying to do in the gaming space. Going down a similar route to DreadXP, they’re looking for smaller, interesting horror game ideas and providing funding to bring them to life. When there are so many silly expensive triple-A live service monstrosities around, I like to see things like this. Though it’s the only one to have arrived so far, Fear the Spotlight is a good example of what allowing a small studio with a genuine vision can do.
You play as Vivian, a nerdy girl who volunteers at the school’s library. She and her rebellious wild-child friend Amy are breaking into that very library one night so they can perform a séance, something that Amy is keen to try out. Things obviously go awry and ghosts happen, resulting in Amy’s disappearance and Vivian attempting to find her through a twisted version of the school.
There’s more to this narrative of course, with notes scattered about referring to a school production of The Phantom of the Opera from many years ago that seemingly didn’t go to plan. Concepts of stage fright and anxiety play into the story through those notes and Vivian’s worry over her secret feelings towards Amy, and this is visually represented by the enemy that occasionally stalks you.
At various scripted points throughout the story, a Silent Hill-esque creature will appear in the form of an emaciated man with a huge spotlight for a head. It’s a neat design and is used sparingly over the course of the game. Vivian isn’t a fighter and needs to hide from and evade the gaze of the spotlight. I liked how Vivian’s health was represented by her asthma, with her being seen causing her to start to have an asthma attack brought on by her anxiety. It was an interesting representation of a health system that worked well within the themes of the story.
Early in the game, the tension is pretty high as you find yourself in tight spaces and haven’t necessarily got an idea of how dangerous Spotlight is. I found myself dreading these confrontations, even knowing that I just had to make it to the exit. They started to lose their impact towards the end of the game’s admittedly brief runtime, as you can frequently just make a run for it thanks to healing items being plentiful enough to recover to full health. That isn’t to say it isn’t creepy though. There aren’t any jump scares, but you’ll regularly see creatures watching you around corners before they scuttle off. It scares you in a similar way to the monsters in The Mortuary’s Assistant thanks to them being visible only long enough for you to notice but not get a good look.
When you aren’t hiding or being creeped out, you’ll be solving puzzles to navigate your way around the school. This isn’t Resident Evil, so there won’t be a big area that you’ll constantly need to work your way around. Instead, you’ll get a large puzzle to solve in an area that’ll allow you through to the next one. An early example of this is to unlock the theatre building, you’ll need to turn on the power in the gym, where you’ll solve an array of puzzles before moving on. It’s a nice system, and keeps backtracking to a minimum. Most of these areas are of a reasonable size so you won’t get lost, but one of the larger ones includes a map you can check that includes reminders about puzzles you haven’t solved yet, which is nice.
These puzzles aren’t too taxing though. Most of them involve finding an item to release another item that then unlocks a door or something similar. There are a handful of more complicated ones that I appreciated. The early fuse box one was fun to work out, and the literature room puzzle was quite satisfying. With that said, you’ll probably be done in two to three hours though, so this isn’t an especially long game.
At least that’s what I would say if it weren’t for the fact that once you’ve finished it, another playthrough unlocks in which you play the story from Amy’s perspective! This was a lovely surprise and isn’t simply a rehash of the first playthrough. Amy’s story is quite different and includes different mechanics. You won’t be finding nearly as many keys thanks to her lockpicking set, and you’ll be seeing far more bizarre events thanks to the reason for her disappearance, reasons that aren’t apparent in your first playthrough. It doesn’t turn Fear the Spotlight into a twenty hour epic, but it does make that £15+ price tag feel much more reasonable.
In terms of presentation, Fear the Spotlight really nails that early-3D aesthetic. Characters are blocky enough to hit those retro synapses but detailed enough to look nice on a HD TV. I liked the options menu allowing you to tinker with that visual style, reducing the CRT grain and polygon jitter to a more comfortable level for me. Everyone is fully voice acted and most of it comes across well aside from the occasional oddly stilted line. Vivian comes across as nervous as you’d expect whilst Amy’s performance hits the notes you’d expect for a stubborn teenager in over their head. Music is rare, but ambient sound is used well. Once I was aware of the hidden creatures, I kept finding myself stopping when walking as I was convinced the footstep sounds weren’t my own.
Fear the Spotlight is another solid retro style horror that 2024 has had in spades. Whilst the horror element can’t quite maintain itself throughout, the atmosphere and puzzles manage to keep the game enjoyable. Veteran fans of horror might find it a little tame, but this fits in with Blumhouse’s recent leanings towards teen horror. I’m hoping they continue to find fun and interesting scary games going into 2025 as I’ll always have an appetite for this sort of thing.
Fear the Spotlight is available now on PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch.
