Blair Witch: Volume II - The Legend of Coffin Rock

The Good
The second in the trilogy of games based on the Blair Witch mythos delves into the events surrounding the coffin rock massacre. As before the story is interesting to discover and provides info regarding the history of the BW, though in this case it's almost more of a side story than anything else. Visually this game is great. Human head have done a great job in getting the most out of the Nocturne engine. There is little to no slowdown even with loads of people on screen at once which proved to be a bit of a problem with Vol 1. Combat has been tightened a little also and now feels quite slick. Sound is decent and contains some very creepy noises, particularly the children screaming which is guaranteed to send a shiver down the spine.

The Bad
Although the game gets off to a great start it quickly deteriorates. Sadly the adventure elements are all but gone in this game. There's a small amount of free roaming in the beginning and a bit of simple puzzling near the end but that's it. The rest of the game you spend running along a streamlined path through the woods that lacks any kind of real inspiration. The visuals might look good but they often actually hinder you. In the first volume the trees often looked a little blocky but you knew exactly where the path was, in part 2 the trees look great but you are often prevented from going where a path appears to be by invisible barriers. Becoming cornered by monsters because you didn't realize that you weren't allowed to venture into a certain area happens all too often. The story has great creep potential but it just isn't scary because the clues that allude to the twisted ending are all too apparent from square one and amazingly the actual Blair Witch story is barely even touched on. The only part of the game that is even a bit creepy is right at the start and after that it all becomes very tame especially compared to BW1: Rustin Parr. The scare factor is also knocked down by the hilarious voice acting that is very much in the 'morning cartoon' style. Finally, there isn't much game to play. The whole thing was over for me in about 2 hours which is pitifully small even for a budget title, of course I could have forgiven it for that if it was a great game but it just isn't. Luckily I got it very cheap indeed.

The Bottom Line
Whilst BW Vol 2 isn't a complete disaster it is a very average title that is by far the worst of the three Blair Witch games. Don't bother unless you get it in a pack with the others or if (like me) you're a survival horror collector and curiousity overwhelms you. Oh and if you're the latter, make sure it's extremely cheap.

The Good
After playing the surprisingly good BW:Rustin Parr, I went and bought this game. I played part of it and then let a year pass until I was interested in completing it. The game starts off very well. It incorporates footage from the movie in the opening which explains what Coffin Rock is. In the Blair Witch mythos, Coffin Rock is a location where a missing search party was found, bound together and eviscerated.

The actual game deals with this event. You play as an amnestic Civil War soldier who is recovering from a dreadful wound. An old woman and her granddaughter are nursing you back to health. When the girl goes missing, you offer to help.

There are two parts to the game. Part of the game involves the current time (1880's) and the search for the girl. The other half deals with your group of soldiers in the 1860's and the events leading up to your amnesia. There is a really obvious plot twist here and if the preceding sentences haven't revealed it then let me just say that you character's name is Lazarus. The designers apparently haven't heard about subtlety.

This game uses the Nocturne engine which utilizes camera angles similar to your typical survival horror game. Played in the third person, Coffin Rock is combat driven and has around 5-10 hours of game play.

The Bad
This game deteriorates as soon as you enter the woods. Coffin Rock is combat driven for the most part, but only features three weapons. With poor collision detection, combat looks laughable. While the flashbacks to the past start interesting, they become predictable and are very poorly acted. We can guess early on what the plot twist is, what is more interesting is the present-day storyline.

Far too many monsters! The woods are inhabited by evil dogs, ghosts, and stick men. Often three of each at once. Rustin Parr had a similar problem, but at least used a level of surprise, Coffin Rock has these creatures just standing around waiting for you.

The limitations of the Nocturne engine are very apparent. The engine allows for incredible textures and great details such as fog and character clothing, however the camera angles are terrible because most of the game involves running around in the woods. Even the smallest bush is an obstacle for your character, and several graphical glitches (getting trapped on the far side of a creek) forced me to reload. And game play controls are so terrible that minor obstacles and puzzles become difficult. The Nocturne engine would work best for a story-driven, puzzle-based game in enclosed areas.

The Bottom Line
Coffin Rock is budget-priced software that doesn't try to be anything else. After the excellent Rustin Parr, I was severely disappointed in this game. There is a third game in this series which is supposedly worse than this game. I find that hard to believe. And about the search party, bound and eviscerated, it is nice to know that someone in this game suffers more than the player.