Game Review: Fear the Spotlight (Xbox Series X)

Developed by Cozy Game Pals (a two-person team) and published by Blumhouse Games (yes, I also did not know they did this, but it’s not too much of a surprise), Fear the Spotlight is a lo-fi horror game with retro gameplay. One that delivers light frights, disturbing atmosphere, and a compelling story that ends up having more heart than first expected.

Played from the third-person perspective, players take on the role of Vivian in chapter one, and Amy in chapter two, with the latter unlocked upon completing the former. They are teenage girls, best friends, and are sneaking into their school after hours to conduct a séance in the library.

Why the school? It’s because of a fire many years ago, a disaster that cost the lives of many students and Amy, the more rebellious of the two, wants to see if they can contact the dead using a spirit board. Which goes about as well as you might expect. The school has a very dark past and across Vivian’s two to three-hour story, players will uncover the truth, all while things go bump in the hallways.

If you’re wondering how Amy’s story unfolds, no spoilers, but it runs alongside Vivian’s but takes on a more psychological angle. It’s also shorter, scarier, and more emotional, but all of that will make sense when you play it, and I do suggest you play this game because it’s great.

Its flaws, most of which are more apparent on replay, are easily forgivable as so much effort has gone into making this an enjoyable experience and a love letter to PS1-style horror games, particularly the likes of Silent Hill. However, unlike the beloved Konami classic, Fear the Spotlight is a much easier game to get to grips with. Both from an exploration perspective and a puzzle solving perspective. In fact, it’s straightforward, even though some of the puzzles ask you to do some old-school things like remember a code and/or write it down.

Likewise, exploring the school might seem initially daunting, but it’s quite a contained environment. New areas are unlocked by finding keys, completing puzzles, and more. With the game encouraging forward movement. Every item you find has a use, including the twist on health packs. Vivian, who suffers from asthma, has inhalers and Amy makes use of incense to calm her down. It’s a nice touch that relates to their characters even if the game is very generous with these pickups. Especially as there is no combat and only reoccurring boss characters to avoid and hide from throughout. Their appearances are also scripted making dealing with them even easier on replay.

They do provide most of the frights, even if there is a solid attempt to scare the player with reoccurring phantoms. Alas, these are too frequent and get really silly as the game goes on. Like all horror, especially supernatural horror, your mileage will vary. I didn’t find the phantoms scary but found the game’s overall atmosphere quite creepy and was taken in by the dark Phantom of the Opera-inspired story.

Unfortunately, as much as I can praise the story and the characters (voiced well too), there’s far too much going on for a game this short. So much that certain moments that should have emotional weight end up being quite light. It’s cohesive enough, but I can’t help but feel it would have been better focusing on one or two things, rather than four or five.

It’s still a great game, and well worth playing. Especially if you like old-school horror games with retro aesthetics that comes from modern minds.