First things first. Take what you know from watching the two released films and throw it out the window. This game has nothing to do with them. Set in the early 1940s, Rustin Parr puts you in the shoes of gumshoe Elspeth Holliday in her quest to explain the paranormal with solid evidence. This is what a Scully/Mulder kid would be like, no doubt.

Anyway, Spookhouse, a secret government agency that investigates the paranormal, employs Doctor Holliday. Those of you out there who have played Nocturne you will recognize this agency, as the Stranger from that game also worked for the Spookhouse. What really stands out about the beginning plot of this game is that it is really a semi-sequel to Nocturne. The Stranger appears throughout the game, and it would fit together giving the setting of Nocturne. This was a really cool idea introduced by Terminal Reality, also the developer of Nocturne.

Distancing itself from the games of mindless fragging and simple puzzles, Rustin Parr has one of the best storylines to pop up in a video game in recent months. Without giving too much of the story away, Rustin Parr, a hermit, claims to have heard voices that ordered him to kill seven of the local Burkittsville children while having an eighth watch from the corner. After the seventh murder, Rustin wanders into the general store and states, "I’m finally finished." After searching Rustin’s house, the police discover the gruesome crimes, and the town is outraged. In all reality, this could have been a better idea for the second movie instead of the "interesting" story we got. As you progress through the game, you will piece together more of the story while uncovering clues and being scared out of your mind.

Any fan of the Resident Evil series, such as me, will be right at home with this game. All of the classic "survival horror" elements and clichés set standard by Capcom are found in Rustin Parr. From the creatures crashing through windows to zombies trying to give you some TLC, everything you would normally find in a Resident Evil game is fully intact here. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Developer Terminal has really used their Nocturne engine to benefit this game greatly. This engine was the perfect choice for the game, even if it does have some major flaws.

First, the control system of this game is just utterly atrocious. Never before have I felt so awkward playing a video game. The combination of keyboard and mouse is the best way to go, but even that will have you running in directions you would rather not run in, and have you wondering where in the hell your character is going. And whose bright idea was it for you to have to holster your weapon so you can turn a doorknob? This is what we have two hands with opposable thumbs for.

Second, as with most games of this nature, the camera angles can give you some problems, though they are in no way as severe as the problems in Nocturne. Still, there will be times when a big piece of the ceiling or outcropping will be blocking your view while Doc Holliday is eaten alive by demons. The camera will have you more than agitated in a few instances.

There are a few other minor gripes about the game I have, but none of them are major and don’t really deserve the space. They are more of personal quibbles than real problems with the game.

As I stated before, the Nocturne engine has been used very well in the design of this game. The engine is similar to the way Resident Evil games are created. The game that most compares to this would be Resident Evil: Code Veronica for the Sega Dreamcast. Using real polygons to render the backgrounds and environments, the Nocturne engine allows for real-time lighting effects, amazing shadow casting and an overall spooky setting to be working in.

Still, there are a few things about the engine that could probably have been tweaked a bit. Holliday’s clothing, mostly her overcoat, is always in motion. It is always swaying and moving, even when she is standing still or sitting still. There must be some terrible drafts in Burkittsville. While the characters have a healthy number of polygons to keep them realistic, their faces are rather unimpressive. The mouths have what seems like three different animations and the eyes are in a fixed daze. As you progress through the game, you will speak to a women who has a breakdown right in front of you and starts to sob, yet her character maintains the eye and mouth animations of a regular person. Still, this could be forgiven because the remarkably well-done voice acting clearly makes up for this shortcoming.

Being a budget title, the game does lack some the polish that other full retail games have received. This is the first G.O.D. game I received that didn’t have a bonus disk included with all kinds of extras. Both F.A.K.K. 2 and Psycho Circus had some really cool bonus stuff included.

One last thing that really caught my eye was the super high system specs this game asks of you. Don’t even think about playing this game without a very respectable video card carrying 32 MB of RAM and a massive hard drive, as the only install option is a CD-less 850 MB. With the low replay value, this will be a game you delete when you are done, so it isn’t a real big deal, but those who are negotiating with small HDs will have some problems nonetheless.

With a gaming engine as beautiful as the Nocturne’s and scares that will have you falling out of your chair (and yes, I did almost fall out of my chair playing this game — I didn’t expect something to pop out of there, dammit!), Blair Witch Volume One: Rustin Parr is a great and respectable game. I just hope the other two developers of the two other games in the trilogy follow the steps of Terminal Reality and create an enjoyable gaming experience. Rustin Parr is one of the must have titles of the Fall 2000 season and at the $20 price you just can’t lose. Now, on to Volume Two …