Fear the Spotlight Review

This review features light structural and thematic spoilers about Fear the Spotlight.

Things that go bump in the night? It’s more like “things that you bump into with a light”… am I right?

What is Fear the Spotlight?

Fear the Spotlight is a third-person action game where you play as Vivian and Amy, two high school-aged friends who have ventured into their school after hours and get stuck there. Like some contemporary horror films, an Ouija board is pulled out which soon spells trouble for the pair. Throughout the game’s four to five-hour playtime, you will explore two halves of the same story – one where you control Vivian as she explores Sunnyside High and the other where you play as Amy, stuck in her childhood home.

Through the game, you’ll work to unravel the mystery of a tragedy that took place at Sunnyside High while getting the backstory of the characters that you control.

A Tale of Two Halves

Fear the Spotlight is the first game from Cozy Game Pals, the married team of Bryan Singh and Crista Castro. The game was originally released in 2022, before being signed to Blumhouse Games. Fear the Spotlight is the first game published by Blumhouse. With the signing in 2023, the game was taken off Steam temporarily while Singh and Castro added a whole section to the game. The 2024 release contains both the content from the original release as well as the whole new section.

The puzzles were great!

You’ll explore the school and Amy’s childhood home while solving puzzles and avoiding enemies with stealth gameplay. For fans of Resident Evil, you will be right at home with this one. Outside of the game’s presentation, the biggest strength of the game is the puzzle design. Although most of the puzzles were somewhat breezy, they were always logical. Most puzzles involved fetching an item from a different part of the map and bringing it back. But even the more complicated ones could be figured out with a little bit of pondering.

The stealth was a challenge!

The stealth I found to be a little more cumbersome. Your characters weren’t the most agile and you would often be asked to run from enemies. In the first half of the game, you principally deal with baddies that you may have seen in trailers. They have a spotlight for a head. To avoid damage, you need to avoid their spotlight. However, your below-average mobility challenged your ability to do that. A lot of the time, you needed to wait out an enemy. If you were caught, you would be grabbed and damaged but would be able to run away from them as they would be stunned after all attacks. Health items were plentiful, so usually the best way to escape was to be attacked by an enemy and then run far away from them while they were stunned.

I do wonder if there could have been a better way to strike fear into the heart of the player than this. The major boss in the game exacerbates many of the issues. In the encounter, you’re asked to move quickly and precisely, something that isn’t easy for either character.

Hauntingly Atmospheric

As mentioned previously, one of the game’s biggest strengths is the environment that it creates.

The game sports somewhat retro graphics. The PS1-inspired combination of chunky and distinct character models with excellent lighting and set dressing sets you in the right frame of mind for the experience. Despite being hauntingly empty, both Sunnyside High and Amy’s childhood home feel so lived in. As a fan of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark from the 90s, I found myself slowly panning the camera around the environment multiple times marvelling at how much these virtual sets reminded me of that program. If you’re spooked easily, I’m happy to report that this game limits its jump scares. Those scares are cheap and quick as well. The game overall is more moody than it is scary, which should make it accessible to more players.

Other elements of the presentation helped to set the mood for 90s teenage horror. This included some of the UI elements – I particularly loved the cell phone that you used as your main in-game menu in the second half of the game. The voice acting from Khaya Fraites (who played Vivian) and Maganda Marie (who played Amy) did a great job in the dialogue among themselves. The story here was good and layered: it drew inspiration from the Phantom of the Opera and horror films like The Ring. Both actors helped elevate the story further to match the great atmosphere.

Final Thoughts

Fear the Spotlight is a moody and fun romp. The strong atmosphere and puzzle design more than make up for my frustration with character movement and stealth. One half of the game has a stronger story and the other half has a step up in gameplay design – there’s something to love each of the game’s two halves. For Blumhouse, Fear the Spotlight fits well with Blumhouse’s brand as it extends into the games business. If they continue to sign indie horror bangers like this one, they’ll have one of the best horror catalogues in games within a few years.

Final Score: 8/10

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The game’s publisher provided a copy of the game for this feature. Reviewed on PC (Steam Deck). 

Looking for more spooky games to play? Check out our review of Mouthwashing!