Blindside - game review
Nov. 3rd, 2012 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trickykittyThese guys received funding through KickStarter. I purchased this game as part of the current Feature Bundle on Groupees, which is a pay-what-you-want offer to help get Indie creators noticed. I'm playing this game via Desura (a Steam-like game distribution program geared more towards Indie creators)
Spend $1 to get (in this bundle) the Midnight Syndicate song collection and two games, Cryostasis on Steam and Manor of the Damned on Desura. Spend $4+ to also get the items in Goal 1, which includes the Blindside game. The other goals are automatically included based on the number of purchasers over time. I made my purchase after Goal 4 was met, and it looks like since then a 5th goal has been added and is close to being met, so if you make a donation after it reaches 8250 sales, you'll get even more free stuff . I have no idea if the add-on goals are retroactive (although I can't imagine they wouldn't be), but it looks like I'll find out once it hits 8250 sales and I see whether or not my download page adds the Cyber-Chicken videos.
EDIT: Yep, it did hit 8250 sales, and the Cyber-Chicken videos were added to my download list.
It's a horror puzzle game, and admittedly, this aspect is quite intriguing. The game is meant to be played blind - literally. I actually do recommend turning off your lights, playing in a room with 5.1 surround sound (you have that hooked to you computer, right?) or at least some really good stereo headphones, and possibly even with your eyes closed or covered. Once you start the game, there is an onscreen menu and an optional onscreen compass, but the game is more or less meant to be played as though you are blind. You have to rely on your ears to gauge sounds and directions, and movement is done through simple arrow key selections. Even the menu is read to you so that you know what selections to make. This makes the game fully accessible to someone who really is blind.
In the intro/tutorial, you and your girlfriend wake up blind in your apartment. You search for some matches, only to find you still can't see the match after it's lit. You check out in the hall and find a neighbor who is also blind and doesn't understand what's going on and asks you to call 911. You then hear her get devoured by what sounds like a huge 7-8ft monster. You run back into your apartment with the monster close behind (which is more like stumbling around through the hall and hoping you're heading towards your apartment and not towards the hungry monster), grab your girlfriend, and make your way down the escape ladder.
The first actual game scene is in the street in front of your apartment building. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time getting my bearings, so I've been run over by the oncoming subway car about 10 times already. Even if I were blinded in real life, I'd still have proprioception (the ability to gauge how far I've moved in any direction) and exteroception (the ability to feel of my surroundings in order to get a better mental image of the environment), but I'm having a rough time figuring out this first scene because there are no mechanics built into the game for those senses. Plus, I would hope that I would have some sort of general mental image of the front of my apartment already. Like, the character says I've reached the front door to my apartment, yet I can still walk forward. So, does this mean the front door is to my left or right side and I'm just feeling of it with my hand, or am I actually facing towards it and looking like an idiot running into it over and over again? If they stated that I was feeling of it with my right hand, or something like that, then I think I would have a better idea of what I'm supposed to be "seeing".
I think the game will make more sense as I get used to it's features and sounds, but so far I'm struggling a bit. I actually do still recommend this game, and hopefully I'll be able to give it my full stamp of approval once I get further into it. Who knew that a game with no visuals would require such a learning curve?
Spend $1 to get (in this bundle) the Midnight Syndicate song collection and two games, Cryostasis on Steam and Manor of the Damned on Desura. Spend $4+ to also get the items in Goal 1, which includes the Blindside game. The other goals are automatically included based on the number of purchasers over time. I made my purchase after Goal 4 was met, and it looks like since then a 5th goal has been added and is close to being met, so if you make a donation after it reaches 8250 sales, you'll get even more free stuff . I have no idea if the add-on goals are retroactive (although I can't imagine they wouldn't be), but it looks like I'll find out once it hits 8250 sales and I see whether or not my download page adds the Cyber-Chicken videos.
EDIT: Yep, it did hit 8250 sales, and the Cyber-Chicken videos were added to my download list.
It's a horror puzzle game, and admittedly, this aspect is quite intriguing. The game is meant to be played blind - literally. I actually do recommend turning off your lights, playing in a room with 5.1 surround sound (you have that hooked to you computer, right?) or at least some really good stereo headphones, and possibly even with your eyes closed or covered. Once you start the game, there is an onscreen menu and an optional onscreen compass, but the game is more or less meant to be played as though you are blind. You have to rely on your ears to gauge sounds and directions, and movement is done through simple arrow key selections. Even the menu is read to you so that you know what selections to make. This makes the game fully accessible to someone who really is blind.
In the intro/tutorial, you and your girlfriend wake up blind in your apartment. You search for some matches, only to find you still can't see the match after it's lit. You check out in the hall and find a neighbor who is also blind and doesn't understand what's going on and asks you to call 911. You then hear her get devoured by what sounds like a huge 7-8ft monster. You run back into your apartment with the monster close behind (which is more like stumbling around through the hall and hoping you're heading towards your apartment and not towards the hungry monster), grab your girlfriend, and make your way down the escape ladder.
The first actual game scene is in the street in front of your apartment building. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time getting my bearings, so I've been run over by the oncoming subway car about 10 times already. Even if I were blinded in real life, I'd still have proprioception (the ability to gauge how far I've moved in any direction) and exteroception (the ability to feel of my surroundings in order to get a better mental image of the environment), but I'm having a rough time figuring out this first scene because there are no mechanics built into the game for those senses. Plus, I would hope that I would have some sort of general mental image of the front of my apartment already. Like, the character says I've reached the front door to my apartment, yet I can still walk forward. So, does this mean the front door is to my left or right side and I'm just feeling of it with my hand, or am I actually facing towards it and looking like an idiot running into it over and over again? If they stated that I was feeling of it with my right hand, or something like that, then I think I would have a better idea of what I'm supposed to be "seeing".
I think the game will make more sense as I get used to it's features and sounds, but so far I'm struggling a bit. I actually do still recommend this game, and hopefully I'll be able to give it my full stamp of approval once I get further into it. Who knew that a game with no visuals would require such a learning curve?
