The genre of blind horror is continuing to grow with another new, VR title Stifled by Gattai Games coming to PS4, via PSVR, and Steam for players with the HTC Vive to get their anxiety going! The game will also be able to be played without a VR headset and will just require a mic to get a good experience out of it.
Playing this indie title from the IndieCade was an interesting experience. Doing the first ten minutes of gameplay showed some serious potential and elements that I thought were missing from my recently reviewed title Perception.
The start was rather abrupt and didn't make much sense since I was able to see the car and short distance around it before stepping into the dark and using echolocation, as though I were blind; it should probably just be a blind passenger that survived the crash to help the beginning make more sense. Hopefully the story later on will explain how it is possible.
Other than that one issue, the game was great and has me nervous the whole time! As I made my way through, what looked like, a sewer area, I was able to use the mic to light the way. Since the volume of my voice effected how much I saw, I used "hello" to give me a good surrounding light and a small "psst" to just let me see what's right around me. The mechanic there was already awesome because now I can control how much of a distance I want my noise making to go!
It wasn't long into the tunnels that I heard, and saw, the enemy I needed to avoid, which was apparent thanks to the noises it made lighting the place up with red when the neutral sounds I make are white. I was able to use the creatures noises to see where I needed to go, but was forced to walk right by it! With just an outline and noises, I would say it was some type of mutant reptile, but I don't know for sure!
I like the direction they are taking with this game and hope to see lots of patrolling enemies rather than an open exploration that I just have to mainly stay quite during. Looking forward to this games completion for sure!
