Play NYC: ‘Blindsight’ Review

One of the hardest things to do in gaming is to simulate an actual experience inside of a game. It’s easy to play as Spider-Man swinging between buildings or Superman flying over a city. Nobody could do these things in real life, so recreating them in a game is a very fantastical experience. The same can’t be said for blindness. There are obviously characters in fiction (and in real life) that are quite proficient at fighting even while being blind. So to embody what that’s like in a game is a very interesting prospect, and a game displayed at Play NYC named Blindsight managed to come pretty close.

The story is a fairly straightforward one, centered around a blind warrior trying to repel an invasion. The demo was mainly used to familiarize players with the its unique gameplay. The entire 3D world was pretty much in darkness. The environment and characters were only highlighted when sound was involved. This includes a crying woman, footsteps, or contact during a fight. While it obviously didn’t simulate 100% blindness, it was about as close as a game could get.

The game’s fighting heavily resembled that of the Batman Arkham games. It was still a little rough and could be smoothed over some. Plus, some variations in combat would be helpful rather than just punching and countering. Still, the blindness mechanic was an interesting breath of fresh air for the genre and holds a lot of potential. Obviously, a Daredevil game certainly comes to mind. The action in the game was fairly grounded and Daredevil takes to the skies like Spider-Man. So if a Spider-Man game is ever merged with this type of technology, that would be perfect for bringing Daredevil to the gaming industry. For now, Blindsight is something that every action gamer should be looking forward to.

Blindsight is now available on Steam.