Eyes initially reminded me of those paranormal investigation TV shows, but with the crucial difference of featuring paranormal activity. An acquaintance who tried this game had seemed like the perfect audience, but she lasted barely two minutes before handing it back. “No. No, can’t play that. Too scary.”
The premise is that you’re a burglar, turning over a spooky old house for twinkly bags of gold by opening chests and finding the odd key. What you didn’t count on is that ‘something else’ roams the hallways. You’re powerless to fight back so if you fail to hide or flee at the fateful moment then it’s a grisly game over.
Dim lighting makes navigation harder, but it’s the sound effects that really create the mood here. Amid the footsteps and heartbeats, creaks and bumps keep snapping at your attention. What was that wailing noise? Pots rattle on the stove. Even the commonplace rumble of traffic through a battened window underscores your inability to escape to the world outside.
It’s a fairly rudimentary 3D implementation in which you open doors by mushing your face against them, and things only get worse if panic sets in. The awkward combination of virtual stick movement and swiping to look around sees you lurching wildly about at the coolest of times; but when you finally need to start running, abject terror immediately relieves you of coordination and continence in an accurate portrayal of the metaphysically startled.
This zero-combat approach places Eyes within the recent trend of Slender-esque titles, with the added bonus of resembling an actual game experience. The final manifestation of your ghostly nemesis is inevitably anticlimactic after the initial shocks – laughable, if you’re in a less timid frame of mind – but by this time, the game will have scored a few jumps from you. As an exercise in building atmosphere, Eyes is something of a success.
Verdict:
Rough execution hampers a neat concept, yet Eyes is worth experiencing to see what it gets so right.
Available on:
- Google Play
- iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
- GameJolt.com (Windows, Linux, Mac and webplayer)
- Android (lower than 2.3.3)