Deep End Games is a small Boston-based indie studio made up of developers from not only the now closed Irrational Games, the makers of Bioshock, but also developers from the likes of Dead Space. And today they announced their first game, Perception. A first-person horror game, Perception sees you take on the roll of Cassie Thorton, a young woman who just so happens to be blind. But, aided by some truly awesome hearing that even Daredevil would be proud of, you are able to explore the world around you.
Cassie is tortured by dreams of a particular place, and “after months of research, she discovers [it’s] an abandoned mansion in Gloucester MA. Once there, Cassie finds that Echo Bluff is worse than her nightmares. A ghastly Presence has tormented its inhabitants over generations, and it now hunts Cassie. She must solve the estate’s mysteries or become one of its victims.” As has become popular for horror games in recent years, Cassie has no weapons and no way to defend herself against the Presence, just her wits.
The game’s Kickstarter page explains the primary echolocation mechanic, saying “Surviving this deadly game of cat and mouse with the Presence is especially perilous when your only way of seeing is by means of sound, and so you must carefully weigh the risk of making too much noise against the possibility of being discovered by the terrifying Presence.”
As you explore, and discover new evidence, you then have chances to see the house and its inhabitants throughout different era’s of history, each era posing new challenges and a radically changed house to explore.
Perception is live on Kickstarter now. What do you think of Perception? Let us know in the comments.