Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods is a very special title, which focuses on a definitely noteworthy gameplayable to offer a unique experience of its kind. The title, in fact it is played exclusively with audio and closing your eyes, without the visual component which normally characterizes video games.
We are therefore in front to a real experimentwhich attempts a largely unexplored field and, for this very reason, interesting. Clearly, at this point one naturally wonders how the hell is that possible create a video game that has only one audio compartment. The answer is of course in our review.
Plots and mysteries
The story Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods puts us in the shoes of a poor blind family man who, following an accident against a truck, finds himself alone: his wife and children died in the impact and the protagonist is the only survivor, despite his entire body being now seriously injured.
Perhaps for this very reason, the man is kidnapped by some kind of eccentric mad scientist, who “Strengthens” his body with various technological grafts, giving the protagonist a sharper hearing the normal and the real telekinetic powers. From these premises starts an interesting and full of mystery story which, while failing to excel, still manages to entertain until the end.
You shoot into the void, in Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods
As mentioned, Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods is a title to be played totally relying on the audio sector. The screen will indeed be locked all the time in a static image, while the noises will give us clear clues to the location of the various environmental elements. Clearly, to play such a title you absolutely need to use a pair of stereo headphones. Without ifs and buts.
During the matches we have indeed the feeling of being in a real three-dimensional environmentwhere various noises alternate. The commands are few: we can move, shoot telekinetic discharges and create one shield in front of us. All of this is exploited in many possible ways, where the audio remains the protagonist undisputed.
In the tutorial, for example, the scientist asks us to hit him and, based on the sounds of his footsteps, we can clearly understand where it is. By turning the mouse, in fact, the “view” will shift as in a normal shooter, doing vary the position of the noises and thus giving us a clear idea of the environment.
Hearing the footsteps a leftfor example, we can turn the mouse into that directionuntil the noise in question is found of front to us and, at that point, we can shoot. Likewise, the enemy hits are loadedmaking a noise that makes us understand when to raise the shield.
But Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods does not only offer fights. On the contrary. There are many game sections where we are asked to advance by listening what we have around us, for example, moving in a minefield where the mines emit the characteristic “beep”, making us understand where they are positioned. Other times it is necessary instead follow rumors or, in general, listen to instructions that often lead to unique game sections.
Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods, therefore, it would be definable as an adventure gamewhere obstacles involve not so much reflexes, but the player’s ability to listen to sounds, imagine an environment around and act accordingly. A round of applause goes to the developers for being able to package a similar product, where they actually do the sounds are perceptible with precision while rotating the view.
It should also be said, however, that gameplay totally based on these mechanics inevitably becomes limited and, in general, it does not lend itself to long gaming sessions. Then there are some excessively slow spots, where interactions are limited to a minimum or where overcoming an obstacle takes far too long. I am though small flawswhich in general are not enough to ruin the experience of Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods.
No graphics sector this time!
The technical sector by Apotheorasis – Lab of the Blind Gods is inevitably particular to describe. To begin with, we don’t have a “graphics” that can shape the environments or characters, since there are no images. Likewise, the artistic sector is totally based on the player’s ability to imagine everything around him.
Fortunately, this helps the audio compartment. The particular tones of the various characters, the long dialogues and the futuristic context contribute to outline a solid and coherent imagery, even without an aesthetic part that can support it. The sound effects are therefore able to support the weight of the entire production, thanks to a really well-made stereo audio, combined with dubbing and always satisfying effects, removed a few small slips.