If you asked me what new types of games I thought would be coming out soon, I don’t think I would ever have thought of a First Person Shooter where you are blind. Yet here we are with Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods, which is exactly that. Yet somehow… it works? Just… how?! 

After a tragic car accident you are left blind, your family is dead, and you’ve been put into an experiment. Things are not as it seems. A crazy scientist has rescued you, but also put you into an experimental program that classifies you as a god. Imbued with special powers that allow you to shoot with your mind things are really not as they seem. You must escape the facility with anyone who will help. 

When I said you are playing a FPS blind, I wasn’t joking. The game has no graphics, so to speak. You are greeted with a screen with a neat graphic and are told to close your eyes… that’s it. The game is entirely directed through sound, so put on a pair of decent headphones and you are good to go. 

This bizarre and truly unique concept is entirely driven through sound. Aiming is a matter of simply listening for audio queues to tell you where enemies are and fire. The game really begins after a rather lengthy tutorial that makes sure you are well adjusted to aiming and shooting without seeing. To shoot, you move your mouse left or right like in any other shooter and fire; sounds indicate where enemies are. If they start shooting, you will need to use your shield. It’s a simple idea.  However, it’s not all shooting. You will occasionally have interesting moments where you got to cross a bridge by listening to the footsteps of another person, or make your way through a minefield whilst being guided by elevator music. 

Things do eventually get challenging and it does demand just a bit of patience. Although, if you simply focus, you will be able to complete it. Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods provides a gameplay experience not quite anything else and ties it together with an amusing story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

Since there are no visuals, it’s the sounds job to drive the entire experience. That’s certainly a lot of heavy lifting for the sound design. It’s highly recommended you play Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods with a decent pair of surround sound headphones to make full use of 3D audio and get the best experience. In this regard, it’s much like the excellent Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. In my case, I have been using the HyperX Cloud II ,which are far from the highest end of headphones, but allowed me to accurately locate enemies and navigate the world.

Thankfully, it’s really well done and the game does a fantastic job of cluing you into enemy locations with sound. As for voice acting, the thick accents some of the characters have certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste. There is a little bit of humour attached to the very light dialogue system that allows you to respond with a basic yes or no. A neat addition for sure and adds a fair bit to the experience. 

The horribly named Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods is a truly unique experience that almost certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes. Uniquely driving an entire FPS entirely through sound is something that hasn’t really been done before. If you want something that dares to be different and breaks away from standard video game conventions then Apotheorasis is well worth checking out. 

 

Final Verdict: 7.5

Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods is available now on PC.

A copy of Apotheorasis: Lab of the Blind Gods was provided by the publisher.