Ex-Irrational devs Kickstart blind horror game Perception

Perception, a first-person horror adventure starring a blind woman, has carefully moved its way to Kickstarter.

Perception stars Cassie, a blind woman with Daredevil levels of superpowered hearing. She’s exploring Echo Bluff, an estate that’s regularly featured in her nightmares, and has to solve the mysteries of the house before the demonic Presence that’s tormented its inhabitants over the generations claims her as its latest victim.

Cassie will largely get around via echolocation, which is a rather unique mechanic for a first-person game. The only way you can “see” is by making noise, which is obviously rather risky when you’re being hunted. Luckily, any sound helps out, so you don’t have to walk loudly or tap things with your cane to make noise – ambient sounds like grandfather clocks will also help out, and you can lob items to create distracting “sound bombs”.

The game is set across multiple eras, with Cassie finding “memories” that pull her back to earlier times. The estate and its threats will change and evolve depending on the time zone, with wings and buildings popping up or being torn down depending on when Cassie is exploring, and with new (or, well, old) threats chasing her down.

Perception is being developed primarily The Deep End, a studio largely staffed by ex-Irrational devs, although members of the team have worked on everything from BioShock and Dead Space to, uh, The Beatles: Rock Band. So I suppose that’s a good pedigree when it comes to both “horror” and “sound.”

Perception is looking for $150,000 on Kickstarter, with $20 netting you a copy of the game. You can check out some screenshots below, and have a look at the Kickstarter over here.