I started playing Papa Sangre 2 on Halloween night, and it fit perfectly with the theme of the day. As strange as it may sound, this is the first game from Somthin' Else that I've decided to get, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I had seen the trailer for the game, so I knew that Sean Bean was the narrator, but because I hadn't played the first Papa Sangre, I knew nothing about how to play the game. As a fan of Game of Thrones, I was excited about Sean Bean being the voice of the game, but I was also looking forward to a challenge and some spooky fun.
You start the game finding out that you're dead and that the only way to make it back to the land of the living is to steal memories from other dead people. This won't be easy though since you have to navigate with just your ears. Even though I've been without usable vision for quite some time, I find orienting sometimes much harder than I think it should be, but as one friend pointed out on twitter, using your mobility skills can be a great benefit while playing the game. One of the real challenges is that you have to tune out extraneous noises and just focus on the ones that will get you to the next level. You also have to be able to get those important sounds in the center of your headphones or you might find yourself running into walls or going towards things like mind lice which will eat your soul.
the audio in the game is quite impressive. According to the Somethin' Else website, there are 1600 unique sounds in the game. They also have found a way to make sounds go 360 degrees giving the player a 3-d picture of the surroundings.
At this point I've completed one third of the game, or six levels. I've had to replay many levels because I die in the middle, or sometimes right before I'm going to complete it. What this says to me is that the game is challenging enough to keep people interested. They also have challenge options when you beat a level to make it even harder. I also like that the narrator tells you another memory from your life that you've lost and that you can tweet a message to Papa Sangre every time you don't succeed.
At this point, I think this is a game that everyone should play, and I appreciate that big names like the Verge have reviewed it, because it acknowledges that audio games are not just for people who are blind. I hope Somethin' Else continues to make games and that other developers will follow their lead.
Source: Go to sourceCategory: Software
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For the past three years Alena has been a feature writer for the online magazine Matilda Ziegler. She has also been a contractor for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, helping blind adults learn to use adaptive technology. She is studying to be a teacher of the visually impaired at Portland State. You might also recognize her from the Serotalk podcast Triple Click Home.
