Pulse is a unique first-person adventure by Team Pixel Pi that puts players in the shoes of a blind person navigating the unknown through the use of echolocation. Using audio cues and resourceful critters, you mentally reconstruct your environment while carefully ensuring your survival.
Unlike typical first-person games, your view of the world in Pulse is not limited to your graphics card’s draw distance, but rather by your character’s ability to use sound to recreate the world around you. Running, jumping, and environmental sounds all contribute to the opportunity to ‘see’ the obstacles in your path. With you are cute and furry companions known as Mokos. These loveable little guys don’t mind when you throw them into a wall, gong, or simply right off a cliff. They are happy to help you reveal the landscape by providing you with the squeaks and thumps that you need to see.
Not every creature in Pulse will be cute and cuddly. The roar of a menacing beast will shift your world into a distorted nightmare as fear sends you running for your life. Your imagination distorts the in-game environment as you try to escape danger, glowing red and pulsating with your heightened level of stress. This is when Pulse’s unique concept and design really begin to shine, as the world around you physically changes to reflect your emotional state. It brings a very intriguing question to mind; How much of what you are seeing is real and how much of it are you simply imagining? What you ‘see’ and is actually there can be two completely different things as your emotions distort the reality of what you are perceiving. Its a very intriguing paradox indeed.
The playable alpha available on their website serves as a great proof of concept, and I can’t wait to see what the group at Team Pixel Pi does to bring this fantastic idea to maturity.