Here's a bargain of an indie game that, while perhaps lacking in complexity and visual sophistication, more than makes it up for it with imagination, atmosphere and simple playability.
Playing as the blind girl of the title, who appears on the screen as a pair of footprints, you must navigate through a series of pitch-black mazes collecting musical notes, and transporting via strategically placed ruby slippers. As its developer, GLpeas, says, BlindGiRl "uses the mechanics of wave propagation to provide unique, discovery and exploration-themed gameplay".
These waves, showing up in red and green, are propagated by the sound of the girl's footsteps and her singing. As they echo around the walls they illuminate the mazes, occasionally affecting the environment (some walls can be broken by focusing the waves), and at times attracting some mysterious beasties that lurk about the place waiting to do BlindGiRl harm.
The graphics, while basic, work with the soundtrack to evoke an eerie, disquieting atmosphere, which is contributed to by the economical storytelling – we're never told why the girl has to find her way through the mazes, but there are subtle allusions to a story of sadness and confusion.
BlindGiRl is not without its faults. It's pretty short, and can be completed in less than a couple of hours (though given the price that's a bit of a churlish complaint), difficulty levels are all over the place, and while it's satisfying to play through, the end is a bit anti-climactic.
Flawed though it is, it's nevertheless a must-buy for any Xbox 360 owner who's interested in seeing what a talented developer can do with limited resources and some brilliant, unconventional ideas about gameplay. Hopefully BlindGiRl 2 won't be too far in the offing.
