What The Critics Are Saying About Before Your Eyes
A new adventure game from GoodbyeWorld Games called Before Your Eyes has arrived on Steam, becoming one of the platform's newest gems. The title features an interesting new mechanic to help gamers experience its emotional journey. Instead of using traditional puzzle game elements — like many adventure games do to advance the story — this PC game tracks player movement in an innovative way.
Before Your Eyes has players take control of Benjamin Brynn, a recently deceased man guided to the afterlife by a catlike creature called the Ferryman. The Ferryman needs to learn the details of Benjamin's life, and to do that, the player will relive pivotal moments of his story. While that may be an interesting enough set up for an adventure, the game's most crucial twist is that players interact with critical moments through their webcam, which monitors eye movement and uses blinks to advance scenes.
GoodbyeWorld Games premiered this concept in its well-received Kickstarter-funded project Close Your, and Before Your Eyes represents the first full adventure using the mechanics. Here is what the critics have to say about Before Your Eyes.
Critics loved Before Your Eyes' storytelling, although its mechanics may still need some work
The critical consensus for Before Your Eyes has been positive. Screen Rant posted a review that praised the narrative elements of the game, stating, "The story of Before Your Eyes is phenomenal, managing to switch from joyful to heartbreaking in a moment as the truth about Benjamin's life is revealed." Likewise, a reviewer for Polygon said that while the story seemed too simple to be compelling at first glance, "Soon I realized there was more to discover."
While critics were enthusiastic about the game's storytelling, there was some division on how well the blinking mechanics worked. Polygon praised the system, but noted that it remained a "clever way to add meaning to an action that amounts to a mouse click." However, Gaming Trend's reviewer was less forgiving of the technology and opted to turn it off entirely. That review stated, "The annoyances that come with the blinking mechanic, from the constant recalibrations to my difficulty with lengthy staring contests with the game, often prove it to be more harmful than helpful."
However, even that Gaming Trend review stated that those issues do not keep Before Your Eyes from being an engaging and emotional journey that is "more than worth your time."