You are dead. That’s the simple setup for Papa Sangre II, and it’s an effective one. Your screen is completely black except for a few basic controls, and the narrator promises that he can guide you through your pitch black surroundings and get you back to the land of the living. Can you trust him? You don’t really have much of a choice.
The narrator is voiced by Sean Bean, who you may know as Boromir from Lord of the Rings or Lord Eddard Stark from Game of Thrones. His perfect performance in Papa Sangre IIÂ at once provides the player’s only source of comfort in an otherwise bleak setting as well as unsettles with its gruff, ominous tone.
Don’t take our word for it—just grab a pair of headphones and watch the trailer, but do yourself a favor and keep your lights on.
You navigate the game’s world using only your ears to guide you past obstacles and away from danger, which makes for a very tense, spooky experience. Incredible sound design uses your own imagination to render varied environments like burning buildings and submarines as you journey through the memories of the dead.
All of this was true of the original Papa Sangre, though it was more like a demo of the concept compared to Papa Sangre II, which is a more complete game with a few more interesting ways to interact with the world around you.
The game is a perfect fit for mobile platforms that come with headphones, because the stereo audio they provide is required to navigate the game world. If you’re looking for a spooky game to play for Halloween tonight, your search is over.
(via The Verge, image via spukspecht)
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