Perception Reviews
In the end, the game’s biggest fault is the missed opportunity. I commend Deep End Games for swinging for the fences, but a big swing and miss is still a miss, and it’s a shame. If you love horror games, then I think you might find the unique basis for this game worth checking out, despite the lack of terror. For everyone else? I’m afraid I just can’t unconditionally recommend Perception.
Although it has a very original and interesting idea, Perception ends up making a mistake for being a very easy horror game. The only enemy in the game serves more as an aid in some moments, and Cassie's sixth sense makes the exploration in the game and the fear disappear. Perception makes the players close their eyes to it.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The premises (a blind character, a creepy house, an evil spirit) were good, but Perception falls short as survival horror and as an intriguing walking simulator.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Perception is a narrative horror that tries something a little different and for the majority of the game, it works to great effect. The darkness and sound design as well as some interesting level designs fill the game with enough low level tension to give you a crick in the neck. The visuals aren't always the prettiest, the game strays into the mundane a few too many times and the plot has forgettable moments but the unique premise and fright-inducing chases make Perception a better-than-average title.
Perception tries to take the immersive sim genre in a few new directions by adding in horror between story beats. While the presentation is top notch, the scares just aren't there.
By putting you on the shoes of a blind woman, Perception creates a unique survival horror experience, with heavy focus on narrative. It does a good job of playing with your… well… perception of the darkness and your surroundings.
Perception feels like a perfect blend between Gone Home and Beyond Eyes, and whilst neither of those are horror games, seeing the best aspects of each mixed into the horror genre doesn’t make for a bad game.
While stuffed full of promise, Perception fails to execute what could have been an unique and brilliant horror adventure concept.
Perception starts with good ideas, but fails to build a really original game around them. The atmosphere is good during the first minutes, but It feels like a guided walking simulator without real scares.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Thanks to its atmosphere, the game manages to create a certain palpable fear in the player, which is fundamental for a work of this kind. The game would benefit from exploring some of its mechanics at a deeper level but as it is, Perception can bring an interesting, even if rather short, experience to the players.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, Perception felt more like the horror edition of Gone Home rather than other titles like Outlast, Amnesia, or Resident Evil 7 as it leaned more towards exploration and the underlying plot rather than survival horror. Regrettably, I found that using echolocation in a narrative-driven game only limited my experience of trying to discover more about the house.
Perception isn't really doing a whole lot gameplay wise that the majority of these types of games haven't done before. If players are a fan of narrative driven, creepy experiences, Perception offers that, and even if the game can be completed in a few hours, it's entertaining.
Perception is interesting, in the first place, as an experiment that touches on non-standard themes and offers an unusual gameplay. But the stories are rather simple and predictable, and additional elements, like hide-and-seek and distraction, seem like a not very successful attempt to tighten a short walk.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Perception tells an intriguing story and if that's enough for you, it's worth playing. Its audio-visual experience is also unlike anything else and if you're looking for a fresh idea, The Deep End Games' debut is worth supporting. It's important to keep in mind, however, if you expect the game to also scare you, there's nothing to see here.
Play Perception if you're in need of a quick horror fix, and not for what could be perceived as something larger.
Perception's unique echolocation gameplay hook is enough to sustain the game for its 4-5-hour run, but I was saddened that The Deep End Games didn't explore this mechanic any more than it did. Had it, Perception's shallow plot and characters might have found some redemption. Ultimately, Perception is more carnival than amusement park – cheap thrills than top shelf. If you like horror games, you'll like Perception, but you've probably already experienced a bunch of horror titles scarier than this one.
An imaginative horror game, Perception is coming at a well trodden genre from a new angle, but despite its good ideas, it doesn't quite live up to its own potential.
There are some great ideas in Perception, but the execution is somewhat lacking. Wandering around a haunted house with no vision should be a tense, methodical, creepy experience, but this game has a sprint button. You are given a lot of help to navigate and solve puzzles because if you did not have your sight and were trapped in a mansion with moving walls and keys to find you would be utterly helpless. This means the whole premise to the game quickly becomes pointless, which is a real shame.
Perception is a tough one to review, because it is a relatively short game that is at its core very similar to a lot of other action/horror titles out there. However, a clever mechanic combined with a very cool visual style helps to creates some excellent atmosphere that had me holding my breath on multiple occasions. In the end these smart design choices help to elevate Perception above the sea of also-ran titles in the genre, even if it never really quite realizes its potential.