The first day at school can be stressful, especially for a blind kid. Eight-year-old Ian is happy he can bring his guide dog North along, and he will direly need him as things turn ugly during the preparations of Blue Norholm School's centenary celebration. Principal Bates seemingly meant well projecting the old slides but everybody watching them became infected—except sightless Ian, of course. Now creepy screams and noises instead of children's laughter resonate in the school's dark hallways where zombified students and teachers are circling like in a crazy kinetic puzzle.
Luckily Ian is not alone but has North and the player to help him find his way to the library, the gym, up and downstairs, the cafeteria... without being catched, which does always end lethal sending us back to the latest saved checkpoint. Hampered by tank-like controls, in particular when using the keyboard, and a rigid camera angle like in an old-school horror game, we pilot North either with or without Ian by his side, whom we cannot play solo without his dog. The tightly defined camera and controls are no real default but another means to increase the retro-ish tension through gameplay alone, adding to the macabre atmosphere visibly drawn from Tim Burton movies such as Frankenweenie.
Yet don't let yourself blind by Ian's Eyes' eye-catchingly cute graphics and "chibi"-style figures for the game gets difficult right after the start requiring a strong learning curve to continue, and playing until the suprising end takes quite some patience plus lines to be added to the merciless death counter.
Actions in game are limited to the necessary: sneaking, running, barking, to explore every section and lure enemies away to open up the path for Ian. Since they can't sneak or run while linked together, leaving Ian temporarily behind is unavoidable; left alone, however, Ian nourishes his demon-like anguish that when maxed out lets him die a sudden death, so all exploration should be as quick as possible.
Scared while following his able-eyed guide blindly poor Ian is quite the useless fool in a game carrying his name, weren't it for actions requiring hands or head, like the two minigame puzzles in the library and the science room. As a dog North cannot interact with objects such as doors, maps, or collectible audio cassette tapes leaking some horrid experiments, so whenever clearing the way we'll have him return to his frightened master in order to proceed, while barking risks attracting both Ian and zombies alike. Making noise, on the other hand, to wile ghoulish students out of the way is often necessary and thankfully North has different types of barks: the normal one, with radius and woof let off simultaneously; a stealthier one where we first build up the radius then release the sound, thus gaining some advantage; and a quick repetition of yelps in order to short-freeze approaching foes, buying Ian some extra time.
While the context and the different tasks—get to the Principal, the circuit breaker, the exit—as such don't vary much, each classroom and corridor requires its own well-timed strategy due to the zombies' different speed and acuity; so whereas the common white-eyed type won't spot us as long as out of sight and reach, the ones with yellowish eyes get alerted even while stealthed and farther away.
Running zigzag or in circles (with the gamepad) is likely the best bet in this case, where most of the zombies will eventually come to some standstill facing the wall or their own minds' empty classrooms; others, however, immediately get back to marking time on their former spot, or continue following us nonetheless, freezing them being the most advisable here.
The inflexible camera angle adds an additional handicap for sometimes it is impossible to see how close our couple is to the next menace at the end of the room or top of the screen, whereas bark-targeted zombies might be transitioned out of it when turning around a corner. As the story progresses, ever more dead kids can be seen covering the school's floors and dark cul-de-sacs; Ian and North, on the other hand, cannot recur to violence for their defense since no kinds of weapons are provided, albeit biting zombies would appear tempting at times.
The soundtrack which does a good job in building an eerie atmosphere with screaming, slamming, and other random noises, suffers from amateurish voice acting for both the English and the Spanish version, while the subtitles often have typos or don't match the spoken phrases.
Ian's Eyes can be tough, for a game that doesn't really want to be taken seriously as far as the grotesque story is concerned, but overcoming the most difficult sections with strategy and skill is rewarding in itself for players that like mastering challenges. The same holds for any replay that would have gained in value from offering scene select, achievements—there are none apart from the original trading cards—as well as a possible "new game plus" option.
Still, Sindie Games’ Ian's Eyes is a worthy debut title: we certainly hope there will be more from where it did come from.