Pitch-black shooter Blindfire is a bright idea that’s still finding its way

digitaltrends.com:

Match-based shooters might be a dime a dozen these days, but the latest iteration on Xbox has quite the twist: most of the firefights take place in complete darkness. Announced and launched into early access at this week’s Xbox Partner Preview, Blindfireis a first-person multiplayer shooter that pits players against each other in pitch-black warehouse shootouts where there’s an emphasis on slower-paced, more tactical gameplay than you’ll see in other shooters.

“We very quickly realized that the dark setting meant that a lot of the typical design rules for a shooter no longer applied.It sounds like hyperbole, but turning out the lights changes everything,” said Matt Dunthorne, lead designer for Blindfire at developer Double Eleven, in an interview about the project on Xbox Wire. “It’s a pitch-black room, you have a gun, so do your enemies … good luck!”

I’m a huge multiplayer first-person shooter guy with plenty of experience, so I was initially intrigued by Blindfire‘s concept. Anything that tries to break the Counter-Strike or Call of Duty shooter formula is a win in its own right, but I was interested to see if Blindfire could scratch that itch for an alternative shooter I’ve felt while waiting for news on Splitgate 2. Into the darkness I went, and what I found was an interesting concept that may already be nearing its ceiling in early access.

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A shot in the dark

Blindfire is certainly unique and enjoyable at its core. The default Bodycount mode is a multiround deathmatch that can be played solo or as a team. Players are dropped into a tight warehouse battlefield with little-to-zero light to help them find and kill their enemies. You aren’t entirely in the dark — you get a dim outline of the map’s major obstacles — but without help, you’d be hard-pressed to see an enemy standing a few feet in front of you. To spot your enemies, you’ll rely on just a few tools.