There are numerous games, in many different genres, available to people with visual impairments. At last count, there are over 600 listed in the AudioGames database. Even so, there are many mainstream games that are difficult-to-impossible to play without vision. Two of the members of the Out of Sight Games team grew up playing mainstream video games before losing their sight. Their desire to provide a gaming experience similar to what they had found in mainstream role playing games (RPGs) lead both to the creation of Out of Sight Games and their flagship title, A Hero's Call.
Out of Sight Games held a Kickstarter campaign for A Hero's Call to provide full voice acting for the characters in the game. The goal of the campaign was met almost immediately and the campaign went on to raise over three times the original funding goal. The extra funding was used to expand the voice acting and provide graphics so that visually impaired and sighted players can enjoy the game equally.
The game was eagerly anticipated and well received among the visually impaired gaming community and has inspired a good deal of generosity, as many have chosen to purchase copies of the game for others. In this article, I will explore the various aspects of the game and determine how it compares to the hype surrounding its release.
Game Overview
A Hero's Call is an audio game, which means that all game information is communicated to the player through sounds as well as a combination of synthesized and human speech. The game is considered a fantasy-themed RPG. You take the role of a traveler who arrives at the city of Farhaven to find it heavily beset from all sides. The city guards are stretched thin defending the city, so you volunteer to leave the city and attempt to find the sources of the attacks.
A Hero's Call is reminiscent of both table-top role playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, as well as role-playing console video games, such as the Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age series. As you travel, you will gather a group of allies who will assist you in your adventures. The game includes various character classes with your allies fitting into some of these classes. Classes fall into general fantasy RPG archetypes such as warrior, mage, thief, and ranger.
The game runs on Windows 7, 8, and 10; for this review I played the game on two different Windows 10 machines.
Navigation
The world of Farhaven is navigated from a first-person perspective. Some players find it difficult to master the audio navigation. As you move through the world, you will hear certain elements, such as speech or characters making sounds. You can turn smoothly with the mouse but can also snap to objects with which you can interact and to the cardinal directions. It is also possible to sidestep left or right or walk backward. As you move, four sounds will play. These include two sounds to indicate the proximity of walls or open space, the appearance of interactive people or objects in your character's view, and doors. These sounds only play when a door or item is in view or if the amount of distance between your character and either a wall or open space changes. As you begin approaching a wall or other obstacle, three tones will begin to play as you approach. The sounds rise in pitch the closer you get; if you keep walking you will bump into the wall or obstacle. Oddly, items such as doors and gates have these rising proximity tones as well, though you will pass through these instead of bumping into them (unless they are locked). Sounds can play from either the left, right, or in front of you. If you are moving forward, most sounds will sound from the left or right. The sounds will play in front of your character if you are sidestepping, which is useful for pinpointing small passages.
As an example, if I am walking down a road with buildings on either side, as I pass the doors of a building I will hear the door indication sound which alerts me that I can turn and enter the building. Once I move past the buildings and there is open space, I will hear the sound to indicate that space has increased to my sides. If I continue and pass between buildings again, the sound to indicate that space has decreased to my left and right will play. Out of Sight Games has produced a video demonstrating the radar features of the game here. Note that the video was produced earlier in development so some sounds are different, though the radars do sound the same as those in the finished game.
In addition to the radar, there are other features that assist in navigation. Almost all non-player characters (NPCs) will either be speaking at regular intervals or walking about. When you approach a character they will greet you to indicate that you can talk to them. For containers such as shelves, desks, and open graves, you will hear a sound to indicate that you are close enough to open the container. Some containers may be locked. If the container is a display case or similar (but not a desk or crate), you may be able to see the contents.
In addition to environmental and radar cues, the navigation system also provides spoken information for location as well as what your character can see. For example, as you move about, any changes in what your character sees will be spoken. For example, if I am walking down a road and hear that an opening has appeared to my left I can turn to face it. When I do so I might hear something like "End of North South Road 1, Trail 3 10, Meadow 11 20, Crate 21." This tells me that the end of the road is one tile away, a trail starts 3 tiles away and ends 10 tiles away, a meadow starts after the trail and extends a certain distance and that a crate is at the end of the meadow. This sort of information is only spoken when what your character sees changes. In the example above I would be told when leaving the road and entering the trail and when leaving the trail for the meadow, but I would not be read all of the information again unless something in the view changed.
The maps in A Hero's Call are quite complex, so a beacon system has been included to make navigation to key locations easier. You can select from a list of locations and will be guided to the location. The beacon system works by repeating directions at a steady interval. For example, as you navigate from the southern gate of the city to the General Store, which is located along the first east-west street, you hear the word "north" spoken continuously. This continues until you reach the intersection. At the intersection, you hear the word "west" repeated so that you know to turn to the west and begin walking. The first time the new direction is spoken, you'll hear it out of the left speaker, since you were facing north when you arrived at the intersection. Once you turn to the west, the direction announcement will play in front of you.
The navigation system can take some time to master, but once you become comfortable with it it's possible to navigate through the game's complex environments quite fluidly. Some barriers such as hedges and fences do not block your character's view, so you will encounter situations where you will hear a door or object that is in view but when you turn to it, you'll find that you will have to find a way around an obstacle to actually reach it. This is a bit frustrating at first but is essentially presenting a visually impaired player the same information that would be presented visually to a sighted player. It is also possible to launch a map of your current location and explore it to quickly discover paths to locations. On the map, you can only move as your character would. This means that you can't pass over walls or other obstacles unless they can be passed by your character. Similar tones to those used to indicate larger or smaller spaces are used to indicate openings as you navigate the map. If you are lost or need to return to town, you can use a feature called Fast Travel, which will allow you to instantly jump to a certain location from almost anywhere in the game world (I've found one area where this is not allowed). Coupled with the beacon system, this means you can make progress in the game while still getting comfortable with the navigation system.
Combat and Character Development
As you explore the world of Farhaven you will randomly encounter enemies that you must defeat. Combat is turned-based: you select your character's action from a menu and once the action has been attempted you can choose another. Your character gains experience points by defeating enemies. After you have gained enough experience, your character will gain a level, which will allow you to improve your character's skills and statistics. Character classes include the traditional options such as warrior, thief, and ranger. You can select your character's class; your companions have predefined classes. It is possible to customize companions through your choices in the story and the skills you select as some skills open the path to others.
One of the most novel aspects of combat in A Hero's Call is how it's presented through sound. When you enter combat, your view is placed almost behind and slightly above your character and their allies with your enemies spread out across the battlefield in front of your party. When your character performs an action, you will hear it move through the soundscape. For example, if a character strikes an enemy you will hear them sprint towards the enemy before striking them. Projectiles such as arrows and spells follow the same principle: you will hear the character launch the projectile and then hear it travel through the soundscape and strike the target. Due to the implementation of 3D audio, you can hear the forward progress of characters and projectiles. The ability to distinguish forward movement may also depend on the quality of the headphones that you are using. The terrain in which you encounter the enemies is also taken into account. For example, if you were on the edge of a road for an encounter, you might hear your character running from stone to grass as they move to strike an opponent. The type of weapon and type of armor characters wear also has an effect on combat sounds. For example, if you are wearing chain or ring armor you will hear it jingle when struck. In addition, all weapon types have their own draw, swing/fire, and impact sounds.
Once combat is over, you have the option to "replay cinematic" which replays the combat without the interruptions from the battle log or character action menus. This almost makes the battle sound as if it were occurring in real time. In many RPGs, difficulty is determined by location. Since in A Hero's Call you can explore areas in any order that you want, enemies will scale as you gain levels. For example, you might find rats and ravens while exploring the forest at level 1, but giant spiders and bears at higher levels. You will also often find various containers containing items both in town and outside of the city. Containers can range from shelves and desks to skeletons and open graves. As your character gains levels, the items you find and can purchase from shops will also increase in value. You might find old and rusting weapons at low levels but legendary or enchanted gear at high levels.
Equipment, Quests, and Character Interaction
During your travels, you will find equipment that your characters can use. Better equipment provides better protection for your characters or, does more damage in the case of weapons. Equipment can have a variety of other effects. For example, a fire ring may allow you to add extra damage from fire to your attacks while also protecting you from fire-based attacks to some degree. In addition, all equipment has a certain weight. Heavier equipment usually is better at protecting your character in the case of armor, or doing more damage in the case of weapons, but might slow you down or make it more difficult to block attacks. In many RPGs, magic users can't wear heavy or metal armor. In A Hero's Call, you can give a character whatever sort of armor you want, but loading your mage down with a full suit of plate armor will probably cause the cost of their spells to skyrocket. Often, armor meant for characters who are physical attackers will restrict your magic, causing your spells to require a greater number of magic points (called mana). Items are plentiful both in and outside of the city and collecting them is a useful way of gathering gold to spend at the various shops in the city. Even though gear will scale along with your level, I found that the most powerful items were first found in shops before I could find them lying about. Most general equipment is random, though there are various unique pieces of equipment—usually the most powerful or useful for the level at which you find it—that can be found in specific locations.
In addition to the main storyline, there are many other quests available in A Hero's Call. Quests can be anything from gathering supplies to putting a restless spirit to rest. In order to begin some quests you will have had to have completed earlier ones; others can be completed in any order you choose. Completing the main story quests does not cause the game to end so you can continue to complete quests even after officially finishing the game's main story. Quests generally award experience points and gold. Some quests will also award an item or one of your characters a new skill. There are over 30 quests available to complete.
When you interact with your allies or other characters, you are generally given several different ways to respond in a conversation. In most cases, you will have a variety of responses that range from the overly positive to the sarcastic or cruel. When speaking to an NPC you will also often be given a series of questions that you can ask them. The resulting conversation often provides useful information about Farhaven and game mechanics or could lead to a quest. You will also find that your allies will have reactions to specific situations or know other NPCs. You can also talk to your allies to learn more about their history; this can lead to more tangible benefits or quests in some cases.
Final Thoughts
As both a fan of the fantasy genre and RPGs, I have been quite eager for the release of A Hero's Call. Every aspect of the final release of the game met or exceeded my expectations. When I first started playing the game, I found that it was the attention to detail that was a constant pleasant surprise. For example, if you enter combat near a friendly NPC, often they will join you in the fight. The game offered much more background information than I expected. Your character will often find books that describe events in the past or detail aspects of the world. Books can also give you knowledge for quests, provide information about in-game character classes, and allow you to add beacons to your map. Background information about the world of Farhaven is also provided by some of the equipment you find. For instance, the descriptions of the elven items that you can find later in the game give glimpses into elven society and organization, even though in the game's story line the elves were exterminated centuries ago.
Considering the significant amount of anticipation for A Hero's Call, I was happy to find that it lived up to the hype. The sound design is top-notch and even though there are relatively few tracks, the music design is solid as well. The RPG elements, such as character development and combat, are fairly standard for this genre but the audio presentation of combat adds extra depth. I found that I enjoyed combat quite a bit, so ended up raising my character to much higher levels than was required to complete the game, as I rarely retreated from encounters. There is a delicate balancing act required for enemy encounters in this type of RPG; you don't want too few encounters in case a player needs to find enemies to raise their levels, but you also do not want encounters to occur so frequently that it makes it difficult to explore. I felt that A Hero's Call did well at keeping encounters to a happy medium in this regard.
Story and voice acting were well done as well. I found that all the characters had their own unique voices and I didn't cringe at any of the dialog or acting. There were several occasions in which I felt that lines were delivered particularly well. Overall, the story was pretty standard for a fantasy setting, though I found the main antagonist's motivations somewhat weak. Without spoiling the ending, I'll say that more development of the antagonist could have improved this aspect of the story. I initially felt that there were some loose ends left after completing the main story, but as I have continued to play I've discovered additional subtle changes to the game environment and character reactions that address this somewhat. Being a fan of this genre I highly enjoyed A Hero's Call and would recommend it for fans of complex, story driven games, adventure games, or RPGs.
Product Information
A Hero's Call can be purchased from the Out of Sight Games website for $19.99. A demo is not available, but if you would like to get a better understanding of the game before purchase, Liam Erven streamed the entire game over release weekend with the first archive here, which may be useful if you would like to hear game play firsthand.
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