Earlier this year at PAX East, Gearbox and developer Under The Stairs announced and revealed Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom. It’s what Under The Stairs calls a rougelite platform twin-stick shooter that follows Victoria Bloom in a desperate attempt to save her grandfather from a darkness that has overrun the family home. In order to fight back, Victoria has to harness the power of light, finding flashlight batteries, different bulbs, and upgrades for the flashlight. Throughout the course of the game, Victoria will have to explore Bloom Manor and defeat mysterious Guardians of Darkness that may have her grandfather. We had the opportunity to go hands-on with the game and here is a preview of what we got to play.
The game starts off with Victoria Bloom arriving at Bloom Manor but her grandfather does not greet her. In fact, Bloom Manor is surrounded by a mysterious dark fog that covers the manor in all directions. As she looks around, she comes across a flashlight, which will be the main weapon of the game. As she shines it, the darkness disappears and the surrounding environment is revealed. As she enters the Manor, she comes across her grandfather getting kidnapped. Before he leaves with the darkness, he gives her his watch which is the in-game reason that allows her and the player to repeat the loop. Being a roguelite, Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom is all about traveling to different rooms, and finding new items and upgrades to make yourself stronger so you can reach the end in one try.
What makes this particular game different and unique is its focus on light and dark, black and white. Platforms you can jump and dash to are white, same as the chests you’re able to collect which may house new upgrades, health, or sparks that act as the currency for the game. Flashing the light at enemies destroys them so upgrading the flashlight is very important and it can be done in different ways. Victoria can tinker with the flashlight and use different bulbs such as one that fires off a bubble of light instead of one beam. Another bulb generates electricity that can spread to multiple enemies. Upgrades can be added to the flashlight, these can range from increasing the range of the light to adding extra shots for Victoria’s slingshot which she can use to attack enemies from afar.
As Victoria explores the manor, she may come across different rooms. One room houses different bulbs. Another is a large Crow that Victoria can purchase consumables or other upgrades from. Eventually, after exploring, Victoria will come across a door that signifies the boss fight in the area. As she defeats these guardians, she gains access to keys that unlock different areas of the manor. You also have to select a Perk and Impediment before continuing on the game. These provide a benefit and a detriment for the remainder of the run. Restarting the loop allows Victoria to acquire knowledge which are permanent upgrades that she will retain during each run. She will also have the opportunity to pick an upgrade before going back and exploring the manor.
The game is a lot of fun and can get quite hectic as Victoria is dodging enemies coming at her while dealing with others firing attacks from afar. The hand-drawn black and white art style really makes everything pop and is a nice, simple visual cue in determining whether something is good for you or not. A demo for the game is available to try as part of Steam Next Fest if you want to give it a try. I believe it features the beginning of the game and goes up to two bosses.
Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom launches on July 14, 2022, for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.