Audio-based video game, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown will be launching in August for PC and Xbox consoles.
Developed by Falling Squirrel, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is an action-adventure game that is entirely audio-based with a story to go with it. Announcing the game’s official release on Twitter and through a launch trailer that you can find below, the game will be available on August 19.
Players take control of a warden, blind from birth, and are tasked with fighting through different types of enemies with numerous weapons in real-time combat, all while collecting gold to buy new gear. Exploration allows players to embark on different quests, explore villages, hunt animals, and search for lost artifacts in dungeon-type locations.
The game comes with a fully-voiced story with numerous characters that are a part of the game’s branching narrative and has a playtime of over 5 hours. The protagonist finds themselves escaping a battle and journeying new and hostile lands alongside a local Shepard as they make their way back home.
With The Vale: Shadow of the Crown being an audio-based game, headphones are strongly recommended and there are no visuals to accompany the sounds. However, Falling Squirrel does confirm that the visuals in the game are just basic particles on the screen, likely the same as what’s shown in the above trailer. There are also visual menus that can be navigated for those who aren’t blind or visually impaired but still want to experience the game.
Last year, another audio-based game was revealed to be released in 2021 called DeadFright and developed by Korta Interactive. Both DeadFright and The Vale: Shadow of the Crown boast the use of 3D audio, and with the new-gen Xbox consoles paired up with a 3D audio-capable headset it certainly seems like it would be an immersive experience.
At current, there is a playable demo available on Steam so players can give the game a try prior to release. When The Vale: Shadow of the Crown does launch on August 19, it’ll be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC through Steam, Epic Games Store, and Itchio.
