Have you ever had a great idea for a video game that makes you go, “Why didn’t anyone else think of this?” Many concepts are greenlit daily, evolving into full-fledged titles that venture off the beaten path, delivering unorthodox narratives or gameplay mechanics. Some of them are notable and work just fine, while others kickstart trends. Double Eleven’s Blindfire currently falls under the former during early access – the idea of a competitive first-person shooter in the dark works as well as it could. However, playing it for extended periods reinforces how some seemingly great ideas should remain just that.

Blindfire is currently in early access (with the PS5 version requiring linking to an Epic Games Store account, so be warned) and focuses on masked combatants involved in gunfights to the death. The reason isn’t important outside of some vague death game premise – to quote the marketing, “the ultra-wealthy bet on illicit bloodsports” and “For contestants lured by the promise of untold riches and unimaginable glory, it’s kill or be killed.” None of this really manifests in any meaningful way outside of the try-hard announcer and some money raining on you after a match.

"If this sounds like a more methodical and less hyperactive pace than your typical arcadey military shooter, that’s because it is."

The twist is that these matches are happening in pitch-black levels. Players have suits with colorful graffiti illuminated in blacklight – which adorns several spots in these warehouses – but otherwise, you’re dancing with darkness and death in equal measure.

Sound becomes a significant factor during matches, and to Double Eleven’s credit, it’s leveraged in realistic ways. You can either rapidly reload a weapon or slow reload with the latter causing less noise for any nearby enemies to start blasting. There’s a noise meter on the lower right that helps indicate the loudness of your movement. Regular walking and footsteps can be heard mid-range, while full-on sprinting is apparent at farther distances (and realistically fades in and out).

There are two modes currently – Kill Race and Bodycount. The former is your typical deathmatch, with the victor being the first to reach the score limit when the time expires or to have more points than the others. The latter is a round-based format – the first player with the most round victories out of five wins the entire match. You can play either solo or with teams, but we’ll get to that.

If this sounds like a more methodical and less hyperactive pace than your typical arcadey military shooter, that’s because it is. To ensure that matches aren’t snooze-fests, camping is called out, and echolocation allows for narrowing down someone’s general location. There are also sections of the levels which are already lit or trigger lights if you step on them. The mannequins are also a nice touch, and I mistook them for a real player at least once. If that’s not enough, the muzzle flash from your weapons is a dead giveaway as well. Fire willy-nilly, and someone might pinpoint through the shots alone.

"Granted, Blindfire only costs $8.99, and Double Eleven has a roadmap in mind for adding new content over the coming months, but for now, you get what you pay for, and it doesn’t feel nearly enough."

If you’re eliminated, you can utilize the security cameras and trigger different traps to expose your opponents. Activate a mannequin and watch it light up its fake handgun to indicate an enemy or trigger one of the cars on the ground floor. When a round enters overtime, like in Bodycount, arena management will turn on searchlights that casually illuminate the level and potentially expose your location.

The experience is unlike pretty much any other competitive shooter I’ve played. When you’re carefully navigating paths, listening for footsteps or watching your opponent casually walk past a light, narrowing down their position while tapping Echo like your life depends on it, there is some genuine tension. And whether you take down an enemy by casually blowing up an explosive barrel that you didn’t even see (and getting blown up in kind) or know that you’re both separated by just a few feet, it can be enjoyable. The overall responsiveness of the controls and the feel of each weapon is also on point.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Sometimes, matches can feel too much like luck without enough strategy involved. The camping callouts don’t feel strict enough sometimes – I often hung out near the same locations where enemies were slain, casually moving around and picking up a few easy kills just because they returned to the same spot. Granted, other factors, like dead opponents triggering traps, come into play, but it feels like more can be done to make the experience more dynamic. It’s pretty easy to spam Echo and hope for the best while waiting for your opponent to slip up more often than not, especially in Solo Play.

There’s also the issue of content, which isn’t enough (and that’s after the first major update). You get two modes, a handful of maps, and four weapons – two handguns and two shotguns. There’s no semblance of progression, and while the current slate of cosmetics is free (and admittedly looks decent), you don’t have much choice. Granted, Blindfire only costs $8.99, and Double Eleven has a roadmap in mind for adding new content over the coming months, but for now, you get what you pay for, and it doesn’t feel nearly enough.

"If Double Eleven sticks to it, I’m keen to see how Blindfire develops over the coming months because it’s little more than a fun yet imminently forgettable concept at this point."

That’s perhaps best reflected in the current player base, which is, put it nicely, non-existent. After several minutes of queues recently, I matched against the same person in both Kill Race and Bodycount despite enabling the option to play with non-PS5 players. Steam isn’t fairing much better either, with a whopping 24-hour peak player count of four people at this time of writing. Call it a consequence of the gameplay, which is just too niche for most to get into, or blame the lack of marketing. Either way, even if the concept is intriguing and you love the gameplay, Blindfire is already dead on arrival for PS5.

If there’s consolation, at least it runs well enough and has a unique aesthetic with the street art and extensive graffiti dotting the environments. It’s far from offering the most fidelity for a competitive shooter, but it’s good enough. Performance Mode on PS5 delivered middling image quality but solid performance (though it felt like there was some screen-tearing at certain points). Quality Mode seems the way to go, just for the clarity, which makes the neon-painted suits pop.

When it comes to shooters, Blindfire is still very much at an early stage, but even if it needs more content (and fast), I’m doubtful as to whether it can attract a strong player base. It’s not because the concept isn’t unique or appealing – it’s surprisingly polished at this stage despite a bit more work required for Performance Mode on PS5. However, breaking into the competitive shooter space is already challenging enough and even if it went free-to-play, there’s no guarantee of success. If Double Eleven sticks to it, I’m keen to see how Blindfire develops over the coming months because it’s little more than a fun yet imminently forgettable concept at this point.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.