Eye of the Beholder
Step into war-torn enemy territory in this immersive VR game experience based on the Oscar-shortlisted documentary MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER (2015). EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is a 20 beta minute experience that subverts the war-game genre as players must choose to combat or collaborate with others.
As a documentarian I am inspired by real life situations and stories and in 2014, I was lucky enough to meet two men whose story changed my life and that of many others. Zahed and Najah are former enemy soldiers who have become blood brothers for life. Zahed was an Iranian child soldier during the Iran-Iraq War when he found Najah, an enemy soldier, injured in a bunker. Zahed made a split-second decision in the heat of the battlefield and instead of shooting Najah, he risked his own life to save him. I was deeply inspired by Zahed’s ability to recognize the humanity in his enemy. His act of bravery has had lasting ramifications in both their lives and those of their families.
I documented their story in a film, MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER, which resonated strongly with audiences across the world. It landed on the Oscar shortlist, was nominated for an Emmy award, and premiered as a NYTimes OpDoc in 2015. The film evolved into a feature documentary, which premiered at Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival in 2017. The strong international response to the films, as well as feedback in the Q and A sessions, led us to explore the film’s core themes further. We wanted to bring the remarkable empathy that Najah and Zahed felt for one another into a unique space, where audiences would be able to step into their shoes and make choices for themselves, that could make them rethink their decisions in real life. We developed what is now the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER VR immersive experience.
The EYE OF THE BEHOLDER VR subverts the war-game genre to explore how we judge one another as friend or foe. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is set in a conflict zone, but in essence each decision reflects the kind of snap judgement made in school yards, street corners and board rooms across the globe. Do I trust this person? Are they friendly or a threat? Should I collaborate with this person or fight them?
As the player faces each challenge in the bunker and decides whether or not to collaborate with the other soldiers, their decisions affect how the other soldier responds to them, and ultimately determines who makes it out alive. As the player discovers in the end, their decisions also impact the welfare of nearby communities.
Game Discussion
Steam User 2
Real life story told in VR.
The whole thing lasts ~15 minutes including the ending mini trailer of the documentary this story is based on.
There is no locomotion, you get transported to each new area while the story progresses, you get to do some basic interaction like pushing a button or finding some things.
The writing isnt that good, and while voice acting was fine, i feel the lines sometimes had a not so good delivery.
Also size felt a bit too big, also i dont know why your companion doesnt look like the guy the story is based on (you get to see how he looks like irl).
Also some more context before starting would be nice.
Recommended because the real life story is interesting, and the experience is free, but dont expect too much. Good for doing a run just to experience it.
Steam User 8
Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2
This is a mostly narrative-driven, cinematic experience with some basic interactions. You're basically in a war-torn situation in the Middle East involving the possible use of chemical weapons. You basically have to decide which side you'll be helping early on and then live with the possible consequences. Whole thing took me 16 minutes.
The game is running on the Unity Engine. On my RTX 3080, I was getting a steady 90 fps. There is no locomotion, instead you are automatically teleported from one scene to the next. You use a flashlight to highlight objects to either make a decision on how to act or clear an objective.
I did not experience any issues. However, I thought the sound mix was off. Voice lines seemed to be all over the place as far as volume mix. The deliveries also seemed wooden. The writing could also have been better, especially given the interesting premise for the story. Unfortunately, the execution in delivering the story was not good.
Rate 5/10. It was free. I can't say I enjoyed it. I have no desire to do it again to see what else may have happened. That's too bad because the original source material is very interesting.
Steam User 0
I liked this. Barely. The graphics are sometimes not great and more interaction would be nice.
Steam User 0
A short and sweet "choices matter" experience. I appreciate that I don't need a VR headset to play (despite missing out on some immersion factor). Surprised to see this available for free! Definitely worth 15-20min of your time to run through. Thanks, Fathom Films!
Steam User 2
Eye of the Beholder is a free to play VR experience that is also hidden object game. It worked on my HTC Vive and Index system, looked ok, sounded ok, played ok, was understandable. Turns out based on a real story in history. Has some interactive parts, the game leads you along. There is no movement mode, the game moves you along. The game was made with Unity store assets. There was some choices to be made but i guess the game will make the right one for you.
Try this experience, it is thought provoking.
Steam User 0
Before I played Eye of the Beholder, I had a small pp, no friends, no gf, depression, and no life. These things havent changed, but the game is pretty good
Steam User 2
Oh look at this. When did this drop on Steam? I thought I only played this on Go? It says I played it for three hours. Maybe it wasn't actually on GO. I guess not. Ok what? This game is a little narrative choose your own adventure thing that's actually pretty good. It looks cheesy, and the animation is cheesy, and the voice overs are weird, but interesting stuff happens. I made the decision to shoot the man, but then my gun didn't work, and then later at the end the character chastised me for it. I wonder what the back story is to this war.
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