Son Of Nor

Being able to lift large boulders to crush enemies and shooting fire from your palms may sound like abilities from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but Son of Nor takes these powers a step further. With top-tier peripherals, the game empowers the player by blending fantasy with realism.

Players can cast spells with their mind by wearing the brainwave-reading headset – a concept normally seen in science fiction. Similarly, large hills of sand can be maneuvered just by shifting your gaze with an eye-tracking tool, and the Oculus Rift brings virtual reality into the mix as well.

Son of Nor's supported peripherals are what’s most intriguing. The Emotiv EPOC, for example, reads the player's brain activity and translates it into in-game actions. When the device is active, the game progresses the player through a tutorial, teaching them up to three cognitive spells that react to thoughts and facial muscle tensions. Lifting heavy boulders on-screen is achieved by mentally visualizing the command, and a twitch of the eyebrows shoots the rocks into the air. While being a tad finicky and at times hard to believe, when it works it proves to be incredibly engaging.

Additionally, the Tobii Eye X tracks eye movement, allowing the player to target objects just by looking at them, or to shift sand to new directions by glancing left to right. Both the Emotiv EPOC and the Tobii Eye X can be used simultaneously, while the Oculus Rift can only be used alone. 

Tech aside, Son of Nor can be played without any peripherals.

Set in a vast desert, this action adventure title from Stillalive studios tells the tale of a power struggle between reptilian beasts, called the Sarahul, and the human race. As a mage, the player must defend their human colony and defeat the Sarahul, with the use of powerful elemental magic, telekinesis, and terraforming, to keep a 400-year-old war from resurfacing.

Son of Nor's campaign features around 10-12 hours of gameplay, with several levels varying from puzzle-solving temples to action-oriented combat. It supports up to four player co-op and competitive PvP through split-screen and online multiplayer. The proving grounds, an open sandbox playground, is an area to test out new spells, spawn enemies on command, and battle friends.

Starting out, players are given two base powers: telekinesis and terraforming. Telekinesis can be used to pick up and hurl enemies across the desert, launch rocks into the air, and create platforms to reach higher areas. Terraforming, on the other hand, has the player manipulating sand by raising it to use as a shield from oncoming attacks, or lowering it to bury enemies alive. Secret passages and hidden collectibles can be found using these abilities, such as digging through sand to discover lost tunnels. These are just a few examples of how abilities can be used, and part of what makes Son of Nor entertaining is discovering these tricks on your own.

Additional powers are obtained when beating the three temples in the main missions. Upon completion, the player is granted the ability to cast elemental magic with wind, essence, and fire. Wind shoots powerful gusts to topple enemies over, essence creates an impenetrable force field, acting as a shield or a trap for foes, and fire incinerates the Sarahul in an effective blast.

Fusing powers is among Son of Nor's most satisfying concepts, allowing the player to merge learned abilities to create new, stronger ones. For example, a fiery tornado is created when combining fire and wind. Mixing sand and fire creates glass, which is used to shield attacks and mirror enemy fire back towards the opponent.

Son of Nor introduces some interesting game mechanics when they’re mixed with high-end technology, but on its own, the game is less groundbreaking. Son of Nor is available via Steam Early Access, and its full release is expected March 31 on PC, Mac, and Linux.