bukary on 31/8/2014 at 18:05
Another Polish developer, The Astronauts, is cooking another intriguing game for "modernized" point & click adventure and horror games' fans.
(
http://www.theastronauts.com/#home) The Astronauts
(
http://ethancartergame.com/) The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Inline Image:
http://www.gamepur.com/files/images/2014/the-vanishing-of-ethan-carter_0.jpgRelease date: September 25.
The Astronauts say that the game is "inspired by the weird fiction stories and other tales of macabre of the early 20th century". And I must say that the atmosphere of The Vanishing is fantastic. I really liked this gameplay video with commentary:
[video=youtube;lsHppcIcpfM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsHppcIcpfM[/video]
Kolya on 31/8/2014 at 23:04
This video would have been a lot better without the momentous piano music and whoosh swish shooh SFX.
Gryzemuis on 26/9/2014 at 13:18
The game is out.
Anyone played it yet ?
bukary on 29/9/2014 at 13:37
There are first, positive (or enthusiastic) reviews out. Metacritics user score: 8.3.
I didn't have the chance to play it (I am in the process of changing my whole rig), but I'd love to hear some TTLGers impressions.
EDIT:
There are also some negative impressions emerging. I hear the game is rather short.
Judith on 29/9/2014 at 17:13
Downloading it now, should be playing it within a few hours, or tomorrow after work. I don't mind if it's short, 3-4 hours for that price seems alright to me, as long as the story / gameplay is as original as promised.
[Edit]
It sure does look pretty, I don't think I've ever seen anything this organic, you can barely see the repetition. This really feels like Polish forest / countryside. Last time I was running and looking around the map like that was when first Crysis came out. Prepare for some serious Printscreen mashing.
(
https://imageshack.com/i/idHb51xbj)
Inline Image:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/280x200q90/661/Hb51xb.jpgbukary on 30/9/2014 at 17:34
It's funny (and comforting at the same time) that such a short and almost indie (or niche) game receives very high scores from the players and reviewers (Eurogamer - 9/10, GameSpot - 9/10, Gry Online - 9/10), while those recent and very expensive AAA titles (Destiny, The Elder Scrolls Online etc.) are being widely criticized.
I am eagerly waiting for your impressions, Judith.
Briareos H on 1/10/2014 at 15:19
Think of it as a gorgeous Stephen King-lite interactive short story that'll take 3 to 4 hours to go through. I can't say whether it's worth the admission price for everyone, but it definitely is if you're a graphics whore; the visuals/atmosphere are the only replay value factor here.
Judith on 4/10/2014 at 19:55
Quote Posted by bukary
It's funny (and comforting at the same time) that such a short and almost indie (or niche) game receives very high scores from the players and reviewers (Eurogamer - 9/10, GameSpot - 9/10, Gry Online - 9/10), while those recent and very expensive AAA titles (Destiny, The Elder Scrolls Online etc.) are being widely criticized.
I am eagerly waiting for your impressions, Judith.
Definitely it's something else. A nice take on environmental storytelling with some lovecraftian vibes. Absolutely gorgeous "organic" visual design makes you feel like you could go anywhere... At least for the first few minutes. No hand-holding basically means that you'll find a lot of places just being there with no rewards for you, except your own journey. And, on the other hand, that you can miss out quite a lot. E.g. I didn't know there was
a crime scene mechanics until I got to the church and cemetery.
I found the whole experience to be much more engaging than e.g. Dear Esther and would love to see more experiments like that in the future. It's true that there's no replay value here, well, Gone Home says hi. IMO the first few minutes of wandering through the woods alone are worth the price.
henke on 15/12/2014 at 19:52
Just finished this. Well, it's very pretty. However once you're done ooh-ing and aah-ing at the pretty graphics you might find it's kind of a slog to play. Ostensibly it's about solving puzzles, but most of these are simply about spotting things in the environment and then clicking on them. During the 4 hour game there were perhaps 2 or 3 puzzles I actually had to stop and think about. The voiceactors aren't very good, worst of all is the kid playing Ethan. Not that they have much to work with, pretty much every character is a broad stereotype and there's barely any character development. The story is a bit dull early on, but it gets a bit more interesting towards the end, and to it's credit, I was not expecting the final twist.
So, uh, yeah. Like I said, it's very pretty, and there are one or two instersting bits. If you pick it up in a sale for around 5 bucks and amble through it in 4 hours you probably won't feel like it wasted your time or money too much. That's the closest to a recommendation you're gonna get from me, folks. :erg:
Renault on 15/12/2014 at 21:18
I thought the mechanic with analyzing the crime scenes was kind of clever at first, but it got a little too predictable and straightforward by the end of the game.
