A more flattering comparison, at least in terms of tone and narrative focus, is cult classic Dear Esther. The Vanishing is essentially a murder mystery, one that shares a surprising number of similarities to last year’s Murdered: Soul Suspect – except that it’s not rubbish.
#The vanishing of ethan carter ps4 release date Pc#
On PC The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter was one of the best-looking games released last year, and it’s only sightly diminished in this new PlayStation 4 version. That’s entirely understandable given the nature of many indie titles, and the small budgets they have to work with, but it’s not always accurate.
Say the phrase ‘indie game’ to any random gamer and they’ll probably immediately start thinking of retro-styled platformers and 8-bit graphics.
One of last year’s most memorable indie games finally appears on PS4, but do the amazing graphics look as good on console? Most of the game’s story is told through flashbacks as Prospero solves puzzles and puts the pieces together, and despite never actually interacting with anyone, you get a feel for the characters and the events that went down in this small Wisconsin town.The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter (PS4) – ghost story What’s important though, for a game that’s based entirely on the unraveling of a story, is the voice acting. The game’s sound design really shines with the little things: creaking wood, rustling leaves, the soft thump of footsteps in an abandoned building. Ethan Carter takes a deliberately slow pace, for obvious reasons, and thus never has the chance to get clogged up and slow right down.Īs far as sound goes there’s nothing to complain about the music won’t blow your mind, but does a decent job of increasing and decreasing tension and emotion as needed. Framerate is never really an issue with this game as there aren’t multiple characters, combat, or particle effects to eat up memory and slow everything down. From the bucolic (yet still unsettling) forest to the dungeon crawler-esque mines, the game touts sharp visuals and stunning lighting. Despite the often-downgraded ports we’re used to receiving here in the console ghetto, Ethan Carter retains its absolutely stunning visuals. On the other hand, this freedom is important, because you’ll definitely want to spend some time just soaking up the atmosphere.
The eeriness of the world in Ethan Carter will occasionally fall to the wayside when tunnel vision takes over during a puzzle. This freedom is lovely at first, when you’re just walking around exploring things, but if you’re used to even remotely linear gameplay, you may find it frustrating to constantly trek back and forth searching for a clue you missed.
You begin the game by emerging onto some abandoned railroad tracks, and from there you can go wherever you like in whatever order you prefer. In The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, you play as Prospero, a detective who specializes in the paranormal who has been tasked with unraveling the mystery behind the titular character’s enigmatic departure from reality. So congratulations to The Astronauts studio, you’ve made me use my brain again-and it was a humbling experience.