Is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Worth Your Time?

Have you ever walked through someone’s house when they weren’t there? (That sounds like an incredibly creepy sentence, but it’s how I’ve mentally committed to starting this review like this.) Everything seems familiar — it’s all the things you know from your own home — but everything is equally strange and unsettling.

[omeganine]

Been wanting to play this!

[mmoron]

It is creepy but fun

[XboxOneX]

mmoron how would you compare Everybodys Gone to the Rapture to Metal Gear Solid? What one should I buy?

XoXoX

[NewMonday]

the non-linear storytelling method is compelling, the world felt real and beautiful. but my only problem is the slow movement and the useless run button.

Vanishing of Ethan Carter almost the exact kind of 1st person adventure game. it was was better IMOO.

cant wait for Firewatch

[S2Killinit]

@XboxOneX
I would say it depends on whether you're in the mood for action, or a story driven mellow game of mystery. Both are good buys I think. Everybody's gone to the Rapture won't cost you as much, but it will also be shorter. So I guess it depends on what you need right now.

[jc12]

i found it to be artistic and atmospheric, with a great score to boot. With all that though, I found myself getting bored too often. There's literally nothing to interact with or really do, you just walk around at a snail's pace and watch what are effectively cut scenes.

[WeAreLegion]

Yes. Incredible story.

[ninsigma]

It's interesting enough and I won't tell people not to play it but I found myself after a while just wanting to get to the end. Soundtrack though is awesome.

[ThatEnglishDude]

It's not even worth writing about. Terrible experience that truly stretches the definition of the word 'game'.

For the record, I loved Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and valued it's focus on story and how it was told. I don't expect high octane shooting, gore, or anything of that nature. I expected a narrative driven piece that is intriguing and enjoyable to play. This truly tested my patience and I simply couldn't bring myself to play it anymore beyond the first sitting. There's slow pacing to emphasize a narrative structure, and then there's pretentious artsy bullshit for the sake of appearing intelligent and smart. This is the latter. 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' is the kind of game that encourages that elitist, holier-than-thou attitude that if someone doesn't like it, it's not that they simply can't stand the slow pacing - it's because they "don't get" what the developers were trying to achieve. I fully understand what they were trying to do, I just think they failed abysmally at the execution.

The town looked nice I guess though.

[GribbleGrunger]

How do you know what the developers were trying to achieve if you didn't finish it? If they achieved it, you'd know only when the credits are rolling.

edit: Having watched a full playthough on Youtube (I can't afford to play games much), I have to say this game transcends any notion of pretence. It has very well written and grounded dialogue with characters that feel down to earth and real.

There is a mystery here but that feels organic and not once do they patronise the player by offering cues (which is usually the sign of pretence). They leave it unsaid and clearly do not fear those that don't understand, and furthermore, those that don't understand are not given a reason to feel insignificant or dumb.

It's a beautifully paced narrative that gives the player every opportunity to think and to feel. I think I know the answer, although answer is probably doing the game a disservice, and I'm not prepared to say what it is, just in case some people here might want to experience it for themselves. I'll just say that I believe it's deep and something everyone should embrace as they live their lives.

[ThatEnglishDude]

What I was meaning was that I understand the direction of the game. Having a heavily narrative focused game that limits mainstream gameplay mechanics to it's absolute minimum in order to push the story. That's fine. I get that. However, the pace of which it's told was just dreadfully slow. I couldn't help but feel the slow movement was an attempt to make the game appear longer than it is.

The story itself, you're right, I didn't finish. I just couldn't stomach how poorly paced the story was told. The 'gameplay' mechanics felt tacked on (waving the controller around to move the 'memories' with no real control. What was all that about?) it all felt like a last minute thing to justify calling it a game. I don't know, the whole thing felt very pretentious. I played several hours in my one sitting, and just couldn't get invested. Voice acting was good, but the writing wasn't really anything to write home about. I think people are severely overplaying how groundbreaking the story is. Of course, this was just based upon my 3-4 hour playtime with the game. If that isn't enough to get me interested or intrigued, then pacing be damned, it's a badly told story.

I welcome the 'disagrees' and people who's opinion vary. That's what we're here to do: talk about videogames. We're not all going to be on the same page about things. However, I'd like to think I've at least taken the liberty of explaining my reasons. All I want to do is encourage dialog.

Ultimately, I think this whole 'walking simulator' gig is getting old and has long since worn out its welcome. Taking away virtually every instance of gameplay should not be the only way to make us focus on story. Too many games have relied on this now, and it's tiring.

[strickers]

"I just couldn't stomach how poorly told the pacing of which it was told."
Yeah, writing can be really difficult.
Before you get upset, I'm just taking the piss. Easy to mess up a sentence here and there when typing quickly on N4g.
I don't understand why so many people need agrees for validation of their opinions.
We don't all like the same stuff, and that is a good thing.

[GribbleGrunger]

@ThatEnglishDude:

You see, even though you dressed your critique up with reasonably articulate prose, you then give away how you really feel by using the derogatory term: 'walking simulator'. I prefer to call them 'interactive narratives'.

Not everyone is going to like the same games but your critique cannot be taken seriously because you haven't finished it and would never know what the developers were trying to achieve, unless you believe COD achieves what the developers set out to achieve because you move around in 1st person and shoot guns.

Games are more than the mechanics.

[Corpser]

Lol so you are defending a game you never played?

[ThatEnglishDude]

@GribbleGrunger

Well, I don't particularly like the term 'walking simulator' either, but let's face it - that's what it is. You have a different name for the 'genre', if you can call it that, but you can call it whatever you want. It doesn't excuse the fact you do nothing but walk around (and I use that term LOOSELY judging by how slow you move) and let the story unfold itself to you. For all intents and purposes, it IS a walking simulator. Even still, rejecting my view because of what I label it is just silly.

The amount of games in this category is staggering. All I'm saying is: you shouldn't HAVE to remove every facet of what traditionally makes a game just so you can tell your decent story. Games like Half Life manage to tell a rather compelling story while having you interact with the world. No, before you go off, I don't mean that I want guns and stuff, I'm just using it as an example.

I don't need to see the game to the credits to know what they were going for. I did however play the game and can tell you exactly how it felt for me to play it, versus watching some video on YouTube. But for what it's worth, I DID see the rest of the game on YouTube and know how the story plays out. It's a good story, but eh. The way it's told is just beyond slow.

I agree games can be more than mechanics, but when it all comes down to it - mechanics are what makes a videogame what it is. And this IS a videogame.

For someone who has enjoyed a fair few games that fall under the same genre or category of game, this was just way too slow for me. I mean damn, I actually preferred Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs over the original game in the series BECAUSE of the story and how it was told. Maybe it was the distances which they expect you to travel in 'Rapture', I don't know. It just put me to sleep. Still, it looked pretty I guess.

By negating my point and to use CoD as a comparison as something you feel I'd relate to more just comes across as condescending. But I've already given them my money. Maybe they'll do better next time. But as far as I'm concerned, 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' was pretentious artistic tripe that calling it 'shit' would be offensive to the shit I took earlier today.

[GribbleGrunger]

@Corpser:

I also understand books that are read to me. Odd that isn't it.

This is a narrative driven game and as such can be viewed as well as played. The conversation is about whether the presentation (something you see) and the narrative (something you listen to and see) is pretentious or not. Having seen the presentation, seen and listened to the narrative, I'm in a better position to judge whether it's pretentious than someone who hasn't finished the game.

[SynestheticRoar]

WOW. I enjoyed it.

[shammgod]

loved it

[DragonDDark]

Yes. It's not for everyone but it's for me.

[uth11]

I was tempted by the preorder several times, but in the end, I just didn't think I'd enjoy it, so I passed. Yet I'm looking forward to playing Ethan Carter. Go Figure!

[soulpopped]

Both are great! I think I liked the story in Ethan Carter more, but I liked walking around in this world more.

[ninsigma]

I think Ethan Carter is more worthwhile. More interesting, more gripping and looks better too. That's just me though. I loved ethen carter but not rapture.

[Dharma360]

Pretensous middle class twaddle.I was looking forward to this game but I really hated the characters.