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The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Developed by The Astronaughts
Distributed by Nordic Games
Rated M for Mature
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter was one of the games I was really hoping would go on sale. An intriguing enough premise to catch my eye, but not open my wallet at the full-price asking point. Similar to Gone Home, Vanishing is half walking simulator and half puzzle game. I had intentionally blacked myself out from all media about the game, since with really narrative heavy games it is very easy to ruin the plot even by inference. Therefore, I will try and keep the review as spoiler free as possible, but keep in mind that even the slightest detail might tip something off and ruin the story for you. If you want to avoid all of that, just skip to the bottom where I give the game a 3.5/5 and click to the next review.
The game is told from the perspective of Paul Prospero, a paranormal detective with a flair for the dramatic macabre. Arriving to the town of Red Creek Valley via an enigmatic train tunnel, Paul must piece together clues and solve riddles on his journey to find the titular Ethan Carter, who has *spoiler alert* vanished. There are two narratives to follow, with the first being the immediate story of Ethan and his family and the other consisting of short stories and flashbacks that flesh out the family prior to the events of the game. There is an interesting interplay on reality here, and as the more fantastical shows it has roots in the real, the real becomes more fictitious.
The game starts off with a white text on black background disclaimer that, “This game is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand.” You know you’re in for some pretty obtuse shit when that shows up. That being said, its not really all that difficult to get a grasp of the basics of the game. Your method of interacting with the world is minimalistic. Right clicking zooms in, but unless I missed something was never required to solve puzzles. As the game starts, loud traps spring that require your investigation. In this way, the game teaches you how to inspect elements. As you go on, you realize that inspecting things leads to a clearer picture of the spirit world, thereby teaching you how to complete puzzles. After you find the last trap hidden off the beaten path, you learn that sometimes you have to look for objects outside of the main path. So maybe the game holds your hand a little bit, but it’s more of a spiritual ghost hand gently guiding you than an impatient mother dragging you along.
To elaborate, this is a spooky detective game. While you do solve murders by finding clues, deducing the most probable course of action, and creating a timeline, it is all done in a ghostly manner. Inspect a body, and how much of the spirit realm you can see dictates how much of the puzzle you have left to solve. Sometimes puzzles are solved rather quickly, and other times they can be arduous. The difficulty seems to peak at the midway point of the game, and while this helps the narrative flow better at the end, it does feel anticlimactic.
While murder investigations are generally pretty straightforward, the secondary story bits are usually far more complicated. Ethan is a young and imaginative boy, whose short stories come to life. After you solve each puzzle, the world snaps out of the fantasy into the reality that it reflects. It is initially unclear whether he manifests them into reality, has some form of prophecy, or simply an active imagination. I found myself constantly considering and reexamining what truth to really believe as the game went on. It adds to the fantastical mystery element, and at these times the game is at its best.
Even the most obtuse puzzles aren’t text adventure level hard, so it shouldn’t take you more than a few hours to beat. If you knew all the answers, I’m sure the game could be whipped through during a lunch break, but thats kind of missing the point. The game is one to be enjoyed slowly, taken in bit by bit, and muddled over as you travel from location to location. It is very easy to miss a side quest or two your first time around, so take your time and make sure you see everything there is to see.
Unfortunately, poorly hidden items too commonly break the flow, detracting from the overall experience. The game is only 10 puzzles long, so even having 4 of these with difficult and obtuse solutions is too much. For example, the first murder scene of the game cannot be solved without finding an inconspicuous rock that has a little bit of blood on it. Then, you have to figure out that the tree stump at the end of the train tracks has a matching indentation in it, and put the rock back. This is way too easy to miss, especially in a game without well defined puzzle boundaries. Likewise, I would not be surprised if most people do not realize that the swirling letters can be focused by turning your head, showing you the direction of an objective. Sure, the game said it won’t hold your hand, but it is difficult to intuit in a game with a lot of floating text that this specific floating text means I should stand still and look around.
My other main gripe is that the twist is a bit contrived. I won’t spoil it here, but I will say I guessed at what it might be at around puzzle 7, groaned, and prayed it wasn’t that. When it was that, I stared at my screen disappointedly, took a deep sigh, and told The Vanishing of Ethan Carter that it just wasn’t working out and we should see other people.
The game also commits the cardinal sin of forcing you to backtrack, but in the most devilish way possible. Normally when a game wants you to backtrack, they will ask you to with promise of a quest reward or for a narrative Easter egg. Rarely is it forced on you. You usually don’t have to go that far, but it is always a way to padden gameplay length without having to actually make new environments. In Vanishing, if you have not solved all the riddles by the time you get to the last room, you have to start over.
I mean, I guess you don’t HAVE to start over, as I think it’s actually possible to backtrack through the entire game (don’t quote me on that, I did not care enough to test this). The last wall of the game is a map that shows you where all the hidden short stories are, almost taunting you, expecting you to just start all over to see the ending. There is a spaceman hidden in the bushes of the very first zone. It is impossible to see from the main path, and there is no indication to look for it. This is directly after the first two puzzles, which immediately jumped out at you, giving you the expectation that the game wouldn’t just screw you like that. But it does. It does screw you like that. It screws you with the biggest backtrack its little legs can muster.
I feel bad being too harsh on Vanishing, but with so little actual game to warrant praise and demerits, flaws become that much more glaring. The game is really pretty looking, so thats a plus? The story and puzzles are the only things here, and while both are very interestingly crafted and compelling to finish, possess too many flaws at various points to be considered excellent. Even though I liked the game, thought the narration was great, and loved the reality warping nature of the story, I can’t just ignore what came off to me as obvious flaws.
That being said, I am recommending the game… kind of. The game is $16 currently, but will probably be on sale again for $12. If you want to spend $12 on a short and flawed but compelling game, by my guest, and I’d love to hear what you think about it! That being said, I can’t honestly recommend this game to people that aren’t that into this kind of thing. It doesn’t break genre walls to suck in new players, and it doesn’t do something so new that it creates a whole new genre and demographic. I enjoyed it because I am the kind of guy who will push W for 30 minutes just to hear an old guy talking about how he’s going to jump off of a cliff. This is slightly more interesting than that, but cancelled out by the frustrations.
3 1/2 out of 5
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
