Posted on: December 8, 2014
urielejh
Possesseur vérifiéJeux: 674 Avis: 1
An Unexpected Journey
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. I've been looking at and waiting for that game since it was first announced, almost two years ago. No real news spawned the net, nothing on the story but a glimpse of the very premise of the game itself: a detective with paranormal abilities receives a letter from a boy, E. C., asking for Paul's (Prospero, the detective) help. Feeling the boy's in grave danger, Prospero starts his journey at Red Creek Valley. After that introduction, I gotta say that TVoEC is one of the best FPExperience (FPE/X) ever. Gone Home is tremendous; Dear Esther is surreal.. each one in a very good way.. but TVoEC is both. The Astronauts have made what no-one else have tried and that is recreating the real-world in a game: using Photogrammetry, a recent "photosynth-technique", they applied to 3d models scanned and processed images taken from real-world places. Everything. Grass, trees, roads, rocks, facials, buildings' textures.. and the result is an organic, living world. You literally walk through the places and almost feel like being there for real. There's something so natural to everything.. the amount of details is impressive also; with all settings maxed out, you could take a screenshot and send it to someone telling it that that is a place you visited last summer.. and it will surely ask you: where's that? I'd like to go there too. All of that is built upon a ten years old engine, that is UE3, of course. Artistically, the game is unique in that no fantasy/sci-fi overused theme are exposed but an ultra-realistic, almost surreal in some segments, one. The audio compartment is above the standard. Not much for quality, rather for the integration with the world itself: no excessive sound effects, just as nature would sound like; the music is phenomenal, I mean, it really captures the essence of the game and gives even more ambience. Gameplay-wise, you have the whole place(s) to explore, without following any particular order; some sections require you to gather clues to solve murders; others are a bit more puzzling but not excessively, at all. No weapons to be used nor monsters to fight. If FPE/X (Gone Home, Dear Esther) are your type and you don't mind a journey/experience (also) of the mind with gorgeous visuals, captivating story with mystery and solving cases, than The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is for you. Overall: Graphic: 9 Art: 9 Sound: 7 Music: 9 Gameplay: 8 Replay value: 7 Uniqueness: 9 Partial: 8.3
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