Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" (2015) is a pretty unique game. Well first of all to call it a game is ... strange, as there isn't really any game-play. All you have to do is simply walk (which is kinda slowly process in here), open some doors or activate radio, telephone, TV. And that is pretty much all what you can do. The core of this "game" is story, atmosphere, dialog and some ideas which you will probably have while experiencing it, because "experience" pretty much sums it up.

Overall, "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" is a unique and beautiful looking journey to find out what happened, while making your own explanation to what happened in here. Sometimes though this journey can be amazingly beautiful. It has amazingly good music - music is simply magnificent in here. "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" is a really a unique experience, not the best but far far far away from bad or average.

This game has affected me in a way that no other game ever has. Not a day goes by where I don't feel the presence of this game in my mind. I remember getting a copy of this game for free on Playstation Plus years ago, at the time I installed it, played for 5 minutes and decided it was boring. It was only as I got older, more patient and more willing for an experience rather than the instant dopamine rush of of an FPS, that I sat down to play this game.

By the time I played this, I was well versed with the "Walking Simulator" type game. They fit perfectly into my life, a few hours of deep immersion in a well crafted world and story. I started with the likes of Firewatch and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and finally came back to the game I had spurned all those years ago.

By god I was wrong.

The gameplay is standard fayre for the genre, a little more interaction than most. But typically you will wander the open world village of Yaughton. This is not a problem as Yaughton is potentially one of the best locations I have ever played in any game. I am from small town England, I have lived in small villages and spent many a holiday visiting and staying in villages like Yaughton. The devs have captured it perfectly. In fact, part of the draw of this game to me is the aching nostalgia I feel for the village, it mirrors my childhood, it conjures memories of me visiting villages like this in the 90s. They have perfectly captured a slice of English heritage and culture and for that alone, this game belongs in a museum.

The story is simple, yet intriguing and powerful. It hooks you in and makes you want to explore, make you find the answer to where everyone has gone to. It will take you through the village, across farms, and houses. You'll explore a caravan park, a train station and the observatory. And every moment will be imprinted on you.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of a game such as this is the soundtrack and score. Jessica Curry has created a masterpiece with this. The score fits perfectly with the aching melancholia in the game. Some particular tracks stick to mind, my favourite of which is "Carry Me Back To Her Arms", the sound starts as you round a hill on a farm. Tall grass swaying in the wind and the bloom of the morning sun cresting the distant hills. I have goosebumps just thinking of this. In fact, the album is one in my constant rotation on Spotify.

The game is now approaching 8 years old, unlikely that many people will read this review. But I felt like I needed to get this out there. If you are reading this and you are on the fence as to buy this game. I implore that you do. No media, TV, Film or Game has ever made me feel like this game has.

It has been over 2 years since I first played this game and I have just finished another play-through. I am sat here in my living room, listening to the soundtrack on vinyl and it has dawned on me that this game has had such a profound impact on my life. Nearly every day since I first played this game, I have thought about it. I have felt a yearning ache, to return and spend more time in the sleepy villages of Yaughton and Tipworth. Hell, I even bought a house in a small English village, with a couple of pubs, a church and a post office.

Last year on my Spotify wrapped, I was in Jessica Curry's top 0.3% of listeners, I even managed to find a copy of it on vinyl. After I first played it, I said I would confidently put it in my top 3 favourite games. Right now, if anyone asks me what my favourite game is, this is the answer.

Every time I go back and play this game, I find something new. A new perspective on the story and characters. The best way I could describe this is that it's like going back to your favourite book - the one you've read countless times - at a different age, with different life experiences and taking something completely different from the story.

I love this game, more than I have ever loved any single piece of media in my entire life and I just wish I could go back and play it fresh, without knowing anything about it.

Thank you The Chinese Room for this game. Thank you for an experience. Thank you for something that I will never forget. I'll see you back in Yaughton.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (2015) is another one of those weirdly memorable walking simulators that I absolutely adore. While many people debate about these sims being "real games" I could hardly care less. As a serious lifelong gamer, I love them. This game, by the same brilliant makers of Dear Esther (another one of my favorite games in the peculiar exploding genre of walking simulators) left its mark, moved me like crazy. It was dazzling and unforgettable.

In Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, the player explores a small English town whose inhabitants have all mysteriously disappeared by some devastating post-apocalyptic cause. The player can interact with floating lights throughout the world, most of which can reveal parts of the story. The player can also interact with objects scattered throughout the world which help unravel the story, bit by bit. It was a very unique game, one that will linger on in my mind for a some while. The stories were so meaningful and moving.

As an art form- it's artistically mind blowing, kept me intrigued until the end, yet the pacing is very slow, relaxing even. The most ironic thing about this game is the huge amount of character development...in a game with no living, visible characters, what-so-ever. What-what? This game is so incredibly powerful, haunting, moving, emotional, thought-provoking and just plain all around beautiful. The visual sceneries are utterly breath-taking, and the music is rapturing.

I highly recommend this for fans of the walking sim genre.

STORY: 10/10 GAMEPLAY: 10/10 GRAPHICS: 10/10 ART DESIGN: 10/10 MUSIC: 10/10 OVERALL RATING: 10.

Now this is how you make a video game. From obscure games developer The Chinese Room comes the indie game to end all indie games. As I listen to the heartbreakingly beautiful soundtrack at this very moment, I am inclined to encourage you to go and buy this game immediately - it is definitely worth the price (£15 on playstation store). I am at a loss for words to explain how much this game moved me, but i'll do my best. First, the premise.

The game is essentially a first person exploration adventure, where you find yourself as an unidentified individual traversing a small series of villages in the English countryside after some kind of catastrophe has happened. All the inhabitants are gone, all is quiet...you are completely alone. Through various flashbacks, audio logs and telephone recordings - you slowly start to piece together whatever has happened.

First off, the game looks amazing, there is so much attention to detail and from the very first steps I took after the opening narration, I knew that I was in for a treat. The entire environment is drenched in atmosphere and incredibly beautiful to look at. Being from England myself, I have visited the English countryside more times than I can count and this game instantly transported me there. What this game does great is feel more large scale than an indie game should, whilst never straying from it's small town England vibe. The first thing you may notice is that all the flashbacks and character exchanges sound like a radio play, and I may be wrong in thinking this but if that's what they were going for, it paid off perfectly and added so much to the game's tone. As you traverse these locations, you'll not only get an idea of what has happened, but also uncover some very important and intriguing character moments, which all weave together to create a web of interesting character relationships. Everything in this game just pulls you into it's world so much. I almost forgot that I was playing a video game at times. I can also say that it boasts one of the best soundtracks for a video game that i've heard since The Last of Us

If I could compare it to anything, I would say that it calls to mind elements of bioshock, but even that's a stretch. I genuinely can't think of any games that are really like this one. Now on paper it seems like it's borrowing heavily from other games (the nameless main character, the post apocalyptic environment etc.), but trust me when I say that it feels very fresh and original. I would say that anyone expecting a lot of excitement and action will be disappointed, as the game does opt for a slower pace and a slower unfolding of it's narrative. For those looking for a great experience, I definitely recommend it and cannot really think of anything to complain about. It kept me engaged throughout and made me constantly want to delve deeper. It's only £15 on the playstation store and it is truly one of the first indie games in a while that is worthy of the price - offering a large world, small story, satisfying 6 hour adventure that you won't forget.