Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Reviews
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is a triumph.
Games that attempt to push past normal boundaries and focus on the joy of simply playing have to go by a different set of rules for engagement, and The Chinese Room has offered something that reminded me of Journey – I didn't know what to do then, so I simply moved, explored and found the story on my own. But while Journey fostered a connection with others, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture left me feeling completely alone as a player and desperate to find out why. The answers came slowly, and they might not be utterly satisfying at first, but that's what can happen when you go where everyone is not.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is an interactive work of art. Those of us who can be demanding when it comes to the realm of virtual storytelling might spot some minor flaws. Aside from those flaws, and beyond those who complain about the speed and lack of input commands, the game stands tall in its efforts to reach a new level of interactive storytelling.
One of this year's easy contenders for game of the year, and for less than £16. That's what, a curry and pint?
I personally love the idea about how the developers used this instead of showing us what has happened during the apocalypse, since it adds more drama to the game. The game showcases each character's trait, depending on what predicament they're in. The idea of "how the people would react/feel about the tragedy" is certainly the strongest point in this game. The gameplay's simple feel makes it a bit boring and lackluster, though, since you can't run and there aren't really any other mechanics present in the game, but you won't be able to deny that the game's story would most certainly be aesthetic.
This game is pure art, whichever way you look at it, whoever, it's frustratingly slow pace eventually does tire the player. There is lots of hidden content if we choose to explore off ways, and since we have no clear indication of where to go next, this is something i even encourage. It reminds me a lot of the The Day of the Triffids novel, and Lost, the tv series. This is a game to be played slowly, relaxed, no rushing, you are not going to be able to anyway.
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When it comes to immersive experiences Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is definitely one worth exploring and will leave you pondering it even after you've finished. It's a nostalgic, sci-fi mystery and is one of the finest indie games to grace the PlayStation 4 in 2015.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is really more of an experience than it is a game. There is replayability in going back to see if there are any clues you might have missed, but the game already does a decent job of making sure you see what you need to see.
Until quite late on in the game, I struggled to figure out what I thought about Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. An absolutely stunning piece of visual art, it's somewhat let down by its impossibly slow pace, and the ease of which key plot points can be missed. It felt at times like I would rather have been "in the moment" of the apocalypse, experiencing the titular Rapture first hand, rather than piecing together the events after the fact. A game in which you sometimes struggle to find yourself caring about some of the people involved, but with enough atmosphere to enable life on the Moon, Rapture really is a mixed bag. If you want a change of pace from the regular "shooty bang" fodder, then it's worth a look, even with its (very obvious) flaws.
Is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture a game, an experimental piece of interactive fiction, or is it perhaps even art? Whatever it is, the experience it delivers is a memorable one. It's gorgeous to look at, fantastic to listen to, and spins an intelligent and somewhat esoteric sci-fi mystery that's truly gripping through to its very end.
As much as this game could have been a great suspense story, it falls short in making clear what the story is about.