The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Reviews

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10
Sep 29, 2014

Like the unnerving fiction that inspired it, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a bold and fascinating story. But the story is something that's revealed, not something that's lived through. I was a tourist, a witness, a reader, and that left less room for being a player. Yet I expect the game to stay with me for a good long time, and its grisly, gorgeous world alone makes the trek worthwhile.

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Jul 19, 2015

Creators like Chmielarz need an obvious symbol of false hope to sell (not articulate) their trendy nihilism that, if anything, should vanish.

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Sep 30, 2014

A richly atmospheric, story-led adventure which makes up for in chills what it lacks in challenge. The puzzles could be tougher and more varied, and at times all the wandering drags, but it's a superb-looking, forward-thinking mystery game that creeps you out without resorting to the usual sudden scares.

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85%
Oct 3, 2014

Immerse yourself in the psychology of an American family in autumn country.

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80 / 100
Oct 4, 2014

Fight through that frustration of wondering where to go when you start The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.  Once you learn the rules of the game, you'll find a deeply satisfying, if short, story within.

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8.6 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2014

An average story mixed with some great nuggets to experience, all of which takes place in beautiful backdrops and wonderful accompanying music.

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Sep 27, 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a good little story with a bleak atmosphere that nonetheless provides some relaxing puzzle solving.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 29, 2014

Developer The Astronauts has proven that you don't need a AAA budget to create a game that is not only beautiful, but also thought provoking and atmospheric. The game's only pitfall is how short it can be if you are only interested in the main story, but I would say it is worth a second play-through to discover all of the hidden investigations and secrets. If you are into Lovecraft or Poe and appreciate a macabre mystery with heavy atmosphere, you owe it to yourself to dive into the world of Ethan Carter.

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6 / 10.0
Oct 6, 2014

As superb as the experience of simply exploring [The Vanishing of Ethan Carter's] eerie environments is, unravelling the plot's mystery isn't terribly enjoyable.

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8.2 / 10.0
Sep 27, 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an impassioned monument to its prestigious foundations. A product-of-assembly depiction makes for an idle assessment, but it's difficult not to look at Ethan Carter and see narrative guidance from Twain and Vern, Lovecraft's proclivity for the destructive supernatural, and Chandler's pulpy detective fiction. The tale Ethan Carter ultimately aches to tell isn't as complex or natural as its influences, but it finds ample success in directing a curious story through an interactive ensemble.

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8 / 10
Aug 9, 2015

From beginning to end, most players will breeze through The Vanishing of Ethan Carter in roughly four or so hours.

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8 / 10
Oct 14, 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a fantastic game. My only true complaints are the short length and lack of replayability, but I can easily stomach that after enjoying it so much. I'd love to see more games in this vein from The Astronauts since the story really grabs the players and pushes them to continue. It is definitely worth playing for those that enjoy a bit of suspense in the middle of supernatural mystery.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 9, 2014

Ethan Carter is a powerful, entrancing game that'll live with you long after the credits have rolled. Just don't let anyone spoil it for you.

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4.5 / 5.0
Nov 9, 2014

The Vanishing Ethan Carter is definitely the must play game of the year that successfully creates a gripping and engaging tale without an ounce of input from the game itself. All the clues are right in front of the player and thus it's up to you to put back together this amazing jigsaw puzzle about a young boy and his dark family with some of the best graphics you'll witness on the PC. More importantly, the game definitely deserves another play through due to the cleverly written puzzles and wondrous links to the Carter family.

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Oct 11, 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is all about the journey, and the journey here is spectacular both visually and narratively. This game is something special.

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9 / 10.0
Jul 17, 2015

A must purchase experience that invokes a feeling of true beauty, reflection and freedom. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter needs to be experienced to truly understand as both a game and self-reflective journey of beauty and warmth

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Evan Norris
Top Critic
6 / 10.0
Jan 12, 2018

By focusing on the unique story-delivery mechanisms of video games and providing a sufficient level of interactivity, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter side-steps many of the pitfalls associated with narrative-driven adventure games, even as it struggles to escape the sub-genre's orbit.

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gameranx
Top Critic
5 / 10.0
Oct 7, 2014

That's the irony of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter in a nutshell. When you first start up the game, it declares that it "is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand," but that's true only of its mechanics. Narratively it holds your hand so tightly that once it was over I had to wait a few minutes for feeling to return.

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8 / 10
Jul 24, 2015

With its near photorealistic visuals and great voice acting, it's a unique game that I wholeheartedly urge any Playstation 4 owner to experience once

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GameSkinny
TiquorSJ
Top Critic
Oct 4, 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a finely crafted cigar box. It is art, it has a purpose, and its contents will bring you enjoyment.

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