The Suicide of Rachel Foster Reviews
My spooky investigation of The Suicide of Rachel Foster was overall enjoyable, and being compared at all to some of its obvious influences is a compliment in its own right. Nevertheless, I walked away feeling like the story could’ve had more to give. I spent just over three hours at the Timberline Hotel, which could have been extended some to prevent feeling rushed in the final act. Retailing at $17.99 USD, the money-to-time investment ratio could be fairly compared to purchasing a movie. If story-driven or horror-themed walking simulators are your preferred brand, this shouldn’t be a game you miss. Otherwise, a Steam sale sometime this year will likely feature this game at a nice discount.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster doesn’t try to hide its muse. Anybody who has seen Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 hit classic, The Shining, will certainly see similarities between both properties’ settings and pieces.
The Timberland did a fantastic job at grasping my initial attention to uncover its dark secrets, but I felt quite relieved to check out as soon as I could.
There will be people who like The Suicide of Rachel Foster because they are able to sidestep away from the whole pedophilia aspect, which is only a possibility because the game itself tries to frame it differently. I can’t tell you how much I initially wanted to like The Suicide of Rachel Foster — I played it twice and watched several let’s plays to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. But the developer really needed to handle these topics better, or at least have one character that didn’t sympathize with the sex offender. Ethical issues aside, the environments were great, but everything else fell flat. There is no recommendation here, only concern.
I know it may seem difficult to believe, but I didn’t actually hate the game. Aside from the issues I have with it from a narrative standpoint, it was fine, and therein lies my struggle to recommend it outright: It’s just fine. There is nothing particularly special or interesting or revolutionary in The Suicide of Rachel Foster that you couldn’t get in any other walking simulator without having to simultaneously excuse a story that explores predatory behaviour in a way that is questionable at best, and seriously harmful at worst.
A dark premise that, like most uncomfortable experiences, deserves to be told. A few technical issues knocked my pacing back slightly, but didn’t stop me from seeing this through.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster tells a harrowing and emotionally driven tale that’ll keep players completely hooked in as they uncover its unsettling secrets. It’s worth noting that it does tackle some dark themes that might hit a little close to home throughout its three-hour runtime too, but it does so in a meaningful way that builds upon them to strengthen the story it is telling rather than feeling exploitative of people’s struggles. It’s good stuff. It does have some issues with the audio cutting out on occasions and I did feel slightly underwhelmed by the ending, but neither of these issues stop The Suicide of Rachel Foster from offering a deep and engaging mystery that fans of the genre should certainly pay attention to.
The game was released with broken basic Xbox feature - achievements. We cannot endorse such carelessness. The game had potential, but we can't see the point of buying it on Xbox.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is one of the most compelling thrillers that I’ve played this year
Topics of grooming and sexual abuse are here but distorted into a bizarre romanticized narrative that not only undermines the ideas, it actually damages the game’s credibility. I really wanted to like Suicide of Rachel Foster and I think games as an interactive medium are actually well-equipped to tell these hard-hitting and difficult stories – but not from this perspective. Whether on purpose or not, the tone-deaf narrative promises to tackle these subjects diligently but does nothing of the sort. Instead, Suicide Of Rachel Foster is a game in serious need of a rewrite and difficult to recommend in its current state.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is one of the most enjoyable and tension-filled walking simulators I've had the privileged of reviewing. The game doesn't necessarily rely on scares at every corner, but rather builds tension with what-ifs could happen around the corner. While the pacing isn't ideal and makes the game feels rushed earlier on, it makes up for it in the latter parts of the game. With Halloween coming soon, this is the perfect time for this gem.
There are aspects of The Suicide of Rachel Foster that exceed expectations; the quality of it’s narrative and audio design, voice-acting performances… It’s truly at the highest level. However, when you compare this to the rest of the game you’re reminded that there are a few aspects of it that are painfully average.
Approach this one with caution. I don’t often warn people off playing games, but between some potentially bad triggers and a really hamfisted approach to a sensitive subject this may not be the game for you, and in that case, I’d just advise playing something else entirely.
From the title of this game and the strange imagery of its accompanying photo, you can tell straight away it’s not going to be an uplifting game. When I saw The Suicide of Rachel Foster pop up on our review list and confirming its genre of thriller on the Xbox Store, I was wary. Horror games are not my thing; being the biggest wimp has me screaming bloody murder even in non-horror games, simply being chased has me throwing my controller down (remember The Rugrats: Search for Reptar? Well, I was terrified of the goose in the maze.)
The story of Rachel's suicide hit us in the heart, not so much for the plot (which we followed with extreme interest anyway) but for the practical rendering of the negative human psychological aspects, such as suffering and the inability to accept the past and it does so through a flawless, out-of-the-box audio and graphics that will challenge your own suggestion.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, The Suicide of Rachel Foster is an okay but not great game. It is a well-polished 90’s style mystery-thriller game. That tries hard to create an atmosphere of tension and creepiness with twists you expect from a game of this style. For the most part, it succeeds, but never reaches its full potential due to multiple flaws that ruin the game’s immersion that it tries so hard to build.
As a genre, walking simulators are not for everyone, but this is a good example of one that works well. If you have ever wanted to experience being alone (or possibly not alone!) in a snowbound hotel, this could the game of your nightmares.
Some people will play The Suicide of Rachel Foster and think it’s a tense and engaging thriller that pushes the medium to new uncharted territory. Others will play the game and despise it, calling it gross and tone-deaf. My thoughts on their opinions? I think they are both right.
It’s difficult to give a score to The Suicide of Rachel Foster. I could have loved this game. And I did really enjoy it, right up until the last moment. It was everything I wanted in a walking sim. Creepy, atmospheric, with interesting characters and a rich, detailed environment. But it was ultimately let down by the end of the story, which mishandles a pretty sensitive topic, and left me feeling disappointed and frustrated.
As even the mention of suicide for some people, whether tied to their direct struggles or to those they love, can be problematic, I'm always leery of games that put it right out front...