Preview: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Made by a splinter group of People Can Fly (now calling themselves The Astronauts), who created such explosive actions titles as Bulletstorm and Gears of War Judgement, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is nothing like you’d expect.

In the hands-off preview screened at Gamescom 2014, we saw zero guns, no enemies and not a single explosion. What we did see however was a vast, beautiful and eerie forested landscape. The influences to this game are immediately clear in the environment alone, as you can practically see the ‘Welcome to Twin Peaks’ sign in this unnerving New England countryside. Taking on the role of a private investigator searching for a missing boy, we begin our adventure stumbling upon a set of deadly traps hidden in the forest undergrowth. They snatch out and give the player the first fright of the demo, but that’s not to say that jump scares are going to be a common feature, as the game’s overwhelming sense of unease and dread is a lot more powerful.
Navigating through the traps we use our supernatural deduction skills to uncover the reason they are there. The paranormal plays a key part in the narrative of the game and underpins a lot of what happens in the demo, be it our own abilities or that of something a lot more sinister.

 

The traps were there to catch an old man, or at least that’s what the page we found told us,  although that seemed to be child’s story.
Without letting up we continue over a old rail bridge, worn and broken its clearly not in use at all, but at the far end sits a small train, with blood splattered across its front.
Examining the train our protagonists thoughts appear as written words “Blood? Human or Animal?” It’s a nice tool to help get us into the role of a investigator, and is reminiscant of Heavy Rain. The thoughts float through the different options before settling on the word ‘Crank’. Apparently the turn crank to start the train was missing.
As a helpful guide, the word lingers, becoming more focused the closer you are to looking in the right direction. It’s a very intelligent system that allows the player as much help as they would need, without overburdeningthem with maps or objective markers.

In fact, the game does a very good job of leaving the player to it. Most of what we’ve seen could be completely missed if the player chose to stroll by instead of investigate. But it’s a rewarding experience putting together the different clues, one which will hopefully help you to understand the story more later.
On the search for the crank we discovered two severed legs on the tracks, and following a blood trail, a corpse they were once attached too. Surprisingly the victim appeared to have died for a bash to the skull, not blood loss.

 

To supernaturally assess the crime scene we had reconstruct all the factors. A rock used in the murder, as well as the train itself. When we had recreated the scene it opened up a vision which we could explore.
Walking through our vision of the crime we were shown glimpses of the event, which revolved around a boy, the titular Ethan Carter. Once we had to put them into chorological order, the entire crime scene unfolded before us.
It was unsettling, but also extremely satisfying. You truly feel like a detective having actually solved something. If the game continues in this vein, we could see some very complicated and very rewarding gameplay as the puzzles and visions become harder and harder to solve.

 

Your visions won’t always be helpful though. As on our final trek of the woods, we came face to face with a small astronaut, and were launched into space ourselves. We were certain, well, almost certain that this wasn’t happening in the actual game, but it wasn’t until we discovered another child’s story that we realised the scope of what was happening, and what it could be mean for the full release. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a complete departure from what you might expect, but its a truly mesmerising game. It will make you think, and rewards you for exploration with a creative and unnerving storyline.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will be available on PC starting from 26th September, while PS4 users will have to wait for next year. The game grabbed our attention enough to get our Best Indie Award at Gamescom 2014, so our advice is to keep both eyes on it if you like the premise.