The end of times isn’t exactly uncharted territory for video games. The apocalypse/post apocalypse has almost become a genre into itself. But whereas other titles bring us life after whatever major cataclysmic event happens to have plagued its inhabitants, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture takes a different approach. The Chinese Room, the creators of Dear Esther, have carefully crafted another first person experience worth diving into.
In Rapture, you are on your own. You are never explicitly told who or what you are playing as (although there are plenty of hints along the way). You don’t know why the only thing left in the small town of Yaughton is a mysterious light that acts as your guide and you definitely don’t know what happened to everybody. The only thing you know for certain is that something has gone terribly wrong. Radio recordings, phones, and the said light give you points of interaction throughout the environment, and they’re your ways of piecing things together. Gameplay is limited to a single button used to activate any interactable object and using the sixaxis feature on the Dualshock 4 to tilt in whatever way the light responds to.
We see the narrative play out from the perspective of several different characters, each of whom is carrying his or her own baggage. It can be a little difficult to keep up with the cast at first since we don’t have any faces to go along with the fantastic voice acting, but it doesn’t take long for the player to become familiar with each character’s distinct personality. Thematically, things can get heavy. The feeling of loss is profound throughout the story and knowing that things don’t end particularly well can be a bit overbearing at times.
The overarching mystery of exactly what happened to the town keeps things going. There are small hints throughout the world which make extra exploration worthwhile; careful attention to detail is often rewarded. Things aren’t all doom and gloom though. There are some genuinely heartfelt moments that brought a smile to my face despite the fact that I was experiencing what happens after the end times have come and gone.
One small gripe I had with the game was that it completely limited the speed at which I could travel. Since release, people have discovered that there is indeed a “sprint” option after all. At the time of my playthrough the game had not been released and it never tells the player that sprinting is something they can do (the button isn’t even listed in the controller layout section of the game settings). This is being fixed in a patch post-release, but for me, it was too late. Holding R2 for seven seconds allows you to travel at a faster rate; something I would have loved to know beforehand. It took me about 5-6 hours to complete the story and there doesn’t seem to be too much reason to go back. With that said, I still feel this experience is one worth having.
Rapture is beautiful to look at. Utilizing CryEngine 3, the town is wonderfully realized and there are no real technical hiccups to speak of. Lighting changes with the story, and I found that it looked great no matter what time of day it happened to be. You can easily see that this place was in fact inhabited at one point. Bikes and other children toys have seemingly dropped on the spot, along with other things that ensure you remember there was once life here.
There aren’t many games that make me feel the way Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture does. I fail to think of a single title that has done so much with so little. When you break it down to its essence, Rapture is a smaller open world with extremely limited gameplay. What it lacks in those areas, it more than makes up for it with its carefully crafted story and memorable characters — which is saying something, considering you never see any of their faces. The soundtrack is another standout here. From soothing to triumphant and at times even eerie, it does a masterful job of conveying the perfect sounds for the many moods you might find yourself in while playing.
While it may not be for everyone, the slower pace was a welcome change for me. The fall is coming and with it, AAA games of enormous scale and ambition. Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture might not fit in with all the cool kids, but it stands alone as a worthwhile experience. Memorable characters, amazing soundtrack, and unique way of telling a story make it a stand out.