The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 215 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 134 out of 215
  2. Mixed: 55 out of 215
  3. Negative: 26 out of 215

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  1. drlowdon
    Jan 19, 2019
    4
    When paranormal investigator Paul Prospero recieves a letter from his fan Ethan Carter he travels to his home town of Red Creek Valley to find the boy missing and evidence of recent violence in the abandoned town.

    The set up is without doubt intriguing and right of the bat the game tells you it won’t hold your hand and tell you what to do. Usually I’m all for games that let you get on    When paranormal investigator Paul Prospero recieves a letter from his fan Ethan Carter he travels to his home town of Red Creek Valley to find the boy missing and evidence of recent violence in the abandoned town.

    The set up is without doubt intriguing and right of the bat the game tells you it won’t hold your hand and tell you what to do. Usually I’m all for games that let you get on with it but in reality much of your time with this game is spent doing little more than wandering around the, admittedly nice looking, environment until you spot something you can interact with. Once you’ve interacted with the required items and objects you’ll usually have a puzzle to solve in order to piece together just how they are linked. These puzzles are fine, and link into the story nicely, but it’s all too easy too simply miss vital clues be left wondering what to do next.

    I appreciate what The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter is trying to do but I found it a largely frustrating experience.    … Expand
  2. paddystudmuffin
    Aug 8, 2015
    4
    I would say for the price it's at at the minute it's not worth it. It's 4 hours long and once you go through it you'll never go back. Graphics are really good but everything else is bad. Very like murdered: soul suspect. To easy and way too short. Not worth £16.
  3. Zimbardo
    Aug 7, 2015
    4
    This just ended up being Dear Esther with a better engine and worse music.

    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter does a good job of showcasing the Unreal Engine 4 and that's about it (I had no frame-rate issues). The opening message of "This game will not hold your hand" makes it seem like you're in for either a game-play or puzzle challenge but in reality all you end up doing is pacing the    This just ended up being Dear Esther with a better engine and worse music.

    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter does a good job of showcasing the Unreal Engine 4 and that's about it (I had no frame-rate issues).

    The opening message of "This game will not hold your hand" makes it seem like you're in for either a game-play or puzzle challenge but in reality all you end up doing is pacing the environments until you're triggered every event.

    The promotional materials that I saw for this game made it out to be Lovecraftian or at least spooky and (without spoiling anything major) it most certainly is not.

    Wait until it's $5.    … Expand
  4. The_Fun_Too
    Aug 11, 2015
    1
    A nice soundtrack with a ridiculous history. By the way, my dogs could do the game puzzles with its tail. Good graphics doesn't mean good game. Don´t try this
  5. hadders
    Jul 14, 2015
    3
    Beautiful looking game that is horrendously spoilt by frame rate issues. Very distracting and I cannot believe that this was actually released in such condition.
  6. Hyper-Dash
    Mar 4, 2018
    3
    A 5 minutes long puzzle that, once you've failed, you start over. No thanks.
  7. Mindkiller7522
    Jan 16, 2022
    1
    "This game is a narrative experience and does not hold your hand" translation-"We realized that if we added objective markers or any proper story beats the game would only be half an hour long, so have fun wandering around the forest trying to figure out what to do!"

    Granted it's still short, but very boring and by the end of it I had very little idea what was going on. Very similar to    "This game is a narrative experience and does not hold your hand" translation-"We realized that if we added objective markers or any proper story beats the game would only be half an hour long, so have fun wandering around the forest trying to figure out what to do!"

    Granted it's still short, but very boring and by the end of it I had very little idea what was going on. Very similar to Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. At least you can move a little faster. Not really a fun experience.    … Expand
  8. Rox22
    Oct 18, 2015
    4
    Far to short. Took me 3 hour to get 100%.

    Visually it is gorgeous. But that's it. Story is bare and not original and gameplay is limited. Overall: TVoEC looks and feels like it was meant to show off visuals like a tech demo. As gorgeous as it is, it is far too simple and short to even call it a game. At best it is an ultra sexy demo. But that's it. In it's current state, it far too    Far to short. Took me 3 hour to get 100%.

    Visually it is gorgeous. But that's it. Story is bare and not original and gameplay is limited.

    Overall:
    TVoEC looks and feels like it was meant to show off visuals like a tech demo. As gorgeous as it is, it is far too simple and short to even call it a game. At best it is an ultra sexy demo. But that's it. In it's current state, it far too overpriced.

    Side note:
    I do hope other developers of 1st person exploration games look at this game. If anything I hope this game is a glimpse of things to come (visually speaking of course.)    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Best PS4 Game of 2015
76
#76 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 33
  3. Negative: 1 out of 33
  1. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Oct 16, 2015
    80
    The environment’s naturalism and splendour make the core of the game feel more exotic than it really is. [November 2015, p79]
  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Sep 21, 2015
    80
    A little threadbare and not as revolutionary as it appears, but poignant and breathtakingly realised. [Oct 2015, p.95]
  3. ActionTrip
    Sep 21, 2015
    95
    A splendid narrative experience that is not to be missed.
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