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. dacritic82
    Aug 19, 2015
    7
    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a Mystery game in which you play as a detective with some paranormal abilities, who has decided to pay a visit to the hometown of a kid from whom he received a disturbing letter. As you explore Red Creek Valley a dark story will unravel and your task will be to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

    The game sets a great atmosphere for a really    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a Mystery game in which you play as a detective with some paranormal abilities, who has decided to pay a visit to the hometown of a kid from whom he received a disturbing letter. As you explore Red Creek Valley a dark story will unravel and your task will be to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

    The game sets a great atmosphere for a really compelling story, with awesome visuals and nice music. Unfortunately the game is too short (around 3 hours, even if you unlock every trophy).

    The cases you solve are way, WAY, to easy and the mechanics are as follow:

    1- Run randomly for several minutes until you reach a location that requires your attention.
    2- Once you're there, you'll get all the evidences (and the body) highlighted for you. Click on all of them.
    3- Sometimes you'll have to look for some missing evidence for which you'll get its general location and a glimpse of its surroundings. You'll just have to walk on that direction until you run into it.
    4- Some other times you have to move an evidence to its right position.
    5- Go back to the body and click on it. This will allow you to sort the sequence of events surrounding the murder an thus solving it.

    Another con I found is that, although the murders are all related to the same story, they are completely isolated and not linked between them. Nothing you learn from a case will have any impact on another. Moreover, solving a case doesn't add anything at all to the game, other than a bit of history. You could just solve the last case and be done with it.

    Though I had a great time, I consider $20 bucks a bit expensive, considering that it has absolutely no replay value and that you'll spend 95% of the time running around and you'll only have to figure out 3 or 4 things for yourself in the entire game. It takes more that good graphics and a good, though very short, story to make a great game.    … Expand
  2. Haisook86
    Feb 4, 2016
    7
    This is a first-person adventure/puzzle game with a mystery/horror elements. On the PS4, Unreal Engine 4 is utilized, with impressive results; every single grass and tree leaf moves with the wind, giving a photorealistic picture. Sound design is very good and the musical score is excellent. You will be exploring a town, which is not that big, looking for clues, reading notes, collectingThis is a first-person adventure/puzzle game with a mystery/horror elements. On the PS4, Unreal Engine 4 is utilized, with impressive results; every single grass and tree leaf moves with the wind, giving a photorealistic picture. Sound design is very good and the musical score is excellent. You will be exploring a town, which is not that big, looking for clues, reading notes, collecting key items, and solving puzzles. Now, the official description mentions that puzzles are not a major focus in the game, but although few, they can be hard, though not impossible, to solve. You might need to go check a FAQ for answers (which I did once). One of the reasons for this is that the game does not present itself in chapters or sequences; you are actually free to roam wherever you want. And consequently you will be solving puzzles in a random order and uncovering parts of the story in a random order too. This might create a sense of disconnection. But what alleviates this is that the town is fairly small and the puzzles are few, so it doesn't get very confusing and you can finish the game without the need to solve some of the minor puzzles.

    The ending of the game was spectacular, but I couldn't help but think that the game could've been much better. Some puzzles felt out of place and I wondered why there were there while others that I couldn't solve seemed important to me, yet I was able to finish the game without solving them, and this left me with unanswered questions.

    Overall, this is a very good game that I recommend for people looking for a first-person adventure game that takes advantage of the next gen systems.    … Expand
  3. C_Baltimore
    Dec 27, 2015
    6
    First off, the game is visually stunning. Second, the concept is also brilliant. With that being said, I feel I spent a majority of the time I spent playing this game, Walking, and walking and walking some more. I wish there had been more to interact with on my hike because that would have made it more alive. It felt, "Lonely" in some way. I truly enjoyed the fact finding, clue huntingFirst off, the game is visually stunning. Second, the concept is also brilliant. With that being said, I feel I spent a majority of the time I spent playing this game, Walking, and walking and walking some more. I wish there had been more to interact with on my hike because that would have made it more alive. It felt, "Lonely" in some way. I truly enjoyed the fact finding, clue hunting and piecing things together, but at some points in time, it felt incredibly random. I also felt the ending was a bit anti-climactic. I had read several reviews and hate to admit, I felt a bit let down.… Expand
  4. Bumblebugbee
    Jun 30, 2016
    6
    A little exploration, a little mystery, a little puzzle, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has it all. The goal of the game can be distinguished quite easily from the title. This is a story-driven adventure game in the likes of Dear Esther, Gone Home, and Everybody's Gone To Rapture. However, where all those games really shine all the way through The Vanishing doesn't really come togetherA little exploration, a little mystery, a little puzzle, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has it all. The goal of the game can be distinguished quite easily from the title. This is a story-driven adventure game in the likes of Dear Esther, Gone Home, and Everybody's Gone To Rapture. However, where all those games really shine all the way through The Vanishing doesn't really come together till the very end. Its a decent game with a decent story but is that enough to make the journey worthwhile?

    You step into the shoes of Paul Prospero, a detective who finds himself at Red Creek Valley to investigate Ethan's sudden disappearance. You'll find various clues along the way that will help you get an idea of what happened to Ethan. These clues are broken is the a handful of sets for key areas across the game. Once you find all the pieces of a set you'll unlock vision of what happened at that spot. Its up to you to find the appropriate timeline of the event. After you get the events in the right order you're treated to a cut-scene that shows exactly what happened.

    The visuals in this game are quite realistic. Since you'll need to do a lot of exploring and walking around you really get to appreciate how gorgeous this game is. The pretty landscapes and scenery are quite relaxing and calming. Since the story can get pretty dark the environments make for a nice contrast to the tone of the story. Often the scenes involve individuals seeming to be going paranoid, often hurting each or trying to capture Ethan. They believe Ethan has unleashed an ancient evil upon the town that is tainting the minds of the locals and feeding off their violence.

    Most of the time all you'll need to do is just find the clues lying around. However, there are a couple light puzzle elements. In one instance you have imagines of different room options in a house and you have to figure which rooms belong to which doorways. In another instance there is a cavern with various bodies you have to find to decipher a code. After you've explored town and solved all the puzzles you finally realize what happened to Ethan. Its the emotional highlight of the game that will really stick with you and have you going back to really think about everything that lead up to that point.

    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter may have an emotional impact but as a game I believe its fairly average. That is not to say this is a bad game by any means but there just isn't much to it. Besides the ending the story is pretty much forgettable. There is little variety in the gameplay and even figuring out the order of events just involves trial and error. The exploration is probably the highlight of this experience but its hardly enough to justify some of the games other shortcomings. I'm all for narrative driven adventure games but I just think that this particular one is only slightly better than average.    … Expand
  5. Artes1989
    Jul 14, 2015
    7
    WTF with FPS in Ps4 version of this game?
    If u look to the sky, FPS = 60
    If u look to the forest or other places, Where textures large, your fps wil be set down to 30.
  6. TheMetacritiqer
    Jul 5, 2016
    7
    One of the most disappointing endings ever. And yes, in my opinion worse than Mass Effect 3's (Which wasn't that bad). Expect to get stuck for hours if you can't figure out the mechanic of finding out where certain objects are. When you see the same word many times keep moving until they all come together. Knowing that would have saved me hours. Definitely not worth 20$ as if you know whatOne of the most disappointing endings ever. And yes, in my opinion worse than Mass Effect 3's (Which wasn't that bad). Expect to get stuck for hours if you can't figure out the mechanic of finding out where certain objects are. When you see the same word many times keep moving until they all come together. Knowing that would have saved me hours. Definitely not worth 20$ as if you know what your doing it could be completed in a hour. But pretty much everything besides that is great. Things are really mysterious and surprising. The first minute is very scary. And it's cool that some of the people behind one of the most underrated game of all time, Bulletstorm, made this. Next time, just don't screw up the ending. It makes everything you've done seem like a waste of time.… Expand
  7. Lewis-Angelo
    Jun 1, 2021
    5
    historia entretenida y con un buen final

    técnicamente un poco flojo, la cámara marea con tanto tearing y bajón de frames
    le falta más trabajo en la banda sonora
  8. frederik1478
    Mar 8, 2022
    6
    A good little adventure game that should take you about an hour 2. You should probably play this game because it is a good and it's worth trying and it is ridiculously cheap on sale all the time.
  9. Aloof
    May 2, 2020
    6
    It is difficult for me to judge this game. On the one hand, I loved the story, the music, the voices, the setting, there are truly evocative moments and the place where the story takes place is so real. But I had serious gameplay problems and in general, getting to play it without reading anything, I didn't know HOW to play it, I had to see guides. For a good hour and a half I wanderedIt is difficult for me to judge this game. On the one hand, I loved the story, the music, the voices, the setting, there are truly evocative moments and the place where the story takes place is so real. But I had serious gameplay problems and in general, getting to play it without reading anything, I didn't know HOW to play it, I had to see guides. For a good hour and a half I wandered aimlessly, not knowing how to proceed. The defect of the game, which can also be an advantage for some, is that it is truly confusing to the player, it is not intuitive at all. In general I recommend it even if I don't agree with the votes it has taken… Expand
  10. TheCatalyst
    Dec 29, 2017
    6
    Spectacular voice work and writing. I had no expectation going into this game, I only knew that it was a walking simulator. It thrived in the writing and telling the story, graphics were pretty wonderful too, some really good set pieces. The strangeness and the intrigue of the mystery were what kept me motivated to play. The piecing together the mysteries of the story are cleverly done andSpectacular voice work and writing. I had no expectation going into this game, I only knew that it was a walking simulator. It thrived in the writing and telling the story, graphics were pretty wonderful too, some really good set pieces. The strangeness and the intrigue of the mystery were what kept me motivated to play. The piecing together the mysteries of the story are cleverly done and each section felt quite a bit different from one another. Unfortunately, the culmination of the story's ending leaves much to be desired, which is a shame since this game had such a unique direction of where it was going. A short run, but worth it for the early intrigue, just wish the build-up paid off. 65/100… Expand
  11. ThaFlu84
    May 18, 2020
    7
    The game's structure is somewhat confusing at first and it can be dull at times.
    However, it remains a very eerie, mysterious, and beautiful game with a nice ending.
  12. BipolarSmile
    Jul 16, 2022
    7
    Even though I gave this a 7, it is a good game.
    Unfortunately there were some bad design choices made, and it is riddled with bugs.
    If you like exploration games that are more narrative-based(what most people would call walking simulators) then you might like this game with it's paranormal mystery story.
  13. nexus151196
    Dec 25, 2020
    7
    Очень интересная игра, прошёл её только что залпом. На всё - про всё ушло 3 часа. Мир поражает своей красотой, графика бомбически красивая даже для 2020 года( к тому же это инди игра, привет Беседка). Музыка ошарашивает своей красотой ещё больше, она просто нереальная, отлично подчёркивает атмосферу. Хочется просто стоять ,смотреть и слушать эту игру. А вот с сюжетом всё не так хорошо дляОчень интересная игра, прошёл её только что залпом. На всё - про всё ушло 3 часа. Мир поражает своей красотой, графика бомбически красивая даже для 2020 года( к тому же это инди игра, привет Беседка). Музыка ошарашивает своей красотой ещё больше, она просто нереальная, отлично подчёркивает атмосферу. Хочется просто стоять ,смотреть и слушать эту игру. А вот с сюжетом всё не так хорошо для меня, иногда не понимал логики действий, что от меня хотят и т.д. Возможно проблема во мне , и в том, что я играл в полностью англ.версию.( спасибо за отсутствие перевода). + слишком много фантастики. А так -рекомендую любителям бродилок.… Expand
  14. greyestfox
    Nov 24, 2020
    5
    I paid $5 on PSN and at that price I'd say it was worth it. The game says right up front it's not going to hold your hand and that's absolutely true. It's like a Myst-like in that respect because I can't imagine anyone getting 100% out of this game without looking up a guide. Some of the puzzle solutions aren't intuitive and for the most part the game doesn't even explain the mechanics ofI paid $5 on PSN and at that price I'd say it was worth it. The game says right up front it's not going to hold your hand and that's absolutely true. It's like a Myst-like in that respect because I can't imagine anyone getting 100% out of this game without looking up a guide. Some of the puzzle solutions aren't intuitive and for the most part the game doesn't even explain the mechanics of how you'd solve the puzzle. There's not even in-game instructions of what buttons do what.

    The best part of this game is its beautiful environments. I found myself stopping to take a screenshot quite a few times.

    That being said, a game like this HEAVILY depends on its story. I thought the story was interesting but not outstanding and it never elicited an emotional response like a good story should. I bought this after playing What Remains of Edith Finch. Th is game is in the same vein but I much preferred Edith Finch's story.    … Expand
  15. Bizancio_Askatu
    May 10, 2023
    7
    This polish indie walking simulator takes place in a stunning countryside landscape combining Lovecraft vibes with puzzles and a remarkable OST.
    Even though I do not like specially walking simulators, I enjoyed this game due to its detectivesque narrative, the mystery surrounding Ethan¨s disappearance and his dysfunctional family. It also helps that in this game you can move faster by    This polish indie walking simulator takes place in a stunning countryside landscape combining Lovecraft vibes with puzzles and a remarkable OST.
    Even though I do not like specially walking simulators, I enjoyed this game due to its detectivesque narrative, the mystery surrounding Ethan¨s disappearance and his dysfunctional family. It also helps that in this game you can move faster by pressing the run button.
    IMO the ending was kind of a cliche but fitted the story well and I liked that It can only be unveiled once all mysteries are solved.
    The Ps4 version was done from scratch to utilize the unreal engine 4, the original one used the 3, and it's really impressive, it also includes some QOL features like the saving system and the quick travel system to complete all mysteries.
    The puzzles are a little bit annoying sometimes because of the lack of indications, trial and error mechanics or some absurdly demanding precision to place the items but overall they are ok.

    In summary a short game with a very powerful atmosphere that can be easily recommended to anyone who likes mystery stories, puzzles and lovecraft's work.    … Expand
  16. DangerDave1409
    Jan 24, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A nice game with lots of twists. The puzzles range from easy to challenging aka "lets see how they solved it on youtube". The narrative is good and twisted, with the end being suprisingly strange but good. Loved it for its shortness and approach.… 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.
    Read full review
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