Everybody's Gone To The Rapture is a game I heard about a long time back and had download it last year from the PlayStation Store. My better half and partner in crime Nollsy played it a while back and kept saying how good it was, and that I needed to play it. Finally this week I got around to playing.
I am on a semi-diet so I shouldn't be talking about chocolate but screw it. I love, I mean love, Cadbury's Caramel Bars. It's smooth on the outside, has a bit of bite to it and then has a soft centre filled with caramel. Playing Everybody's Gone To The Rapture I found myself asking did this have the right kind of bite and still have a soft centre?
When it comes to talking about the story I will be pretty brief to avoid spoilers. You take control of a character (who they are is never established) who enters the fictional picturesque town of Yaughton, in Shropshire. It seems like all the inhabitants are gone, the only signs of life or that life was there are echoes/memories of people's conversations and of course the dead birds everywhere. It is about discovering what happened to the inhabitants of Yaughton and what, if anything, will happen next.
Overall the story is amazing - it starts slows and really builds up. I enjoyed the ending and wonder what it would be like playing the game with the knowledge I have now?
Visuals
The visuals are really something and remind me of quaint English villages. There is countryside and nature all around you in Everybody's Gone To The Rapture. I found myself getting lost while playing simply because I was taken aback by the picturesque looking village. It is a shame that The Chinese Room and SIE Santa Monica Studio did not have a bigger budget as it would really have helped sharpen up some of the visuals.
Overall the game looks amazing and was certainly nice getting lost in Yaughton for a few hours.
Music
If quaint English villages had a soundtrack it might sound like Everybody's Gone To The Rapture. The music is quite calming, and certainly has a very spiritual feel to it, there are moments where the music intensifies but only for brief appropriate spells. The composer is UK based Jessica Curry who created the video game soundtracks for; So Let Us Melt, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and Dear Esther.
The soundtrack comes in at around one hour and really does fit the game perfectly. Normally, I list out my favorite track but this time I can't as I find it to be one giant track. That isn't to say it all sounds the same, far from it, but each and every track is as important the next. Overall a brilliant well-crafted soundtrack that could be appreciated even if you haven't played the game.
Gameplay
The game is an adventure exploration game, about following and finding the hidden stories and memories in Yaughton. Outside of the directional movement, the only other control used is the tilt mechanism in the controller. I found this to be a little awkward on occasion and if anything pulled me out of the story rather than suck me in further. It wasn't too bad overall but a simple button pressing mechanic or quick time event would have been sufficient.
Similar to TellTale's The Walking Dead, Erica or any other games of this caliber, the story and gameplay are hugely linked making it difficult to get into too many specifics. The game leads you around by getting you to follow balls of light which take you to point to hear different things, you can break free from this and take your own path. Be warned though, it is possible to get lost and can take a while to find your glowing balls of light. The balls of light glitched a few times for me meaning I ended having no idea where to go next which was a little frustrating.
Overall the gameplay (and story) are great with really very few complaints or at least not enough to stop me enjoying my experience.
Final Thoughts
So, after seven hours of play how did I feel? Enthralled. The story is amazing, the visuals and music really help bring the little town of Yaughton to life. I had some qualms with the gameplay but nothing that would put me off my experience. Overall, this one gets a 4 out 5
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