Three years ago I sat in a tiny office near the top of an unlikely Victorian pile perched on a hillside in Nottingham and played Dear Esther. One part game, one part meditation on grief and one part exploration of the human subconscious it’s the only game I’ve ever played that deserves the description ‘haunting’. Wandering a Scottish island you discover signs of the people who came before you, hints of the tragedy that’s driven your character there and finally something approaching catharsis. It’s weird and spiky and plays differently every time. And now, The Chinese Room, the company behind it have brought out a new game.
Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture is…well I’m not sure. The title certainly suggests the premise and I’ve read reports of gameplay that suggests you’re investigating a catastrophe that has devastated a small English village in a very odd way.
That premise by itself would have my attention. But when you factor in the team behind it and just how pretty it looks, then I can’t think of a game I’m more excited for. At least until No Man’s Sky comes out. Here’s the launch trailer and the game itself arrives later this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1tBl7upgDU]