The Vanishing of Ethan Carter review

Reviewed on: Xbox One

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, an excellent game using Unreal Engine 3, has now been released for the PS4 and XBOX ONE, with even better graphics after months of work using Unreal Engine 4.

The Astronauts (the game’s developer) did a fine job for an indie studio, and managed to achieve something very good, using all current resources, also managing to surprise with a beautiful, immersive game full of surprises, to the point that after 10 minutes of play you know the graphics in front of you are excellent, but they are no longer so important. It tells you an excellent story of murders.

The game’s plot is built on a tone of suspense and investigation, drawing inspiration from some books. Looking into the game, we found that the developers had a special fondness for the book An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce, mentioned by them.

You step into the shoes of Paul Prospero, a detective with supernatural powers, who in recent days has received several letters from a little boy named Ethan Carter, in which he recounts a series of murders taking place there, in a village near a large dam, reminiscent of old European towns. Prospero decides to go to the place to analyze these facts described by young Ethan, who has vanished without leaving a single clue.

So the player must search environments for possible evidence and place it in the correct spot so that they can “re-watch” the scene in question.
But the challenge doesn’t stop there: after acquiring all the objects, you need to put the scenes in chronological order, using your intuition for that.

The game never helps you, or tells you what you should do; everything goes by your deduction, so much so that you can go straight to the last case of the game, but you will have to go back to do the others to get the final answer.

This game has incredible details, tree leaves and grass swaying in gusts of wind while you walk through the village, different levels of lighting and the realistic way water moves. The incredible Unreal Engine 3 does a dazzling job, especially because it is old, having served as the graphics engine for dozens of games of the last generation. The suspenseful mood keeps you apprehensive, and you keep waiting for a scare at any moment.

The gameplay is very simple, using only the analog sticks, and 2 more buttons. The game flows very well, there is no HUD on screen or anything, which makes it more beautiful to admire. And those who own Premium consoles can enjoy the landscapes in native 4K.

But as always, there are a few things to improve: the game is quite short. In about 3 hours you can get all 14 achievements in the game, reaching 100%. The character moves a bit slowly, even with a run button.

Conclusion

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter shows that you don’t need frantic action to hook the player. A good story and fluid gameplay keep the player hooked until all its mysteries are uncovered. The game has some flaws, such as the lack of an initial backstory, which irritates and leaves the game somewhat confusing at the beginning, but it is undeniable that those with patience will have a beautiful title in hand.

Narrative: 7
Audiovisual: 9
Gameplay: 7

The version played was on XBOX ONE.