The Vanishing Of Ethan Carther Review (2016)

Detective Paul Prospero arrives in Red Creek Valley on an unusual request. A child he knew had written to him in letters that something mysterious had happened in the quiet town at the edge of the forest: the adults had gone mad, were threatening to kill him, and it all had something to do with some Sleeper who was about to awaken... after that, the boy stopped responding, so the detective with mystical abilities must investigate his final case: the disappearance of Ethan Carter....

Games can’t possibly be THIS beautiful.

"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" is an example of a perhaps slightly outdated approach, where skillful work with lighting and materials, art direction, and game design create an atmosphere that envelops you from the very first minute without needing experimental technologies like RTX or DLSS to look flawless. Right from the beginning, when we emerge from the tunnel through the edge of the autumn forest toward the storm-wrecked bridge across the reservoir at the foot of distant mountains... your heart stops. The game creates a soothing yet melancholic atmosphere of isolation and longing for a place that was once alive, but has now become empty.

The gameplay is very simple, if not downright elementary.

We walk through beautiful (or slightly grim) places, interact with objects, occasionally solve puzzles, touch astral echoes from the past, piece together what happened, and read newspaper clippings or Ethan’s own stories. From hints and metaphors delivered by an unreliable narrator emerges a cohesive and convincing story, whose simple and bitter ending explains a great deal (and makes you want to replay the game knowing the tragic context).

"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" is a very compact story: you really can finish it in two or three evenings if you take your time. And its atmosphere... outweighs any possible flaws. Too short? Perhaps. Does the map and world feel much larger and richer than they actually are? Definitely. (But honestly, that’s something I notice in almost all modern games: a huge visual variety of objects that catch the eye, and very few that are actually interactive. Here, things are stripped down to the bare minimum: you can scour every possible corner, but only in search of a couple of rare items and achievements.)

But the environmental design redeems EVERYTHING.

A forgotten village bathed in golden light, with a Scandinavian-style church, an abandoned mine, a road long uncleared of debris, and deserted houses where many things once happened — all of it feels so real and alive that you quickly forget about the rudimentary gameplay and lack of an inventory system. Red Creek Valley is a full-fledged character in the story, telling it for as long as you’re willing to listen.

And the music here... wow. Brass, strings, and piano — every corner has its own melody that sets a contemplative tone. Altogether it somewhat resembles another “walking simulator,” "Dear Esther": silent expanses, loneliness, an unhurried pace, the voice-over of a broken protagonist, difficult themes, instrumental accompaniment... even Lovecraftian motifs are present — though here, just like there, they play, let’s say gently, far from the main role (which is wonderful).

So, should you try to unravel the mystery of Ethan Carter? Definitely yes. I think you’ll enjoy it even if you’ve never played games before, as long as you love detective stories, don’t mind a touch of mysticism, are willing to reach the end with almost no hints (the game immediately warns you that it “doesn’t hold the player’s hand,” though that’s a slight exaggeration: the location design makes everything intuitively clear), and are prepared for shifting moods and a couple of genuinely creepy moments. This is a small work of art and yet another confirmation of the amazing things a small Polish team can create on a modern engine (and, by the way, these are the people who made Painkiller and Bulletstorm — very different games in terms of pace).

Rating: 8/10, magical, contemplative, sad... impossibly beautiful. The story is told in fragments, but the ending explains everything. “Twin Peaks” in the style of Edgar Allan Poe on the shore of a serene lake where a tragedy unfolded.

Corvus.