Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

johnny_ultimate

One of the exclusives that persuaded me to buy a PS4, The Chinese Room's next game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture has finally got a more tangible release window of 'summer'. Oh, and a new trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIWdbibONxg

Dear Esther was a hugely promising and often impressive game, so very excited to see how the developers evolve that core to include more 'game' and a more unusual structure to the title.

Now, when's The Witness coming again?

gizmo

Some more screenshots in the Eurogamer piece here.

Really really looking forward to it. Environment art looks bloody great and I love the Enid Blyton vibe I'm getting from some of the screenshots. It'll be nice to enjoy the setting without worrying about the need to shoot and/or blow stuff up too.

Generic Dreadhead

Looks very pretty and could be an interesting one alright

tok9

Awesome.. for some reason I thought this would be an autumn release.

On top of this and The Witness... Where is Rime?

mooseknunkle

August 11th release date for this,i have to say it looks great.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/06/11/everybodys-gone-to-the-rapture-comes-to-ps4-august-11th-2015/

Xenji

mooseknunkle wrote: »

August 11th release date for this,i have to say it looks great.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/06/11/everybodys-gone-to-the-rapture-comes-to-ps4-august-11th-2015/

It should kept people occupied before Phantom Pain comes out, good release date.

Fantasy_Suicide

Looks like a seriously stunning game. If a game is pretty and I can explore it, I'm in. Big reason I love Skyrim, really. I am an Xbone owner, but this is the game convincing me to splurge on a PS

This is out on Tuesday. Does anyone know if we have an RRP yet?

Captain Chaos

Deleted User wrote: »

This is out on Tuesday. Does anyone know if we have an RRP yet?

I'd say around €19.99, the game is about 3hrs long but it was very high production values. It can be pre -ordered on the US PSN so that should give an idea of the price here.

On the US PSN it's $15.99 for Plus members and $19.99 for non members.
5.3GB download.

Hmmm. €19.99 for a 3 hours game? Hmmm ... I was going to pre-order, but I think I might see what the reactions are.

Captain Chaos

Deleted User wrote: »

Hmmm. €19.99 for a 3 hours game? Hmmm ... I was going to pre-order, but I think I might see what the reactions are.

10hr €60 games are the norm now.....

If this end up another Journey it will be a great deal. Journey cost €20 on release and I finished it in a little over 2hrs but that's all it needed to be.

Length does not equal value.

While length does not equal value, what does equal value is whether the game is good or not. Sure, it looks good, but everyone knows that looks does not necessarily equate to good.

I'll hold off before purchasing.

Xenji

Dear Esther could be finished in 19 minutes.

Skerries

Captain Chaos wrote: »

10hr €60 games are the norm now.....

Games like Dragon Age and The Witcher would like to disagree with you

even Alien Isolation was 20+ hours

Captain Chaos

Skerries wrote: »

Games like Dragon Age and The Witcher would like to disagree with you

even Alien Isolation was 20+ hours

They aren't the norm, they come out over 2-3 years or so. I'm taking about your mass media lowest common denominator games that can be flown through in 10hrs and are asking top whack for them.

I have 75hrs in Dragon Age and I'm still not finished.

johnny_ultimate

My Dear Esther running time came in at 81 minutes, according to Steam. Precisely as long as it needed to be. I have no doubt Everbody's Gone to the Rapture will be precisely as long as it needs to be too. Much more importantly, I also have little reason to expect it will be anything other than another fascinating, experimental and divisive take on interactive and atmospheric storytelling

Links234

Skerries wrote: »

Games like Dragon Age and The Witcher would like to disagree with you

even Alien Isolation was 20+ hours

Pointing to a few exceptions doesn't mean they're not wrong, there's been a lot of relatively short games lately. Not saying short is a bad thing, mind you.

tok9

Skerries wrote: »

even Alien Isolation was 20+ hours

Alien Isolation would have been an even better game if it had been a few hours shorter.

tok9

Reviews are looking good for this.

heebusjeebus

Gonna buy this tomorrow. Will try and stay spoiler free and just wander around and let whatever story guide me.

cloud493

Supposedly it'll be at a 20% discount for plus members anyway, so its that bit cheaper.

Xenji

tok9 wrote: »

Reviews are looking good for this.

It is getting some diverse reviews now, 5/10's and 2/5's, one thing all those reviews have in common though is they feel that it is not necessarily a game as you do not do much and the story is bland.

Still looking forward to it tomorrow and the theme looks fantastic as well, especially the music that accompanies it, hopefully €16.00 well spent.

ShadowHearth

Interesting, but no way I would pay 20 quid for it. I am not saying game is bad, but 20eu can buy a lot more entertainment then this offers.

johnny_ultimate

I'm always disappointed with the inevitable arrival the 'it's not a game!' brigade that show up in force every time a game like this is released. Obviously it's up to every player to decide whether they like the game or not, but to sidestep constructive criticism into mere pedantry is distracting and counterproductive, not to mention repetitive.

Thankfully most people are aware there's a whole lot of things a video game can be in 2015, with developers trying different things and a whole lot of options for players. No need to be weighted down by tradition or prevalent trends: the definition of a game has long since proven fluid and dynamic. Game is just a handy four letter shorthand for a huge diversity of titles. Important to not pay much heed to the self-proclaimed gate-keepers of 'what a game is'.

heebusjeebus

The game is up on the store but not with the PS+ disount. Hopefully this is applied later as I wanna get stuck in tonight.

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-ie/games/everybody%e2%80%99s-gone-to-the-rapture/cid=EP9000-CUSA01511_00-GONETOTHERAPTURE

Robert ninja

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'm always disappointed with the inevitable arrival the 'it's not a game!' brigade that show up in force every time a game like this is released. Obviously it's up to every player to decide whether they like the game or not, but to sidestep constructive criticism into mere pedantry is distracting and counterproductive, not to mention repetitive.

Thankfully most people are aware there's a whole lot of things a video game can be in 2015, with developers trying different things and a whole lot of options for players. No need to be weighted down by tradition or prevalent trends: the definition of a game has long since proven fluid and dynamic. Game is just a handy four letter shorthand for a huge diversity of titles. Important to not pay much heed to the self-proclaimed gate-keepers of 'what a game is'.

I agree with this quite a lot. Just because a game is a dull walking-simulator with minimal gameplay doesn't mean it's not a game... it just means it's crap.

Dear Esther was ok.

As for thread title game... going by the trailer alone I don't even know what to make of it. A room? Ok. Whatever.

Edit: Checked the store page. Looks like an environment 3D artist's portfolio.

tok9

Robert ninja wrote: »

As for thread title game... going by the trailer alone I don't even know what to make of it. A room? Ok. Whatever.

Edit: Checked the store page. Looks like an environment 3D artist's portfolio.

It doesn't sound like you know much on the game at all.

Robert ninja

Correct. It doesn't tell me much in either trailer other than than that it has 3D environments and VAs.

heebusjeebus

20% discount now appears on the PS store. Just bought it for €15.99

Sephiroth_dude

Was surprised to see it has a platnium.

People that have bought it - have you played it? I'd love to hear some gameplay impressions before making up my mind. Completely disregarding the looks (because it'd be hoped/expected that games would in this current generation would at least look good), is it a good experience?

johnny_ultimate

Played around an hour and a half worth, equating to the first section of the game. Bearing in mind I have a natural bias for this sort of game, I think it is absolutely magnificent. It is beautiful, mysterious and enigmatic in all the right ways. The world feels lived in in ways few games do (despite the complete lack of people :pac:), and it feels incredibly rewarding to explore. The visuals are stunning, but made more so by the frequent bursts of supernatural and surreal imagery bursting into what is otherwise a grounded, totally credible rural English setting.

Basing sections of the game around individual characters is a smart move, and for the first part anyway culminates in a legitimate awe-inspiring transition to the second section. Jessica Curry has also outdone herself: the soundtrack is simply astounding. More than that, the sound design is full of detail and depth in ways that add plenty of new layers to the game's already hypnotic mood.

So yeah, I was never really on the fence about this, so if you're uncertain wait for somebody who maybe was. But to me this is a substantial improvement on what The Chinese Room achieved with Dear Esther, and would recommend it no question to anyone who was left intrigued by that. I can't wait to dig deeper into this particular apocalypse

Generic Dreadhead

Sooo..... let's say I think Journey was one of the best experiences ever but thought the Stanley Parable was total garbage and a waste of €3.50.... where I would fall on the fence about this?

Andrew76

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Played around an hour and a half worth, equating to the first section of the game. Bearing in mind I have a natural bias for this sort of game, I think it is absolutely magnificent. It is beautiful, mysterious and enigmatic in all the right ways. The world feels lived in in ways few games do (despite the complete lack of people :pac:), and it feels incredibly rewarding to explore. The visuals are stunning, but made more so by the frequent bursts of supernatural and surreal imagery bursting into what is otherwise a grounded, totally credible rural English setting.

Basing sections of the game around individual characters is a smart move, and for the first part anyway culminates in a legitimate awe-inspiring transition to the second section. Jessica Curry has also outdone herself: the soundtrack is simply astounding. More than that, the sound design is full of detail and depth in ways that add plenty of new layers to the game's already hypnotic mood.

So yeah, I was never really on the fence about this, so if you're uncertain wait for somebody who maybe was. But to me this is a substantial improvement on what The Chinese Room achieved with Dear Esther, and would recommend it no question to anyone who was left intrigued by that. I can't wait to dig deeper into this particular apocalypse

Does it need to be played through in one sitting (no idea how long it is) so as not to forget pieces of the story/dialogue etc? Also, are you able to jog/run or are you stuck with the walking pace?

johnny_ultimate

Never like trying to predict how anybody would respond to a particular game, especially one likely to prove as divisive as this one. It's much closer in tone and narrative philosophy to Journey, but they're very different types of game at the same time.

My advice: it's fifteen quid, just ****ing go for it :pac:

Andrew76 wrote:

Does it need to be played through in one sitting (no idea how long it is) so as not to forget pieces of the story/dialogue etc? Also, are you able to jog/run or are you stuck with the walking pace?

Don't think you could play it in one sitting, unless it's a very long sitting! I've already played for longer than it took to finish Dear Esther, and I'm only past the first section of the game (not sure how many there are, but I've barely made a dent on the in-game maps).

You can only walk. I think it helps set the meditative, considered pace of the game. It will infuriate others

Generic Dreadhead

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

My advice: it's fifteen quid, just ****ing go for it :pac:

€15 is lots to me now ;_;

Robert ninja

Cormac... wrote: »

but thought the Stanley Parable was total garbage and a waste of €3.50.... where I would fall on the fence about this?

Hopefully on the spike of the fence for hating on the Stanley Parable :eek: That game was sick. It made a mockery of the lack of choice and game narrative. Meta as feck. Loved the humour, too. That bit where he thinks you're dead for being AFK.

@johnny_ultimate

Spoken like a games journalist. Said so much yet nothing. What did you do in the game dude? Half of that was buzzwords :pac:

Cormac... wrote: »

€15 is lots to me now ;_;

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?filter=ut1

johnny_ultimate

Hah just saw this blogpost about the walking speed:

http://www.thechineseroom.co.uk/blog/blog/a-few-bumps-on-landing

Generic Dreadhead

Robert ninja wrote: »

Hopefully on the spike of the fence for hating on the Stanley Parable :eek: That game was sick. It made a mockery of the lack of choice and game narrative. Meta as feck. Loved the humour, too. That bit where he thinks you're dead for being AFK.

Andrew76

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Hah just saw this blogpost about the walking speed:

http://www.thechineseroom.co.uk/blog/blog/a-few-bumps-on-landing

Excellent, hold down R2. The reason I asked was because chances are I'd want to go back to some previous location where I felt I might have missed something but having to walk back would do my head in. :pac: It also doesn't make sense - I can walk but not run.

Will give it a purchase now.

johnny_ultimate

Robert ninja wrote: »

What did you do in the game dude?

Walked around a rural English village where the residents had been seeming wiped out by some sort of apocalypse. Leisurely poked around the houses, gardens, pubs, community centres where there were ghostly echoes of the once residents, as well as some enigmatic messages on phones and televisions. Focus was on the local parish priest, who had something of a crisis of faith as parishioners started disappearing into thin air around him. Spent copious amounts of time soaking in the visuals and music.

pablomakaveli

Is there any plans for a PC release?

heebusjeebus

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Is there any plans for a PC release?

It's published by Sony so doubtful.

Captain Chaos

Have to say, I sank 3 hours into this this evening. Anybody that enjoyed the Journey or similar should pick this up. It is a true next gen game graphics wise and the music and sounds just top it off. I've yet to finish it but at €16 for Plus members it's a steel. The story so far is more of what I've hope and far less of what I feared. Lots of replay value IMO.

johnny_ultimate

Screenshot button was invented for games like this Looks just as good as Ethan Carter in terms of art design and lighting, although a PC version would definitely allow it to soar higher again.

J. Marston

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Screenshot button was invented for games like this Looks just as good as Ethan Carter in terms of art design and lighting, although a PC version would definitely allow it to soar higher again.

Jaggy leaf.

2/10, would not play.

Sephiroth_dude

Is there an in game map that you bring up?

heebusjeebus

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Is there an in game map that you bring up?

No but plenty of real world maps to refer to during your travels.

K.O.Kiki

What an age we live in, where people praise & pay for tech demos! :pac:

Nody

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

What an age we live in, where people praise & pay for tech demos! :pac:

Well better pay for new tech demons than copies of the same game with a new skin (see latest BF, any EA sport game etc.).

heebusjeebus

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

What an age we live in, where people praise & pay for tech demos! :pac:

How is it a tech demo? It's a game, offering an experience.
You dont need a M4 rifle in everything you play.