
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery. Purchase this game to get both the original and the Unreal Engine 4 remaster called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux.
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About
GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: By purchasing the game, you actually get two games now: 1) The original The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, 2) The Unreal Engine 4 remaster called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux. Please see The Astronauts website for details.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery game that focuses entirely on exploration and discovery. It contains no combat or explosions of any kind. If our game leaves any scars, we hope you won’t be able to see them.
You play the game as Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter. Realizing the boy is in grave danger, Paul arrives at Ethan’s home of Red Creek Valley, where things turn out to be even worse than he imagined. Ethan has vanished in the wake of a brutal murder, which Paul quickly discerns might not be the only local murder worth looking into.
Inspired by the weird fiction (and other tales of the macabre) from the early twentieth century, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter aims to significantly evolve immersive storytelling in games. While it features a private detective and quite a few mental challenges, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is not an especially puzzle-ridden game. Our focus is on atmosphere, mood, and the essential humanity of our characters.
Still, the discoveries won’t happen on their own, or without your help. Using both Paul’s supernatural skill of being able to communicate with the dead, and your own powers of observation, you will discover the mystery behind a trail of corpses, the roots of a dark ancient force lurking in Red Creek Valley, and the fate of a missing boy.
Explore and interact with the beautiful yet ominous world of Red Creek Valley, which was created with the use of revolutionary photogrammetry technology that allows for nearly photorealistic environments.
Communicate with the dead and see how they died in order to gather clues that help you piece together the truth behind Ethan’s disappearance -- and the fate of his family.
Experience, in non-linear fashion, a story that combines the pleasures of pulp, private eye, and horror fiction, all of it inspired by writers such as Raymond Chandler, Algernon Blackwood, Stefan Grabinski, and H. P. Lovecraft.
Conduct the investigation on your own terms and at your own pace. Although there are a few scary bits in the game, players will have no need for sedatives. Our game is less about terror and more about clammy unease.
Add-ons
Each DLC is estimated with the same model as a game, then summed — a modeled figure, not reported DLC sales.
Sums Steam only; PlayStation, GOG, Xbox, Epic publish no volume signal, so the true total is higher by an unknown amount.
| Store | Price | Audience | Score | Chart | Est. revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SteamYou are here | $19.99 | 9Kreviews | 88% | — | $3.2M |
| $19.99 | 8.4Kratings | 88% | — | not modelled | |
Updates
Build ids and update times come straight from Steam's PICS — the same source SteamDB reads. Patch history grows as we record new builds.
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 807 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
One of the most beautiful, mysterious and story-telling game ever. One of a time experience
want a good walking sim? edith finch want a good hiking sim? dear esther, firewatch, maybe even northern journey for gameplay want a good investigation game? obra dinn opening "does not hold your hand" line is completely false, it held my hand so tightly that it got sore, the plot is generally shallow, music is alright but features the common Pretentious Piano™ track, visuals are nice and is usually half of what makes a good walking sim, but when the other half (story) is lackluster, you only have half of a game
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All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English*, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish*, Czech*languages with full audio support
| $19.99 |
| 657ratings |
| 82% |
| — |
| not modelled |
| $19.99 | 401ratings | 82% | — | not modelled |
| $19.99 | — | 85% | — | not modelled |
Matched by title — a reused name can pair the wrong games. * is a critic aggregate. Prices and positions are each store's United States storefront; Epic charts worldwide. Audience and Score too, except Steam's, which is worldwide.
Hours played at review time, across 808 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
walking sim with boring stretched-out walks and corny 'voices from the past' that are at this point commonly seen in games. no way to feel engaged by the story - unless you are very empathetic toward trees. try The Forgotten City, it succeeds at everything this game fails at.
Отстойная игра, в ней нет ничего хорошего, эмоции от неё только отрицательные по ходу всего прохождения, пессимистичная нудный симулятор ходьбы, без сюжета с посредственной графикой не радующей глаз. Одним словом, удовольствия игра не доставляет.
[h2]Sinopsis[/h2] The Vanishing of Ethan Carter es un walking simulator en 1ª persona, centrado en la exploración e investigación de un misterioso caso a través de un paraje natural con algunos paisajes espectaculares. Nuestro nombre es Paul Prospero, un detective ocultista que decide acudir a Red Creek Valley para investigar la desaparición de un niño de 12 años, Ethan Carter. En la carta de auxilio de Ethan se relatan una serie de fenómenos oscuros que un niño no debería conocer, Red Creek Valley alberga un profundo misterio relacionado con un ente denominado el “Durmiente”, que se alimenta del miedo y desesperación de las personas, conduciéndolos a la locura. [h2]Jugabilidad / Apartado técnico[/h2] Lo primero que destacaría de The Vanishing of Ethan Carter es su apartado gráfico, ya que tendremos libertad para recorrer un paraje natural forestal en torno a un río y una presa fluvial, con un nivel de detalle muy realista y unos paisajes preciosos. A diferencia de otros juegos del género, este walking simulator no nos llevará de la mano, sino que podremos explorar el basto escenario a nuestro ritmo, haciendo y deshaciendo camino a nuestras anchas. Nuestro principal objetivo es descubrir el paradero de Ethan, pero para ello tendremos que investigar qué le ha sucedido a cada uno de los integrantes de la familia Carter. A lo largo de nuestra investigación encontraremos escenas donde han tenido lugar diferentes crímenes, debiendo buscar ciertos ítems relacionados con el caso a través de flashbacks. Una vez los encontremos todos surgirán una serie de secuencias que tendremos que ordenar cronológicamente para resolver el caso, atando cabos que nos servirán para ahondar en la desaparición de Ethan. [h2]Valoración[/h2] Se trata de un juego inmersivo, que gira entorno a un intrigante misterio surrealista y que pone la exploración como protagonista. El juego no te guía, si no que te empuja a recorrer tranquilamente sus bellos parajes en busca de pistas que nos conducen a los diferentes casos que engloba la experiencia. Los puzzles no pretenden ser desafiantes, más bien actúan como check points para romper la monotonía, dándole dinamismo al juego y contribuyendo al desenlace de la trama principal. En conclusión, se trata de un juego contemplativo y narrativo, con algunos giros de guion interesantes y un toque lovecraftiano que no le sienta mal. Un juego escueto, pero interesante si sientes algo de atracción por el misterio y disfrutas con un buen walking simulator. Actualmente, el juego original se acompaña de la versión [b]Redux[/b], la cual no añade contenido extra, si no que incorpora mejoras gráficas y técnicas (se ha rehecho en una versión superior de Unreal Engine), un sistema de guardado más “amistoso” y facilita el backtracking al final del juego. ✔️ [b]Positivo[/b]:[list] [*]Trama interesante, con giros de guion y un misterioso caso surrealista que iremos resolviendo pieza por pieza. [*]Gráficamente muy atractivo, con un toque realista y detallados escenarios, que nos deja algunos paisajes espectaculares. [*]Los puzzles no son muy desafiantes, pero ofrecen algunas mecánicas diferentes y originales. [/list] ❌ [b]Negativo[/b]:[list] [*]El backtracking (regresar a zonas anteriores del juego) puede hacerse ligeramente tedioso, porque el escenario es grande y tenemos mucho camino que recorrer. Aun así, se agradece el poder correr. [*]La falta de pistas u orientación hacen que, en ocasiones, sintamos que tenemos que buscar una aguja en un pajar, pues los objetos son pequeños, el mapa grande y recargado de detalle. Afortunadamente, muchos quedan resaltados con un texto llamativo que nos ayudarán a saber dónde buscar una vez nos aproximemos suficientemente. [*]Personalmente, creo que la forma en la que se narra la historia es más interesante que el desenlace en sí mismo, pero no por ello resulta poco entretenida. [/list] 📢 [b]Idioma[/b]: Interfaz y subtítulos en español. ⌛ [b]Duración[/b]: 2-3 horas juego base/ 3-4 horas para 100%. 🎮 [b]Steam Deck[/b]: Verificado, funciona perfectamente. 🏆 [b]The Game Awards 2014[/b]: Nominado - Mejor juego independiente. Lo salvaría de un incendio! 👨🚒👍🔥 [h1]7,5/10[/h1] [quote]🚨 Si te ha gustado la reseña y quieres descubrir buenos juegos, sígueme en mi página de Mentor: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45092978/] Indies ON FIRE [/url]🚨[/quote]
It looks great—that's about it. I found its "puzzles" to be just meh, and the entire story is ultimately revealed to be a dream/ fantasy constructed in Ethan's mind. Honestly, I'm sorry, but "it was all a dream" is one of the most clichéd and boring ways to end a narrative. Getting hit with that twist always feels disappointing. I’m judging it harshly only because it has a price tag; I wouldn’t even be sitting here and writing all of this if I’d gotten a refund before it was too late and put that money into something more enjoyable. Waste of green.
If you've played one walking simulator with a twist ending, you've played them all. Don't worry, the inclusion of a twist isn't a spoiler as the game "foreshadows" it with all the subtlety of a brick. Some advice for aspiring writers: Begin your day by looking in the mirror and repeating after me, "I am not as clever as I think I am." The voice acting tops out at mediocre. The game also stutters frequently, isn't optimized to display things you need to read on lower resolutions, and the pacing is glacial. At the end of it all, you'll just wonder why you bothered.
It's not a long game, nor a difficult game by any means. It is a little slow. I got this on sale for $2. For this price it was worth it. I probably would have been a tad upset if i paid full price for it purely due to the length of the game. 3 to 4 hours is all it takes to 100% this one. The world is actually really nice looking in redux, in the original still looks nice but there was a lot of video stuttering. I agree with some of the other reviews in that I don't quite understand the item placement on some of the objects you have to find, seems odd. But nothing was hard to find and no part of it was so difficult without a guide that I had to go to Dr. Google. Over all good experience. Would say I would play it again but there's not really much replay value in it. If you can get it on sale for a couple bucks, it's worth it.
Simulador de caminar en primera persona en un mundo abierto, la interacción con el entorno, los objetos y la resolución de rompecabezas serán las piezas para que el jugador "Paul Prospero" investigue las líneas de tiempo y resuelva una serie de crímenes basados en las historias imaginadas por "Ethan Carter" un niño de 12 años que vive en el pueblo minero de Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin, USA.
Ok. I've requested a refund, but i wanted to give anyone who was thinking about this a heads up. this is by far one of the worst games I've ever played. there is no direction.. none.. i had to google how to even play and then the story was just flat, no life, no emotional connection.. not even the excitement of figuring out puzzle or completing the story. save your money, solitaire is more exciting.
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