Ex-People Can Fly Developers Announce The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
By Joseph Christ on February 6th, 2013 (8 comments)
Ex-Developers from People Can Fly (known for Bulletstorm and their work on the Gears of War franchise) have created a studio called The Astronauts, and announced a new fiction horror game entitled The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
According to the press release, the story involves a detective with the supernatural ability to visualize crime scenes who finds himself in the middle of an investigation concerning the disappearance of a young boy. This will lead the player to “a beautiful mountain area” where you'll need to use your paranormal and detective skills to solve the mystery of the disappearance.
The story makes me think of Millennium, a TV Show that ran from 1996-1999 starring Lance Henricksen as a police detective with the same abilities. It was gritty, dark, and wonderful, but simply couldn't survive against the juggernaut that was X-Files at the time. There's a lot that can be done with a character like this and Henricksen played it beautifully; with just enough grit in his voice and wrinkles on his face to keep the self-loathing from seeming too whiny.
But I'm getting off the point...
Ethan Carter's main focus seems to be on narrative and story exposition, a huge 180 from the wild action-oriented thrill ride that Bulletstorm was, with 'immersion' being the word of the day. “What we care about the most is that the players feel like they’re really there. Immersion is our number one priority," said the game’s designer, Adrian Chmielarz. “It’s a game about exploration and discovery. We’re not abandoning the gameplay – on the contrary: we’re trying to strip it down to the bone and make sure it’s always meaningful and truly makes the experience better.”
The game is slated as a PC exclusive to be released this year, and is being produced on Unreal 3 (which is pretty obvious from the screenshot and trailer).
Check out the teaser trailer below.
Gallery
Joseph Christ
Joseph Christ is the Reviews Editor and a Podcast Personality at 4Player. Specializing in reviews, editorials, drinking, and saying inappropriate things about gaming franchises that are beloved by millions, his satirical and sometimes edgy style offsets a more serious and penetrating substance lurking below the surface. He is also the host of the Cocktail Time Podcast. You'll follow his Twitter if you know what's good for you.
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This has me seriously excited! I love it when developers branch off and try new things like this! It gives me Alan Wake vibes which is a big plus for me as well. I can imagine this game being akin to the detective sequences in Condemned 2 which were surprisingly fun.
Link / ReplySounds cool! I have high hopes for this game. This might be like a modern version of Call of Cthulu or, as Nick said, like Condemned 2 or Alan Wake. Either way it would be great. + a new horror IP is always exciting
Link / ReplyIt sounds pretty refreshing. Blasting fools with big guns is fun, but gets tiring after awhile.
Link / ReplyWith their track record, I'll be surprised if they can pull off something like this.
Link / ReplyNow THIS is a project I can get behind finally the team is utilising their talents rather than wasting it on utter piece of crap like Bulletstorm.
Link / ReplyI'm intrigued and yes, Millennium, was a good show. I hope it won't be action heavy, maybe Amnesia-like.
Link / ReplyMillennium was my first thought too, my dad bought the first season and we'd watch it together, never finished it but maybe I will now. The game sounds awesome, hope this turns out great.
Link / ReplyI'm pretty damn hyped.
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