Game review: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

A scene from Playstation 4 game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

Kicking back in a sleepy English town with no one around and nothing to do sounds like a terrible way to spend your time. That's exactly what Everybody's Gone to the Rapture asks you to do. For gamers expecting a little more action from their post-apocalyptic shenanigans, the PlayStation 4 release from Brit developers The Chinese Room - the guys behind the equally dreamy Dear Esther - can be kind of boring.

A scene from Playstation 4 game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

Rapture is a walking simulator, telling a story through flashbacks that weave into your exploration of a leafy Shropshire village. In terms of gameplay, it doesn't offer much: you walk around, look at things, open and close doors, explore buildings, push buttons and listen to creepy messages on phones. In the game's best moments you can manipulate light patterns to access story strands that play out as conversations between the dearly departed. But that's about it. There are many forest paths to meander aimlessly down.

Only one button on your controller actually does anything. There are no zombies.

But simplicity is Rapture's biggest asset. Yes, this is another post-apocalyptic game in which humanity has been wiped out by an unexplained phenomenon. And yes, your job is to find out what the hell has happened to everyone. There is an overwhelming sense of foreboding. But that's where the comparisons with other apocalypse-themed games ends. In a year that's loaded with zombie titles - from the brute force of Dying Light to The Walking Dead's cartoon gore - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture stands apart. There are no bodies, little blood, and few action scenes. But you'll become addicted to this apocalypse in other ways. The game looks amazing, with detailed graphics that mix perfectly with a spooky soundtrack.

A scene from Playstation 4 game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

You'll explore abandoned buildings, churches, sheds, halls, basements and bedrooms, and each time you'll experience a mix of awe and dread as you push open a new door.

You'll listen to tape recordings of secret codes and weird dates. And the game unfolds at a pace of your own choosing as you follow the experiences of six residents with names such as Wendy and Jeremy. You'll need to piece together the story strands to make up your own mind about what's going on.

For all that's good about Rapture, this is not a game for everyone. The cast's British accents can make it sound like an episode of Eastenders.

A scene from Playstation 4 game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

The open world map is huge, and it's not always obvious where you should be heading next. And the meandering, objectionless trajectory of the game and its hands-off feel means it can seem a little like a real world Journey or a less intense Gone Home. The lack of closure may leave you with the same feeling you had at the end of The Sopranos.

You could experience Rapture by watching the five-hour walkthrough on YouTube. But if you do you'll miss the game's subtleties, its peculiarities, its slow-burning storytelling, and its grand statements about love, death and loss. As the very first voice you hear warns: "The answers are in the light." That's advice worth heeding if you're attending this Rapture.

Game: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Platform: PlayStation 4
Verdict: An apocalypse that ain't for everyone

- TimeOut