The term “Walking Simulator” has never existed as a video game genre, that is, until games like Dear Esther and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter came to be, introducing gamers to a whole new experience of storytelling and exploration. Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture (let’s just call it Rapture..) is a PS4 exclusive developed by The Chinese Room and is another take on the fad. With no combat or quick timed events hindering players in their exploration, players are introduced to a very calming and mysterious post-apocalypse.

What the Ruddy ‘Ell Happened?

In Rapture, players begin their journey in a fictional village in Shropshire, England, only to find out that everyone has mysteriously disappeared and a radio message from a person named Kate declaring that she’s the only person left. With curiosity being your drive, you’ll set out to explore the village; seeking the answers to this strange phenomenon that caused the disappearance of its inhabitants, and hopefully find the sole survivor. Ironically, little is known of who your character is or what specific role you play in the game aside from finding out what happened to the people. The more mysteries the better, I suppose.

Hey, Listen!

Aside from opening a lot of doors and gates, interactivity in Rapture is pretty limited. You’ll eventually find items such as radios that broadcast parts of Kate’s journal as she investigates the strange phenomenon, and also phones that will recall back villager conversations. You’ll also get to interact with wisps that wander around the village. When encountered, these wisps will often lead you to places of interest, and visually project past events in a ghostly light show that involve the villagers. Most of Rapture’s story is told in this way, thus encouraging players to explore thoroughly and have a sharp eye for details and clues. Not saying that opening doors and gates are tedious either, instead, it brings great delight to discover that a certain section of the village is explorable.

Take Your Time
Aside from some instances where the wisps prompts you to follow it to places of interest, there’s no sense of urgency in Rapture. You’re free to roam as much as you’d like and may find interesting details that are relevant to the villagers or to the phenomenon itself. The locations in this game are humongous in size. Sure, it’s not as large as GTA V’s Los Santos, but enough to give you a grand sense of scale when travelling on foot. Aside from starting or continuing your game, moving around the countryside is seamless without a loading screen in sight. Bear in mind, Rapture takes the Walking Simulator genre almost literally because there’s no sprint function. Yup, you’ll be walking all the way. Thankfully, its but a village rather than a full-blown metropolis.

Sights and Sound

Being the fussy person I am, I was impressed with how every part of Shropshire is almost uniquely rendered without repeated props lazily thrown in to fill up the world. Hence, immersion in Rapture felt nearly authentic in terms of exploring a quaint village in England without the cost of actually travelling there. The visuals are powered by Cryengine 3, and are breathtakingly astonishing. Every now and then, I find myself constantly looking for a nice spot just to capture screenshots. The virtual photographer in me is happy.

The music, composed by Jessica Curry, captures moments perfectly with its wonderful scores. From light and ambient melodies as you casually stroll across the village, and to intense choir vocals when experiencing key story events. The soundtrack does very well to deliver a sense of serenity, empathy and awe.

Closing Words

While scattered in bits and pieces, the story did pique my interest to the very end, and the exploration of the beautiful English countryside felt very immersive every step of the way. Although, throughout the story’s unravelling, most of the time it’s as if I was merely an observer rather than being directly related to the game’s setting. Replayability in Rapture is almost unnecessary, unless you’ve missed some non-key story events. Now if VR support is added to this game, I definitely wouldn’t mind giving it another go.

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: The Chinese Room
Platform: PS4
Genre: Walking Simulator
Player(s): Single Player

Verdict : A game of minimum interactivity with beautiful scenery, an amazing soundtrack, and a whole lot of walking.
Score : 7/10