I'm a role-player at heart. When I play
a game that casts me as a character – even one that doesn't meet my
definitions of a role-playing game – I tend to enjoy it most when I
get into the head of that character. This is really just an extension
of the basic need to suspend disbelief, of course, but asking me to
dictate the character's actions places me in a role-player mindset.
First and foremost, my enjoyment as a
role-player comes from experiencing the world around me. I can enjoy
the competitive skill-based element of an RPG, but the victory means
far less if I don't care about the stakes. I definitely enjoy
crafting and exploring an interesting personality, but there are few
RP experiences more frustrating than guiding a well-crafted and
interesting persona through a dull story and/or nonsensical world. By
contrast, I can happily use my character as little more than an
avatar through which to visit an entirely new world and explore every
detail of an environment where anything could be possible.
Video games are equipped to bring that
world to life in a way that no other form of RPG does. To actually
see and hear the world in question and experience the pivotal events
in real time is as awesome as a really good film adaptation of a
novel. To have the entire world prepared for you in advance and no
need to share the limelight with others is a luxury few other RPGs
will afford you.
The downside, of course, is the
fundamentally limited nature of a pre-built world. There's no fun in
exploring if you won't find anything off the beaten path (except
maybe a new type of random monster encounter). Bethesda games like
Oblivion and Fallout 3 are among my favourite games ever because you
can find actual people and stories in areas that the main plot does
not dictate you must go. Yet even these can only afford to furnish an
empty building with two or three interesting props, telling a story
effectively but briefly.
Gone Home is a game that is dedicated
to pushing the world-exploration feature of gaming to its limits in
the most intimate detail possible. The concept is simple – amidst a
powerful storm in 1995, you arrive home after a year abroad to find
the family home unexpectedly deserted. There is a note on the door
implying that there is a serious reason for this unplanned state of
affairs, but no full explanation. The entire game thereafter consists
of exploring the domestic Marie Celeste left behind by your loved
ones in an attempt to piece together what has happened to them. In
the course of this, you can pick up basically any object in the
environment – and there are hundreds if not thousands of them
waiting to be discovered.
The sheer minimalism of this game has
left some questioning whether it is actually a game at all. If they'd
built this thing in the real world (which would almost have been
possible) it would be labelled an 'experience' or an 'art
installation'. There is no competitive element and little that
requires skill. What there is is an finely crafted narrative
experience that is definitely worth having – providing you have the
right mind for it.
Gone Home is a game that will move you
and make you care – if you let it. Gone Home is a game that will
creep you out if not outright scare you – if you let it. But with
so few actual pieces of overt theatricality built into the game,
getting your head into it is a task you must fulfil for yourself.
Being sufficiently immersed to care what has happened to all your
character's loved ones and afraid of what might be down the next
unlit corridor is something you have to manage without a cinematic
cutscene or a weapon to point at the darkness. This isn't a game you
play casually, power through or do whilst multi-tasking – it's a
game you stick your head in for as long as you can, then quit until
the desire to know the answers drives you back to it.
That's not to say the developers
haven't done their work to engage you. This game has been thought out
meticulously to the last detail. The house is a large old mansion,
with a serious number of rooms and the potential for hidden secrets.
However, your family only moved there after you left – leaving you
unfamiliar with the environment and limiting the amount of stuff that
has yet been unpacked to a workable (if very large) quantity. The
targeting prompt has also been designed to bridge the gap between the
character's knowledge and your own – with targeting familiar items
resulting in prompts like 'It's Mum's old work mug' and 'It's that
book Dad wrote'. The prompt also changes in reaction to some items –
which helps to characterise you given that almost all of your own
stuff is still boxed away.
As a mystery game, Gone Home obviously
has less replay value than a lot of titles. I therefore recommend
that you force yourself to take the play-through slow. The house is
brilliantly designed to make your imagination run wild and learning
the truth will close off the uncertainty with a gratification that is
best delayed. I got two days out of the game by being methodical and
taking notes on everything I found – but it's easily possible to
complete in one or two hours if you are more focused on the stand-out
items. The open-world approach actually makes it possible to complete
rather prematurely if you find keys in the 'wrong' order – my
advice would be to explore the basement and beyond before venturing
into the attic.
To be critical, the game could probably
have sustained more major plot threads. Gone Home succeeds on novelty
– if this form of gaming becomes a genre, the next big title will
have to be far more elaborate. However, each thread is developed in
unprecedented detail – I'm still finding new items that keep
altering my interpretation of old ones. I'd love to talk about my
reaction to the ending, but I'm honestly unwilling to spoil the sense
of mystery that will enhance your experience so much.
Obviously, a game like this has plenty
of space for indirect character development. Different priorities
might hand the title of 'best female character' to other contenders
as diverse as Clementine, Samus Aran or even GLaDOS, but it should be
mentioned that Samantha Greenbriar is almost certainly the most
thoroughly and satisfyingly characterised woman in the history of
video games. Ironic really, since the excellently portrayed
adolescence shows that she herself is still developing as a person.
The price has been a sticking point for
many user reviews and it's not surprising. For the same money, it is
easy to find games that offer 10 or 20 times the number of play hours
with more replay value than Gone Home has. Pick the right one and
you'll also get a game with far more features, able to tell a
powerful story whilst also providing skill-based action and a
spectacular visual feast. On the other hand, the price doesn't really
seem excessive for the amount of genuine artistic effort that has
gone into crafting this product. Gone Home is a game you splurge on
because you want to have the awesome and thought-provoking experience
it provides and on that basis I recommend it. If you do decide to
buy it, go for the direct sales rather than Steam - $20 works out as
less than £15 and the direct buy includes a code to unlock it on
your Steam account whilst leaving you with a game that'll run without
Steam being online. Console releases are coming, but this is a PC
game originally.
Final Score: 8/10. It ain't Portal, but
this short game deserves a look.
Best Item: Sam's Reproductive System
Worksheet (Music Room). Hilarious and characterful.
Worst Item: Although it advances some
ideas, I could have done without the contents of the hidden panel
opposite Sam's room.
