The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery that focuses entirely on exploration and discovery, with no combat or explosions of any kind. You play Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from a young boy named Ethan Carter. Realizing the boy is in grave danger, Paul arrives at Ethan's home of Red Creek Valley to find things even worse than imagined — Ethan has vanished in the wake of a brutal murder, which Paul quickly discerns may not be the only local death worth investigating.

The game is inspired by the weird fiction and tales of the macabre of the early twentieth century — Raymond Chandler, Algernon Blackwood, Stefan Grabinski and H.P. Lovecraft are the writers The Astronauts cite directly. The focus is on atmosphere, mood and the essential humanity of the characters rather than puzzle density. Still, the discoveries don't happen on their own. Using Paul's supernatural ability to communicate with the dead and see how they died, alongside your own powers of observation, you piece together what happened to Ethan's family and the dark ancient force lurking in Red Creek Valley.

The environments use revolutionary photogrammetry technology to achieve nearly photorealistic visuals — the world of Red Creek Valley is beautiful and ominous in equal measure. The non-linear story can be approached at your own pace, with the case unfolding through clues you investigate in whatever order makes sense to you. Purchasing the game now actually gives you two: the original release and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux, a full Unreal Engine 4 remaster with updated visuals.