The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person perspective adventure game with a plot inspired by 20th century crime novels written by authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Stefan Grabiński and Algernon Blackwood. You play as detective Paul Prospero who has supernatural powers. He generally handles the tasks the police and priests won't touch. He receives letters from a boy called Ethan Carter that start out as fan mail, but soon it turns out Ethan can see things as well, and for his last case he travels to Red Creek Valley to find out what has happened to him.

It is an open world type of game that can be explored freely. There is no tutorial, HUD, journal or equipment — the order in which Prospero visits the locations can be chosen freely and generally there are no puzzles that need to be completed in a fixed order to progress. That way it is possible to start an investigation until stuck and then return to it later. There are also many optional parts.

The game combines both exploring the world and solving environmental puzzles, which mainly involve examining or finding missing pieces and then determining what the order of events was and then recreating it. Whenever something of interest is discovered, a text description appears on the screen and Prospero can use his vision to view it in the past. This leads him to new clues. The larger investigations require him to find multiple items or locations that are connected. Progress is shown through the central character or item that triggers the investigation. When enabling vision, the size of the vision circle determines how much has been found. Once all vital elements have been discovered Prospero needs to use his vision to determine the chronology. He visits the different locations or items, determines the order through a sequence of increasing numbers and then lets the vision play out. If successful, the sequence is completed and the investigation is resolved. If not, the sequence suddenly halts and the order of the chronology needs to be altered.

Added March 8, 2020
Published By Nordic Games Publishing
The Astronauts
Developed By The Astronauts
Front Cover (Worldwide) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (Poland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (Poland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Media (Poland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (Worldwide) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (Belgium,France,The Netherlands,United Kingdom) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (Belgium,France,The Netherlands,United Kingdom) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Spine/Sides (Belgium,France,The Netherlands,United Kingdom) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Media (Belgium,France,The Netherlands,United Kingdom) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Front Cover (Austria,Germany,Switzerland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (Austria,Germany,Switzerland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Spine/Sides (Austria,Germany,Switzerland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Media (Austria,Germany,Switzerland) (Windows) from mobygames.com
IGDB Cover from igdb.com
Main menu (Polish version) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Travelling through the woods. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Investigating the first victim. (Windows) from mobygames.com
One of environmental puzzles (Polish version). (Windows) from mobygames.com
One of notes found by Prospero. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A view from the bridge (Windows) from mobygames.com
When you activate Prospero's vision a rift appears, burning at the edges. (Windows) from mobygames.com
This is the investigation mode when all clues have been collected. You see the set pieces of the scene and you need to order them. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A strange phenomenon in the woods (Windows) from mobygames.com
Overlooking Red Creek Valley's dam. (Windows) from mobygames.com
One of the buildings. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Red Creek Valley's dam. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A church with a graveyard surrounding it. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Inside a tomb (Windows) from mobygames.com
The game has its scary moments. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A puzzle involving different ghosts, symbols and a large gate. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Another large building, now you only have to find the entrance. (Windows) from mobygames.com
At the bottom of the dam (Windows) from mobygames.com
A sequence relived through Prosper's memories outside the mine. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A small bridge leading further into the forest. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Standing inside a burned house. (Windows) from mobygames.com
Moving through a room on fire. (Windows) from mobygames.com
A corpse near the river (Windows) from mobygames.com
In the tunnel (Windows) from mobygames.com
A wreck of a speeder (railway motor car) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Abandoned railway station (Windows) from mobygames.com
Another retrospective vision (Windows) from mobygames.com
A view on the dam and the town (Windows) from mobygames.com
A view of the town from the dam (Windows) from mobygames.com
It's a trap! (Windows) from mobygames.com
In the forest (Windows) from mobygames.com
It is not dead which can eternal lie (Redux version) (Windows) from mobygames.com
When you need to find and apply a certain object the game will explicitly tell you (Redux version) (Windows) from mobygames.com
A part of a cryptic quest (Redux version) (Windows) from mobygames.com
Trailer

Year of Release:
2014

Platform(s):

Genre(s):
Exploration

Graphic Style:
3D

Camera View:
First-Person

Control Type:
Direct Control Virtual Reality

Setting/Theme:
Mystery

Other Tags:
Speech Subtitles

Available From: