Steve Gayner and the Fullbright developer's masterpiece Gone Home, is a detailed, non-violent first-person interactive that encompasses a profound exploration based game. As the opening credits fade away, thunder and torrential rain overtake a dark summer's night. Katie Greenbriar arrives at her new home from her year long trip to Europe. With no one home, Katie snoops through her own home in order to piece together what happened while she was away.
A game based in a first-person narrative embodies a labyrinth 1990's mansion chock-full of detailed items around the manor. As Katie Greenbriar travels room by room , she examines every single object hoping to uncover something riveting about her own family. Although it can be tedious at times, the fulfilment of finding something important always puts the gamer on the edge of their seat hoping to find something else nearby.
No violence, no gore, and no drugs except for the empty bottles of a struggling author laying around the house. Gone Home's story is a perfect example of why games do not need violence, gore and drugs in order to make it an exciting video game. The story is detailed, eloquent and to some extent relatable. Everything from the left over pizza from a slumber party in the family room, to the dirty dishes left in the sink, the attention to detail will leave most gamers who grew up in the 1990s thinking this house like the house they grew up in.
Due to a lack of expertise regarding the standards and quality of graphics on PC based games, I can only compare that of Gone Home to those of PlayStation first-person shooters. I was pleasantly surprised that although the graphics are no where near the quality of a Call of Duty or BioShock game, Gone Home without a doubt does provide the gamer with superb graphics that is legitimately realistic.
Gone Home has a natural free flowing feel as you explore the empty mansion. The gamer can travel freely throughout the mansion, but is required to find certain objects and clues that help you unlock other portions of the house. For example, you need to find the locker combination for Sam's locker in her room in order to unlock it.
Gone Home unmistakably breaks the glass ceiling that a game without violence that emphasises excellence in narration and purposeful exploration can be captivating and popular. In due fairness, the game at points was boring and slow. At points I was hoping her family would jump out of a closet and yell surprise just so I wouldn't have to analyze every single object in every single room. I would recommend Gone Home to gamers looking to take a break from typical first person shooters or sports games.