Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

I got this with PS+ a few months back, but I just got to it. I’ve read a lot online about the speed of the game. You literally walk really slowly throughout the whole thing. 

You can “run” by holding a button to build speed, but you never end up going very fast (or fast enough to call it running). Also, even if you’re holding down the button, the game will slow you down when entering certain buildings anyway. I hated the slowness. I get that it is there for artistic whatever, but… no. The slowness pulled me out of the immersion consistently. I would groan as I bumbled up stairs to get to the next point. I was exhausted by getting my built up speed automatically taken from me because I entered a warehouse.

Honestly, holding down a button for an entire game is also boring. Imagine crossing the entire Wasteland in Fallout while forced to hold down a button (and also going slow anyway). Also, I swear that the walking is slower than how the average person walks. It takes like a minute to descend stairs. I kept thinking, “I can jump down steps in 5 seconds in real life! WHY SO SLOW?”

The story was good, but the speed killed it for me. I just couldn’t get immersed while rolling my eyes wishing to get from point A to B faster than a slug.

I don’t think the forced pacing added anything to the art but anxiety. I have built huge sprawling levels in Minecraft, Mario Maker, LittleBIGPlanet, and more, and my experience there leads me to think that the speed was the developer wanting to exert control the player, to force the player to see the detailed work they put in. However, forcing dominance over the player is just not very fun for the player. Players want more options and the freedom to notice the details they want. It’s like if a sculptor grabbed a person by the skull and moved their heads to the various points on the sculpture.

OXYBORB.COM Official Review Score for Everybody's Gone To The Rapture: 6.2/10