The Astronauts, the Warsaw-based indie studio formed by veterans of Bulletstorm and Painkiller developer People Can Fly, has announced its first game, and it’s probably not what you think. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a “weird fiction horror” story that will follow the adventures of a detective with supernatural abilities on the trail of a kidnapped young boy, and rather than blood-soaked violence and copious cursing, the focus will be on “immersive storytelling.”
“What we care about the most is that the players feel like they’re really there. Immersion is our number one priority,” designer Adrian Chmielarz explained. “It’s a game about exploration and discovery. We’re not abandoning the gameplay – on the contrary, we’re trying to strip it down to the bone and make sure it’s always meaningful and truly makes the experience better.”
Little is known about the game and the teaser isn’t particularly informative, but your pursuit will eventually lead you to a beautiful mountainous region, where you discover the badly mutilated corpse of one of the kidnappers. From there, you’ll have to uncover the secrets of the valley and the ancient force that rules it, on your way to finally uncovering the fate of the young boy. The studio said the game is inspired by “the weird fiction stories and other tales of macabre of the early 20th century,” and is meant to be played “at night, alone, and in headphones.”
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will be released for the PC via digital distribution platforms later this year.
