Gone Home Review (PC)

Gone Home is a short n' sweet atmospheric story driven game with elements of mystery and romance. 

The premise is simple. You play Katie, who after returning home from a trip to Europe, finds her home completely abandoned. The story is told entirely through diaries and memos throughout the house. Being a short game, I finished in just over 2 hours, it's amazing the ammount of background and detail the story pervays through these letters. The house feels real, and lived in, and every room tells it's history
through meticulous details. At it's surface, it seems you might be entering a horror story, and though the atmosphere can be quite eerie, the story told is anything but frightful. It's actually quite touching and beautiful. The graphics are crisp and smooth and work to create a beautiful, believable country home. There's elements of mystery, suspense, romance, and betrayal hidden within its walls. The atmosphere it portrays is chilling,
yet somehow welcoming. The story takes place in the 90's, so 90's kids will immediately be hit with the nostalgia of growing up in those times; nintendo games laying about, huge phones, tv guides, notes about everything (because we didn't have texting). I loved the setting and it made me long for those years as I played through. There's even a couple references to my FAVORITE show of all time, The X-Files, including Mulder's "I Believe" poster. This made me giddy as a child when I came across it.

 

The gameplay consists of walking, crouching, and searching for items and letters. You'll need to find keys for certain doors, and codes for certain locks, but it's all made easy as to make the game fairly straightforward.  It's simple, but it's all you need, as this isn't an adventure game. It's a short novel told through the medium of a video game. This review is short, as appropriate for it's subject matter, but there's also a reason it's short. If I were to give away too much about this game, it would be detrimental to the game itself. It's something that needs to be experienced, not read about.

In short, Gone Home tells a great story that isn't in your face like your usual blockbusters. It's story is subtle, yet no less epic, and hits hard because it's real. It's not about aliens destroying the world, or a war of nations. It's a story about a family going through the typical troubles that we all have seen at some time or another. The fact that it manages to be so good, yet so down to earth, is a testament to this little indie title.
At only $20, you would be amiss to not try this game out.

9 out of 10.

 -Darrell