Two things you need not worry about while reading this review are spoilers or me jumping into the asinine debate about whether or not Gone Home is a game.

// // 30th Aug 2013 — 7 years ago // By Gone Home ReviewIt's not often that a game comes along and redefines the way stories can be told in our beloved medium. Arguably the only storytelling innovations to come about in recent years are Bastion's dynamic narration and The Walking Dead's decision-heavy branching storyline. But this is exactly what has been achieved by The Fullbright Company with their debut title Gone Home.Set during a stormy night in 1995, Gone Home sees you playing as Kaitlin Greenbriar, and after a year of backpacking through Europe you return to find your family home is empty. With a vague message from younger sister Sam and no sign of mum and dad, it's clear something is amiss. The rest of the game is spent exploring the eerie house in an attempt to figure out exactly what happened.The main character in Gone Home isn't Kaitlin, nor 17-year-old Sam who is the focus of the narrative, the star of the show here is the house itself. As with any family home, every possession has a history; the cheap but charming trinket that got picked up on holiday, the story written by your sister in second grade, your high school athletics trophies. The Greenbriar family home is filled with countless details like these, and while they might seem insignificant on their own, when taken as a whole they provide a deeply personal insight into the lives of the people who live there.Environmental storytelling is a mechanic that has been used before in games such as Dead Space and BioShock (the team at The Fullbright Company previously worked on BioShock 2, and most closely on its DLC, 'Minerva's Den', which was arguably better than the base game) but the difference here is the way it's handled.

Audio diaries and visual clues in past games have often come across as contrived (who has time to write 'HELP' in their own blood?), and while Gone Home isn't completely perfect in making every detail feel natural, it's far better than what we've seen before.That's not to say that the characters in Gone Home aren't just as fully-formed as the setting. You'll find notes and letters that help you to understand the family's personalities and relationships, all of which are extremely well-written. I won't spoil any details, but as the story develops it begins to take on some mature themes that are rarely discussed in games, and the material is handled incredibly well. By the end of the game I felt more connected to the characters than I have in any titles in recent memory, without the use of more traditional storytelling mechanics.The Fullbright Company's previous work on the BioShock series really shines through in the game's atmosphere. In the same way that Rapture's creepy soundscape instilled a sense of dread into the player, Gone Home's ambient sound effects evoke a similar feeling to hearing unexplained noises in your own home at night. This, combined with the sound of raindrops hammering against the house walls and an excellent soundtrack by Chris Remo, results in a truly memorable setting.From a gameplay perspective, Gone Home is pretty basic.

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There are no annoying puzzles to complete, enemies to headshot, or other pitfalls that could distract from the story. Your only goal is to rummage through every drawer and examine every object. Once you pick up an object it can be rotated to fully inspect it from every angle, similarly to systems seen in L.A. Noire and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Doing so reveals just how detailed the in-game items are; The Fullbright Company have created countless household items (complete with their own fake brands), all of which are presented with high-resolution textures to allow you pick up on every little detail.As well as the fake brands the developers have included, there are many references to 90's pop culture such as a cinema ticket to see Pulp Fiction, VHS recordings of The X-Files and music magazines that feature Nirvana on the cover.

These details help instill a sense of nostalgia which, combined with the eerie mood of the house, creates a strange feeling of unease.Gone Home isn't a long game; the time taken to complete it is comparable to that of the average movie, even if you inspect the house thoroughly - and like most films, Gone Home's narrative is most enjoyable the first time round. But in the same way as the best flicks that you can rewatch time after time, I see myself returning to the Greenbriar household in the future.

Have you ever walked into someone’s house and got a sense of who they are? The objects we leave are remnants of the lives we lead, and they say more about us than we realize.

Bedrooms are a portal into our personalities: old receipts reveal our interests, books showcase our passions, and the hidden things often mark our fears.Gone Home is The Fullbright Company’s ambitious attempt to let objects tell a story without action-packed gameplay or heavy-handed cutscenes. It tests whether curiosity surrounding real-life issues is enough to drive an entire game, and is a great example of what video games as a medium can do with storytelling and what games can be.You control Katie, a woman returning home from a year abroad only to find her family’s house deserted and a note from Sam, her younger sister. Within, Sam begs Katie not to worry and says she doesn’t want anyone trying to find out where she’s gone.

Obviously, Katie missed parts of her sister’s life while she was away and the only way to find out what happened is to search the house for answers. That’s the initial pull of Gone Home, but as you delve into the house, you find much more than that.The Fullbright Company clearly spent a lot of time crafting the setting; trophies are propped on a mantle, papers clutter tables, and family portraits hang in the halls. Set in the mid ‘90s, before cell phones and e-mail kept electronic records of lives, Gone Home has plenty of references to wax nostalgic over, like Street Fighter II, Kurt Cobain, and cassette tapes. What really drives the story are the notes, answering machine messages, ticket stubs, and other paper trails revealing what’s happened to the family.Unfortunately, the developers showed their hand far too soon. I figured out rather quickly what’s going on with Sam. Usually this would destroy a game based around discovery, but the plot has more to offer than just that single point; the “how” matters so much more than the “what” in this mystery.Looking at objects, even ones that offer no insight into Sam’s whereabouts, becomes an addiction.

I left no stone unturned throughout the process, even doing small things like opening the fridge to see what the family eats. Upon finding an important object, Sam narrates what the item means to her. These moments have some of the best writing I’ve seen in a game. They’re set up like she’s reading her diary, completely confessional, with genuine emotions. Often she comes to such a true-to-life statement that it stuck with me long afterward. When talking about a field trip, “stick with the group” comes to mean something more than I expected.While Gone Home is Sam’s story, smaller threads weave their way in.

Investigating the parents’ careers and relationship is just as engrossing as discovering Sam’s story. The father is a writer, and you get glimpses into his successes and failures. You read letters from editors, and posted on a bulletin board is a desperate phrase, “You can do better!” In the end, the resolutions to these side stories are just as satisfying as Sam’s.Gone Home’s biggest strength is how it tackles more complex and realistic subject matter than most developers would dare touch.

The raw and honest writing is refreshing, providing something so different than the standard narrative. It may not last more than a few hours, but I never put the controller down because I was so captivated. When it ended, I wished I could play it for the first time again. It may blur the lines defining what you consider a game to be, but sometimes evolution comes from radical change. Go in with an open mind and come away with a story that says something real about the way we bond with people and how relationships impact our lives.