It was Friday night, I was browsing through my favorite online newspaper before going to bed when I saw a video where they talked about a release-date for Far Cry 3. Since I really enjoyed playing Far Cry 2, I decided to check it out. The news about Far Cry 3 was nice and I'm looking forward to playing it, but the video also mentioned a little bit of news about other games.
It mentioned that a game called "Dear Esther" was going to be released for Apple computers and they showed a tiny bit of video from the game. The video looked interesting, and I decided to check the game out. The game is available on steam for the modest price of € 7,99. This may seem like a lot of money for what is, basically, a user-created mod; but it's a very low price for what turned out to be the most awesome piece of art that I've ever enjoyed. Dear Esther is not like any game you've ever seen. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a game to begin with. There are no enemies, no weapons, no obstacles, no challenges or goals what so ever. In a way it's more of a digital storytelling or VR-experience.
The blunt of the story is this: Somehow you (the first person) arrived on an island somewhere in the Outer Hebrides, which is a group of Islands off the north-west coast of Scotland. A voice cites, what appears to be, a passage from a letter that a dying elderly man wrote to a woman called Esther at some point in time. From here on you are set free to explore the island that has a couple of ruined, decaying cottages, a huge cave system and a very prominent beacon tower on it. As you traverse across the island, various locations will trigger music and more passages of the elderly man telling about his life. Even though the route you take across the island is always the same, it never gets dull or boring. Every play-through has a unique sequence of snippets from the letters that the man sent to Esther.
The end result is just a mind-blowing experience. The story is touching as it is, and the sad music and often eerie sound effects put an amazing emphasis on the gloomy atmosphere. And the visuals are just... Wow! It will suffice to say that jaws will drop and drool will flow abundantly. Even though they use the 7-year old graphics engine from Half-Life 2, this game has the most photo-realistic graphics that I've ever seen in a game. It all just adds up: the water reflecting on the walls in the caves, the pebbles that all look different, the grass that waves in the wind... the details are just mind-boggling.
All in all, I highly, highly recommend this "game" to anyone that loves a good, touching story, loves to explore caves and decayed houses, or just wants to try something other than getting "pwned" by 12 year olds with a big mouth on shooter games. Seriously, guys.. give Dear Esther a try and world peace will be around the corner.