Eerie new Everybody's Gone to the Rapture trailer, screenshots
What happened to this idyllic countryside village?
Dear Esther developer The Chinese Room - which I only lived a few doors away from not three months ago - has revealed a new trailer for its intriguing PS4 game Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
It hints at the story behind this apparently idyllic English countryside village being suddenly deserted.
"This is a special announcement by the Special Emergencies Committee," says a voice in an English radio broadcast manner. "Due to exceptional circumstances, radio and television in this area has [sic] been brought under the control of the EMC, as per the Crisis Preparedness and Action Bill of 1982.
"Keep your radio and television on at all times. Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people. Do not attempt to telephone outside your local area. Do not panic, and remain civil and calm. Stay tuned to this station for updates."
The camera slowly pans backwards across a church hall-style space that was clearly left in a hurry. It finishes on a swirling light, one of many phenomena you interact with in the game. In this case it's the voice - perhaps the memory - of a man.
What happened? Working that out is the game.
Along with the trailer are a clutch of screenshots, showing beautifully realised summer countryside scenes.
Chinese Room co-director Dan Pinchbeck said in an accompanying post on the European PlayStation Blog that the studio would "shortly" announce a release date for the game. At E3 in June, perhaps? It's a couple of weeks out of beta.
"Rapture is going to be really different," Pinchbeck said, "an apocalypse like no other, and we think it's going to be good."
