I've been talking quite a lot recently about
new technologies and the
rise of
spectacle as a narrative tool within video games, but that
doesn't mean more traditional video game styles are being left behind, as I found out after playing
Gone Home.
Side note: I'll be taking openly about the game 'Gone Home' in this post with various reveals about the story and ending - I urge anyone interested to download and play it before reading, it's a brilliant experience and not one to be missed
Gone Home is a first-person interactive story adventure game developed by The Fullbright Company. Set in 1995 you
play as Kaitlin Greenbriar, a 20-something who returns home from a year of travelling in Europe to find her new house empty with no sign of where her family is.
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| 'Gone Home' by The Fullbright Company |
Kaitlin has never seen the house before, and coming to the front door on a dark and stormy night you find a worrying note from your sister, Samantha, who has vanished. Gameplay centres on your exploration of the family home as you try to uncover the reasons behind your sister’s disappearance.
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| 'Gone Home' sees Kaitlin investigate her new family home, a mansion in Oregon |
But, in a change from convention this mystery doesn’t conclude with a murder, betrayal or a supernatural possession (cleverly hinted at in one of the games red-herring subplots) but rather, with your sister’s discovery of her sexuality and her decision to run away and be with the woman she loves, Lonnie.
It’s a relatively short journey, with my play through coming in at just over two hours (and I stopped to smell all the roses), but it’s an extremely powerful one. As you walk through the eerie corridors and rooms, leafing through draws, bookcases, cupboards and more you uncover the lives of Sam and Lonnie, but also of your parents and their fractured marriage – detailed by letters indicating your mother’s rise on the career ladder and a possible affair as your father’s career as a pulp fiction author fades into cheap technology reviews, alcohol and hidden porn magazines.
You can, if you choose, simply rush through the house, picking out the necessary elements to complete before heading for the end goal – but, then you really miss the point. There’s no combat, no enemies or even other people to interact with; it’s simply you and what you choose to discover. As I said, I opened every draw, looked under every pillow and made sure to read and remember everything.
Not only is it a treat to uncover the main story, but absorbing all of the 90s references and nostalgia is great fun and also sets the tone – as you progress with Sam’s move from insecure teen to confident ‘riot grrrl’ as she embraces the culture of the time you feel that Sam is a real person, who has a real life and story. It’s a hugely different experience and as I discovered more about the life of my sister I wanted to stop and absorb everything yet rush on to the next clue. Fullbright can certainly be commended on crafting a story that is well written, engrossing and mature.
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| A plethora of 90s references and home styling help cement 'Gone Home' in its era |
What’s interesting to me though (on top of all of that mentioned above) is that
Gone Home manages to create a story that not only feels right at home on my PC, but that also challenges what video games can show us whilst simultaneously being more relevant and genuine than most film releases.
The topic of sexuality, specifically lesbianism, has come to the fore recently – most notably in the adaptation of the graphic novel
Blue Is the Warmest Color into a feature length film. But, though a critical success,
Blue also garnered its fair share of criticism for its depiction of lesbian sex. Author of the original graphic novel, Julie Maroh,
found the film’s controversial sex scene ridiculous, stating that it was
“a brutal and surgical display, exuberant and cold, of so-called lesbian sex, which turned into porn”.
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| 'Blue is The Warmest Colour' found success as a feature film but was mired by controversy |
Though just one example, it highlights the common tendency of films to turn sex into something more than it is; seemingly needing to be heightened, moulded and even, to a certain extent, constructed to appeal to an audience.
Gone Home avoids the visual aspect of this sexual exploration and, apart from a few narrated hints and written clues the subject of sex is largely avoided. The story isn’t about sex, it’s about sexuality and what’s important is the development of Sam as a person, her relationship with Lonnie as an all-encompassing, life changing event. In pushing these aspects to the fore (and in presenting them through the device of an eerie mystery)
Gone Home manages to create one of the most honest and emotional representations of sexuality I’ve seen in recent times.
Powerful, unique and hugely captivating,
Gone Home is a triumph both in its presentation and narrative. Not just a fantastic journey through one young women’s discovery of herself, but also a strong example of video gaming at its narrative best.
Gone Home is proof of how far video games have come, and in some ways, is a stark reminder of how the more dominant medium of film can learn from this ever growing, ever improving and challenging art form.
