Dear Esther: An interview

[DominusVita]

A recent game is being produced by Dr. Dan Pinchbeck called "Dear Esther". It's apparently an FPS game that has a very high focus on story, and essentially removes combat and puzzle elements altogether.

"It's a very simple game to play. You move around and look around freely, but everything is delivered automatically to you. So as you travel, you trigger voice-overs, music, sound effects, all of which work with this beautiful, desolate and massively atmospheric environment to create this immersive story. There's also a lot of details in the environment, all of which add new depth and meaning to the narrative. So depending on where you are, and what you do, you'll come away with a completely different take on what is going on. The ambiguity of the story is really about that as well, and the fact that the voice-overs and some of the environmental details are all randomised, so no two players are likely to get exactly the same version of events."

You can find the full gameinformer article here:

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dear_e...ageIndex=1

Valve was impressed enough to give them full access to the source engine, and a distribution deal on Steam for an expanded, professional version. What do you guys think? Doomed to fail, or an interesting take on first-person?