Hands On With The Gone Home Collectors Edition

Gone Home was a breakout Indie game success when it launched last year, Critics loving the narration and how much of the game world you could interact with. It told a story of a girl coming home to find no one there, Finding only notes and audio tapes of her loving family. You piece together events that lead to disturbing and shocking conclusions. The game has now been re released as it were, Bringing physical collectibles and a behind the scenes look at the game Gone Home.

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The box is done in the style of the Super Famicom/Nintendo games from yester year. Still a DVD box it has a flap to reveal all the many nominations and awards the game has received.

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Inside the flap, Held together by velcro, Shows just how well the game was received.

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This is the actual DVD box inside the cardboard box. As this is a spoiler free piece, All I can tell you is this design does make an appearance in the game but in a different context.

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This is the disc that contains the DRM FREE version of the game but requires one of those archaic disc reading devices in your PC, I think historians called them disk drives or CD Rom drives? Not sure and may have to WEiki that, But if you manage to get one of those drives, You can put this in and install it ff the disc. Its quite a sight as you do not even need a internet connection! Man how times changed. Once installed you have the game, And a host of additions like commentary from the developers, full soundtrack and much more. In fact more stuff is on the disc than in the box!

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Unlike all other games on the market of this current day and age, You get a manual, Here it is just a general look at controls, what to do type of thing. It is literally a piece of A4 paper folded in half with some words on it.

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This book how ever is actually worth a read, It contains a load of concept ideas for the game, level design, story choices and gives a lot of background details. The only issue is its written by hand and is not the easiest thing in the world to read. Think of it as a book of prescriptions scribbled by your doctor, You know how they love to confuse the whole medical profession with their terrible handwriting and made up words.

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This is just to prove I am not lying! But seriously it is a really good little book and is a valuable addition to the collection.

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Tapes play a big part in the telling of the story in Gone Home so it is only fitting that a tape of sorts is included in this collection. Before you get all excited and rush out to buy AAA batteries and find your Walkman, Be warned that this is just a sticker. I know right! But a sticker it is and a sticker it shall be. Its a decent sticker all though I cant see a situation where I would use it but still.

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Your poster is this beauty, It does show in the game and is quite a vital bit of information game wise. In the real world it is a decent little poster that would look good anywhere in the house. It is laminated so its all shiny shiny, Just need to find a way to iron out the folds.

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This is the back of the box, Again showing off its nod to classic game boxes, It has a few screenshots and a brief description. For box fans its actually a really nice box.

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Bit clearer picture of the back of the box.

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Here is the whole collection in one picture, You can see you do actually get a lot of stuff for your money, Whilst you may not have a use for all the stuff included, It is a brilliant little keep sake for fans of the game. The book is worth a read and worth the price of admission alone, Couple that with a DRM FREE version of the game and a Steam key, Your all set. If you are new to the whole Gone Home craze then this is a perfect way to catch up and be cool!

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And before you ask, The Steam key comes on a slip of paper, I didn’t take a picture of it so you have no chance of trying to snag a free copy of the game! Good try though…Not.

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In Summary, I think the price may be a little high for what you get, Especially as the game is over a year old now and in many Steam sales, Humble Store etc. Paying nearly £20 for a game and a few pieces of memorabilia is a bit of a stretch. Tats not to say the stuff in it isn’t cool, Its just this is more for the die hard fans or people who like to hoard game memorabilia. The quality is good, The price is bad but the game the game is amazing and must be played!

 

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!