Game review – Empathy: Path of Whispers is a walking simulator that soon becomes pedestrian
An impressively rendered world and a promising enigmatic start is let down by one-dimensional puzzles, repetitious gameplay and wooden acting
Empathy: Path of Whispers
Pixel Night
3/5 stars
Most people can’t stand so-called walking simulators and it’s hard to blame them.
Video games have the capacity to move beyond the simple pleasures of books and films, to involve and engage and allow the player to influence the story. Most walking simulators do exactly what they say on the tin: make you walk through an often poorly conceived story, with no sense of effect.
There are notable exceptions, of course – What Remains of Edith Finch and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – and the genre seems to be making some progress. Empathy: Path of Whispers (available for PC) is the latest attempt, following its forbearers’ use of the strange and surreal to create a mysterious world filled with haunting environments.
