Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition Review

This is the hardest review I’ve ever had to write and I once had to review Ride to Hell on the 360. Now that was tough because it was just a terrible game – the worst, and this game isn’t anything like that. It’s good in fact. The dilemma that I find myself in is this…I just don’t think there’s an actual game here in Three Fourths Home. There’s an experience, a narrative and a journey, and it does all these things very well. But is it a game? I really can’t decide.

You play as Kelly, a down on her luck college student who is living back home with her parents in Nebraska. She is out in the rain, driving home, when her phone rings and the story begins. Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition plays like a kind of interactive story where Kelly chats with her mum, dad and brother over the journey and we discover secrets, about the family’s past, present and future. Game wise you just hold down RT to keep driving. There is no steering needed and you just need to select a choice of text responses from a dialogue tree. If you let go of the drive button the car stops and the game stops, waiting for you to continue the journey. That’s it.

The main story and epilogue will take you about an hour in all. Your choices don’t really change the outcome of events, but might change the amount of story information you receive in the walkthrough. There’s no losing or dying and I don’t really think you win. The epilogue is an even shorter section like a sort of prequel to the main story. Instead of driving, you’re waiting for the bus, having a conversation with your mum on the phone. The Bus arrives and you get on. The end.

Now I know this isn’t a game likely to compete with the Call of Duty crown, and from my bland description above it sounds worse then a cramped weekend break in a Fallout shelter – I’ve been playing a lot of Fallout 4. But there’s a lot of greatness here in this game, you just have a look that extra bit deeper. Firstly, the writing is great. A well crafted small-town family drama that is deep on character and suspense, even though the themes are small and intense. I can’t say too much without spoiling the story, but there is a moment when Kelly’s brother tells her a story he’s written to her on the phone. The story within a story is quite superb and chilling to the bone. You can tell that the writer really knows his craft where the dialogue is crisp, with well-rounded characters to move it along.

Graphically the game is like a 1960’s animation; all in beautiful monochrome, with clever design touches in a deftly atmospheric world. The rain pounds down as you journey home, passing windmills, factories and schools. All the time the weather is worsening and the screen showing your little car getting darker and darker.

Sound wise there are some great tracks on the car radio. These are consumed somewhat by the greater rain effect, but when you catch them there’s a lot to like. There is also an ‘extras’ section in the main menu and you get an achievement for listening to the entire soundtrack, which is about an hour long. It’s very good to have on in the background if you’re working on something else…like knitting. What? Also in the extras there are some photos from Kelly’s coursework, which look exactly like you’d expect them to look; black and white, bordering on pretentious and not for repeat viewing. The brother’s short story collection is a really nice bonus and each of the different stories are worthy to be in a collection. I spent a bit of time looking through these, while listening to the soundtrack and this experience took much longer then the actual game itself.

There has been a debate in gaming circles about art and games. When does a game become a piece of art? Games like Journey have fuelled this debate with its soulful experience and wordless narrative. Triple A games now have the revenue to employ top writers and movie mogul directors on their projects. These creatives, who in the past looked down on the industry, have fallen in love with the gaming world and the endless possibilities it offers. In the film industry, for every Transformers or Lord of the Rings movie, you always get a small indie film that wows everyone’s socks off and takes some chances with the form. I think that’s why Three Fourths Home is an important marker for the gaming industry at this moment in time. It’s an experiment, an experience, a slightly off kilter journey that makes you look at games in a different way. But I don’t think it’s a game.

There is no online element to Three Fourths Home, but I don’t think that would even be considered in a game like this. If you want a gamer to take a punt on this game, one who might be thinking they’re up for something different, then you have to keep the price low. It should be like buying a short story on a Kindle. There is a place for games like this in the future of Xbox, the same as there is a future for FIFA, CoD and Mass Effect. In order for the Xbox marketplace to be a competitive place, while not becoming complacent, you need to have a different selection of experiences on offer for the audience.

Summing up, if you want to really try something completely different and far away from your normal comfort zone, I would say give Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition a go. If you like new writing, emotional journeys and indie gaming, then this is maybe the one for you. If you want to be tested to the limits on your reflexes and gaming prowess…don’t buy this.

Is it a game? Or an experience? Or piece of art? I’m not sure , but I can’t wait to find out what you think.