The Suicide of Rachel Foster is not a game for everyone. It deals with some heavy subjects, including the titular event, and developer One-O-One Games even starts the chilling first-person adventure off with a disclaimer. You know going in that this story is anything but ordinary right off the bat, and by the end, for good or bad, the player is left changed.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster tells the story of a woman named Nicole, whose father just died. She, being the last surviving family member, must go to the family hotel, The Timberline, nestled in the mountains of Montana, to get it ready to sell as part of her father’s will. The Timberline was the setting of a horrible tragedy years before, and Nicole’s family was in the center of those shocking events.
As luck would have it, a major snowstorm hits the area as soon as Nicole gets to the hotel, and now she is stuck, isolated in this behemoth structure full of secrets, lies, and possibly even ghosts, with only an archaic cell phone (the game takes place in 1993) to talk to Irving, a FEMA employee who guides her through surviving being snowed in at a place that she though she would never return.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a labeled as a thriller, played through first person, though it does have some horror game elements. There were times in the middle days of the nine-day story that I found myself freaking out probably more than I should have. My heart was pounding in my chest and I expected at any time to turn a corner after walking down a long desolate hallway to come face to face with the dead.
I won’t say that ever happened, as to not ruin any surprises, but The Suicide of Rachel Foster made me feel very uncomfortable in spots, and made me question if maybe horror/thriller games are worth playing any longer. The dread feeling of isolation and being utterly alone, even with Irving a phone call away, was barely palpable. It is a feeling I’m not sure I enjoyed.
The game is a little short, taking only 2-3 hours at most to fully explore all the secrets of the story, but this is good thing. If the developers had tried to drag out the narrative any longer, The Suicide of Rachel Foster would have begin to teeter into silliness.
As for the resolution at the end, it can be debated what happens, and there are even two different endings, depending on what you choose to do in the very last scene. The only real difference in the game as a whole is based on that decision, as subsequent play-throughs are nearly identical (and easier when you know what’s coming and how).
One-O-One has created a wonderfully creepy setting for The Suicide of Rachel Foster with The Timberline hotel. It has myriad crawlspaces and pathways, and so many rooms on the three floors that you are able to spend time exploring. The graphics are decent and do a great job of making this feel like 1993 — or at least dated. The voice acting from Nicole and Irving is good, as their growing banter begins to feel like a lifeline to the player as they navigate this heavy story.
Again, The Suicide of Rachel Foster is not for everyone. I’m still not even sure it was for me, but I enjoyed my time playing it, even if it made me uncomfortable. I applaud the developers and the publisher for taking a chance on such heavy subject matter, proving once again that games can be more than shoot-em-ups and dragon-slaying. And if I’m being honest, I’m glad I don’t have to go back to The Timberline ever again.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is available now on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. This review is based off the PS4 version and a review code provided by the publisher.
