Estranged: The Departure
Estranged: The Departure is the second instalment in the Estranged game series, released on the 22nd of May 2020 after 6 years of development. It follows the events of Estranged: Act I.
Estranged: The Departure is available on Steam, and Nintendo Switch in the US and EU.
Events of The Departure
See also: Fisherman
The game begins with a Prelude set prior to the events of Estranged: Act I, in a cabin belonging to the Fisherman, who witnesses a TV news report describing a storm, and sets sail into the ocean.
The game resumes after the events of Estranged: Act I, with the Fisherman having fallen down a cave system while escaping the persuing Arque security forces. Following the cave system, the Fisherman ends up at a mine owned by Liam Brothers, and navigates towards the adjacent Arque East facility, and learns more about Liam Jones (previously referred to in Estranged: Act I) via audio diaries in the facility.
Once in Arque East the Fisherman encounters an unknown individual, who flees the Fisherman into the underground parking facility, attemping to kill the Fisherman using fire and explosives. The Fisherman exits the facility via its parking garage, and never learns the true identity of the assailant.
After exiting the grounds of the Arque East facility, the Fisherman encounters a railway, and witnesses a vehicle speeding along a road running above the tracks, later found to be Sokol-Glockner Private Security personnel racing to intercept the Fisherman. The Fisherman once again navigates a sewer facility which eventually leads, via an elevator, to a nature reserve.
A partially destroyed cabin in the nature reserve provides the Fisherman with a gun, which the Fisherman then uses to fight back towards the railway tracks. Unfortunately the Fisherman is intercepted by a set of miniguns, infected and finally a member of Sokol-Glockner Private Security, who captures the Fisherman.
This time the Fisherman awakes inside an underground Arque-controlled prison facility, where escape seems unlikely. However, due to events outside of the cell leading to an explosion which opens an air vent on the cell's wall (with the facility's personnel presumably being overrun by infected humans), the Fisherman is able to fight through the facility.
The facility eventually leads to a small city, presumably Wentworth (though this is not revealed). The Fisherman again encounters resistance in this area, but persists through to a block of flats, accessing another sewer area via the basement.
The final sewer leads towards a cave system and eventually to an underground archeologist dig site, which via audio diaries is revealed to contain the remains of pirates, who eventually resorted to infighting for unknown reasons. The cave system eventually opens out onto a beach, where the Fisherman finally comes across the Satellite Station.
After destroying the equipment responsible for jamming outgoing signals, the Fisherman hears John Derril on the radio, who is able to successfully broadcast an S.O.S., which is received by the Norwegian Coast Guard. However, it appears it was intercepted, as fighter jets race towards the Island, firing missiles upon the island.
The Fisherman races to a boat on the ocean beneath the facility, escaping just in time to see the large satellite dish mounted next to the facility be destroyed. The Fisherman is targetted by a missile, and loses conciousness after what seems like a head-on collision with it.
The Fisherman regains conciousness in the wreckage of several off-short wind turbines, presumably destroyed by the bombing raid. Security forces are present with boats, hunting for signs of survivors. Eventually the Fisherman makes it into the open water, however is intercepted by two boats.
After diving underwater, the Fisherman's journey is unclear, with only fragments of conciousness - first clinging to a log in the ocean with a storm approaching, then surrounded by ice. It's unclear if the Fisherman receives some kind of assistance during this period since most of the events are unknown.
The next time the Fisherman regains conciousness, they are pulled into a boat, put into a wheelchair, and taken through an unknown facility. The rescuer is revealed to be John Derril, who is seen during a dreamlike bedside encounter in a medical wing of the facility. John states that he will leave to explore the facility, leaving the Fisherman to wake up, alone, in a daze.
The game concludes with the Fisherman following the facility through to a locked doorway, which once unlocked reveals that the infection has spread to this facility too. The game ends with the fate of John and the Fisherman unknown.