The Story of We Went Back

[Grease Goblin]

Is there a story to We Went Back? It seems like the game leaves clues as to what truly happened on Apollo 14, the space station we're on, but there doesn't seem to be enough clues that connect with each other to say whether or not they're left there to give a fully story or simply to serve as red herrings.

From my playthrough, some of the most significant things that stood out to me is the newspaper reporting that everyone present on the space station died from oxygen deprivation within minutes, which may lead to the theory that this game is simply the delusion of an oxygen-deprived member of the station. There was a pencil with an eye through it as well as a disembodied hand which leads me to believe that perhaps the crew were overcome with madness and killed each other. And then there are the paranormal events such as the space suits staring at the player as well as the inhuman creature crawling around the station, which I can't really explain.

What sorts of theories has everyone come up with on what happened to the space station? Do you believe that there is a story behind it, or are all the clues simply red herrings meant to disorient the player?

[DumbbellDore]

i kinda like that idea, altho i thought something to do with the red glow changed the crew to whatever it is you see but just one of them had enough sanity left to somewhat help you, primitive help but he throws you back into a room if you missed a clue shows, shows you where to find the code ect

[ᛈᛁᚦᛇᚨ]

"Everyone died" was Apollo 11, which was the first moon landing, and took place on the near (lighted) side of the moon, and which in fact only visited the moon for a short bit before coming home to Earth.
From diagrams around the base, it is heavily implied/explained that the base is 1) on the far (dark) side of the moon, 2) deep underground, and since it's a long-term well established base (cryofreezing tubes, kitchen, hydroponics, etc...), we know it's not Apollo 11. Indeed, the game is called "We Went Back", so it's not very odd to assume that this is a second trip to the moon after the failure of Apollo 11.

So... what's the apparent story?

First, alternate history: Apollo 11 got to the moon, but oxygen storage failed, and the astronauts asphyxiated.

Next, we move on to Sci-Fi: Somehow, (apparently in the same year? since the calendar reads 69→1969? The same year as Apollo 11 in point of fact) another mission was sent to the moon. But it was much, much more successful. To the point that a landing was made on the far side of the moon, and a deep underground base was established in a ring shape, within what appears to be a cavern? A preternaturally dark cavern.

Then we go from Sci-Fi to slightly vague Horror (from my thus far limited exploration/grasp of the horror elements): Something spoopy happens, and either
1) a slightly big (8-9 ft tall, maybe?) skinless humanoid with a skull-y face gets into the base and kills everyone (except people in the cryo pods? or except 1 person in the cryo pod?)
or else
2) something spoopy happens that causes the crew to kill each other, and their bio-matter is reformed into the skinless humanoid guy above,
or something similar
Either way, a person in a cryo tube wakes up, and explores, trying to get out, using clues about the moon's phases (probably research done by the rest of the crew before they died? obviously playing heavily on the "the moon's haunted" [cue destiny joke])
And somehow the base itself got spoopy too since it reforms (mildly) around said crew member.
Finally, and very importantly; while the crew member moves around, the skinless monster is in the base. The skinless monster KNOWS the crew member is there, and COULD kill the crew member at any time. Instead, it only kills the crew member if they fail to get clues good too many times.
So for some reason the skinless monster didn't mind the crew member being alive, and apparently wants the crew member to either 1) learn things about the spoopy through the clues (which maybe drive the crew member INSANE! assuming the crew member didn't start insane), and/or 2) the monster wants the crew member to escape (although the escape is very ambiguous).
If both of these, then the following is probably likely enough...
1) If the crew member was already insane, they might have killed the rest of the crew themselves before being frozen
2) Whether they were insane already or not, they may have been chosen to continue the ritual spoopiness via MOON CLUES
and
3) Whether they go insane at all, their attempt to escape may be integral in the spoopiness' plan to escape the underground base and GO TO EARTH

[ᛈᛁᚦᛇᚨ]

Also, alternately, perhaps the "failure" of Apollo 11 was a lie, a cover up to keep the establishment of the long term base secret. This would make the player Buzz Aldrin or someone. This option would make the time frame a little easier to comprehend, based upon the calendar.

I'll shut up now.

[ᛈᛁᚦᛇᚨ]

Alright I'm dumb. The calendar lists July 1st as a Monday, and the year is marked only "69"

July 1st 1969 was a Tuesday. July 1st 2069 will be a Monday. So it's 100 years to the month after Apollo 11.

[Grease Goblin]

Those are some pretty interesting points! I think this game is set in Apollo 14 based on what I saw from one of the newspaper headlines. The thought that this might be on the darker side of the moon seems like a fair assessment as, when peering out of the glass in the room adjacent to the cryopods, we can see a dark expanse on what appears to be the rocky surface of the moon. Because of how little evidence there is that connects to everything, it's really hard to say what is what but those are some good theories!

[Shade]

After you solve the photo puzzle you crawl through the vent to see the boots of an astronaut walking by. This mirrors the skinless creature popping out of the vent earlier in the game. My understanding is that something is warping time on the station and that skeleton thing is the PC in the future.