Reviews - SOMA

I usually don't play games that have more puzzle and adventure than action, but SOMA's cyberpunk theme made me try it. And besides there's an obvious touch of love to P.K. ****'s works here. Ok, so the story is absolutely perfect for the genre, so is beautiful up-to-date graphics with the right shading, and the acting too. I admit though some part of the game I watched (video playthrough), because of some codec or script problem, which didn't let me see some objects, but it still was an unforgettable experience for me. It kinda prepares for surprises future may have in store for us, thus it's a must-play for a sci-fi fan and an amazing game overall.

(Originally written the 23rd of Sept. 2015)

Like a lot of players, I wanted to put my claws on SOMA for quite some time now. Yesterday I launched the game and finished it in one session. It took me exactly 10 hours to finish it. A night has passed and I think I can share my thoughts now:

// GOOD ASPECTS

-When you look back to Penumbra and Amnesia games, SOMA offers an enormous evolution visually speaking. The underwater world is very nicely done, whether it's in the ocean or in the facilities. A labyrinth area reminded me of a map near the end of Penumbra BP.
-The story is all about sci-fi and psychological themes about life, death and continuity. It takes its importance within the game and I must say I enjoyed it more than I expected to.
-The monsters you'll have the pleasure to meet have different behaviors and attacks, which is better than just the classic "I patrol, I see/hear you, I search you, I run at you". Nice designs.
-Ambiance in the levels is often close to some areas in Doom 3, Bioshock and even Dead Space, level design speaking. A nice thing.
-The voices! Voiiiices!! Very nice addition!
-Sound effects are well processed, you can feel the hard work here.
-Choices & actions can be hard to make at different times!
-If you suffer from claustrophobia, the more you progress in the game, the deeper you'll get in the ocean and it's a great feeling! Is it?
-Modding tools included!
-The ending!!

// NOT-SO-GOOD ASPECTS

-Textures are sometimes very low: is it a bug or not? Will it be corrected? We'll see, after all, game just came out.
-Optimization problems: SOMA worked without ANY problem for me but I see that some people have poor FPS problems on decent configurations, so this will be improved and patched soon of course.
-Puzzles a bit simple.
-No classic inventory. This will annoy some players for sure, personally it did not.
-Monsters are easy to avoid/escape if you're accustomed to Penumbra/Amnesia games.
-Game is too easy... well it's focused on story... so I guess it's ok?
Less horror... but it has its stressful moments.
The ending!!

To conclude, you don't need to be a fan of previous Frictional Games works to play SOMA.
This game is an ambitious turn for its creators and I believe it is a successful one, good job!
Visually, it's lovely. The SOMA universe & story are pretty fine.

If you are a fan of Bioshock and other games I named earlier here, you should give it a try, you'll like the ambience.

// Mandatory recommendation to the lovers of the genre!

I'm seeing not much transhumanism explored in this or the apocalypse, so the context of the situation is left very vague. There is hacking but its very repetitive, so I think they could have done more with that. It would have been good if there was a way to replace your limbs with new tools, or switch bodies to solve puzzles. So you don't know where you are and where your going and it lacks weight, like these dying half robots half humans but you don't know or care whether they die or not, and if it really means anything. The whole touching the weird glowy holes. Voice acting is quite average and there is no real antagonist which hurts the game more because of the other issues with gameplay/lack of context/weight of actions.

The story takes awhile to uncover which is also an issue. I think it could have fleshed the world out more way sooner.

The thing it does have going for it is the atmosphere, which I always know that Frictional Games delivers on. I will have to give it a more concrete review once I reach the end but overall, it feels like a step down story/gameplay wise from Amnesia. And I thought Amnesia was a step down story wise from Penumbra, but was slightly better gameplay wise in terms of userfriendliness, puzzles, monster design, level design for hiding/sneaking and players sense of purpose. So overall I feel like Soma is probably the weakest of them all.

I can say however that Soma is slightly better in terms of body horror, as its kinda of trying to blur machine and alien/man but it doesn't really take that far enough IMO nor the transhumanism and end of the world potential for story or gameplay.

I'm pretty sure that Soma is not meant to be as scary as Outlast and Amnesia. Its supposed to feel alien, disgusting and confusing more than anything else, so you feel detached from your surroundings and not absorbed in them. Its a mindset change to get into this game. Your there to uncover who these robots are, alien technology, whats happened to the world and what is happening to you. You are here to figure out what is going on primarily, not as revenge story like in Amnesia or trying to defeat a ghost or record everything like in Outlast, so there is no antagonist. But you have someone helping you so a hint of Penumbra there. The fact that its not as absorbing/atmospheric/oppressive is not a good criticism because we can tell right away that its a completely different environment, timeline, story which produces a different themes and its own feeling.

You have to go into the game with a different mindset. My criticisms of the game are a little different, there is not enough done with the gameplay to change things up considering the transhumanist element and hacking thing it has, body horror is there but they could have taken it further. Essentially the gameplay feels rather disappointing.

Wow. This was an awesome game, best I played this year. I am glad I knew very little about it, so I could follow all the plot beats, and they were all excellent. A game with a story that makes you think about deep human questions, like all good sci-fi is supposed to do. Score: 94/100.

When SOMA's credits rolled, I was at a loss for words. This game was an emotional roller coaster, filled with moments of panic, tension, curiosity, and ambiguity. I can safely say this is by far the best horror game this year.

Pros:
+ masterful sound desgin and audio
+ a variety of enemies (at least 5) that behave differently
+ tells one of best stories I've ever seen
+ several very stressful, intense sequences
+ incredibly immersive, tense atmosphere
+ good length (between 9 and 11 hours of playtime)
+ you can make choices ( they don't really impact the story long-term but it's still cool!)

Cons:
- technical issues including low frame rates, minor bugs and lag spikes
- annoying puzzles
- too easy to run away from monsters

Overall: 9/10 Amazing ride. This was one of those games that got better and better as it went along and is a must play for any fans of horror, and/or story driven games.

This is one of the best story driven games ever made.