Recent reviews by doku

I get spooked easily so I've never finished a Frictional game, but with this game's Safe Mode I was able to stomach the whole thing and still experience the feeling of dread and helplessness I think SOMA was aiming for. I really hope Frictional's next game also includes a similar mode.

Spoilers below, key story concepts are censored in case you want to read anyways.

What I liked most about this game was its well-executed use of environmental storytelling to make the Pathos-II underwater base feel like a real place. A lot of futuristic sci-fi media can feel too sterile and fantastical but this game definitely does not fall victim to that. Its physical interaction system really helps in that regard, flipping switches and dragging stuff around gives everything a tactile feeling. All the dials, buttons, levers, gadgets, machines, the design of the bases, et cetera are consistent throughout and therefore feel very grounded and real, as if that's how an underwater base would actually operate. The puzzles leverage this to a great degree and don't feel out of place at all, even if they tend to be kind of easy. Even the WAU's weird goop and "organic" growths feel believable, being future nanotechnology and all that. The game's visuals also serve to further the atmosphere, and despite being a bit dated, the art direction and excellent use of lighting definitely help pave over any technical graphical limitations.

I'm not too great of a critic when it comes to story and characters, but I enjoyed both quite a bit in SOMA. People in the future definitely seem to have a very different perception of human consciousness. It feels more like a byproduct of the ubiquity of AI in their world, which is a great touch. Simon does not share this same perception, so he contrasts well with Catherine and it makes for an interesting conflict. They did lose me a little bit with Ross, though. He shows up near the end of the game and his nebulous motivation and cheap little jump-scare appearances really undermined that part of the story and made it hard to care about his character in my opinion. By the end of the game it became a little more apparent what he was going for, but it still felt contrived and I was much more invested in the Simon/Catherine relationship and their mission to send off the ARK. I think I would have preferred more focus on the WAU as an antagonist (instead of being more of a passive "force") than this Ross storyline.

I think the monsters are the weakest point of this game. Yes, I did play on Safe Mode, but that didn't stop me from really trying to avoid the monsters and sneak around without getting caught. The problem is that this gets old quick, each monster has a weakness that can be exploited pretty easily. These weaknesses are at least communicated well, so you aren't blindsided by them when you do encounter a monster. I think SOMA benefits from having actual enemies, but as it stands they just feel like reskinned Amnesia monsters, more of an annoyance than an integral part of the game world. I'm willing to bet Frictional kept their design pretty similar to Amnesia because of that game's commercial success. However, there is something to appreciate in the monsters' designs, origins, and behavior -- again, good world building. The best monster in my opinion is in Tau, he doesn't appear to have many weaknesses besides walking a bit slow, so you just gotta outmaneuver him. The design of Tau also gives you plenty of options to deal with him, while also forcing some confrontation. I thought that struck a good balance. The sea monsters in the Abyss were also interesting to deal with.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It's not for everyone -- there's a lot of walking around with only the tense atmosphere to keep you on edge. You need to be able to immerse yourself in a world and enjoy putting the pieces together yourself, so if you treat it like "just a game" you will probably be disappointed. But if the idea of experiencing an almost alien future world firsthand appeals to you, I say check it out. And, if you're a pansy like I am, there's always Safe Mode to put you at ease a little.

By the way, if you like game's exploration of consciousness, reality, and the human condition, I recommend checking out The Talos Principle. Similar themes but executed very differently. You could even imagine it as a sort of sequel to this game, set after the complete eradication of the WAU and human life. That's just my dumb headcanon though.

Absolute trash. The camera shake is sickening and while the "steadycam" option helps during gameplay, it has no effect on cutscenes, of which there are many. I don't even usually get motion sickness and it still hurt my eyes. The game takes forever to load (it even has a loading screen for quitting the game), co-op gameplay is laggy even for the host, the cover and shooting mechanics are terrible and the guns are frustratingly inaccurate. My co-op partner couldn't play past a certain point since his screen went black so we just gave up on it.


Do not purchase this game. If you already have it, do not play it.