More_Badass
Member
At Tau
Man, opening that door and then that...thing is just standing there, making those fucked-up sounds...
SOMA |OT| I Have No Mouth but I Will Scream, on The Dark Descent into A Machine
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
StaffyManasse
Member
Done.
It was...impactful.
It was...impactful.
I didn't even know you could do that!
There's a room where you can turn off the power
More_Badass
Member
Same. Great experience. A lot of haunting moments
Took me 9 hours if anyone was curious
samueljustice00
Member
You don't have to kill her, you can unplug just one lead, but you'll end up leaving her fitting.. for eternity
Dude, I tortured Carl to divert power to the Comm center door. DAYM, I'm a monster! They say he's still writhing in pain to this day...
Randomizer123454444
Member
This game is nice to play, but it keeps constantly crashing in Theta (PC). It's annoying :-/ Apparently it's not a good idea to run around.
I was fine with most of the game but near the end
when you're on the bottom of the ocean and everything is pitch black...man that fucked me up bad. Then you run into a tunnel full of spiders(another thing I hate), I got baited when I ran out since you always look for light and I ran right into the giant angler fish thing too.
Most uneasy I felt from a game in a long time.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Apparently crashing was introduced with the patch that rolled out yesterday, needs some fixing it seems.
That part was probably the creepiest part of the game for me too, that and the following part
with the diver suit enemy that randomly speeds up and slows down so it looks like it's going in fast-forward and slowdown, movement like that scares me and how the enemy could suddenly speed up right around a corner near you got me a few times.
SomedayTheFire
Member
Man Theta is wild.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
I finished SOMA last night, my thoughts on the game are quite complicated. but I'll do my best to express them cohesively right now. I'll mark all spoilers as well and try to label what they pertain too vaguely so people know which ones they want to/don't want to click.
SOMA in an overall sense I really enjoyed, a day later I'm thinking of it fondly, I'd even go as far to say that while I didn't find it to be Frictional's scariest effort, it might be my favorite effort from them tied with Penumbra Overture/Black Plague, but for very different reasons. In some aspects, it almost doesn't even seem like a Frictional title, there are moments Frictional's staples pop up, but in general everything from the level design, many of the monsters, encounter design, puzzles, and how narrative is told all feel very different from how they were handled in the Penumbra and Amnesia games. Not badly, just different.
And I think one of the biggest issues yet strengths of the game comes from the fact I think this is the truest effort of making something like an AAA game, but with an indie team and budget. You can tell they put a lot of effort into polishing up their game and trying to bring their ambitious ideas to reality, but with higher standards of a bigger studio, but made with a small team. And they've done some very impressive things and overcome some impressive feats to do it. For a team of less than 15 people, this is an incredibly good showing for them, and shows that they have real talent on-board in multiple areas and achieved a lot through hard work.
However, the game also is somewhat limited by this. There are certain areas the game is cut back in, which probably was due to time, money, and limited resources. A lot of it is minor and in no way a big issue, but the game has a few quibbles technically (as of right now) and mechanically that do somewhat detract from the experience, mostly in the sort of way that the game is inconsistent with its rules. Such examples come from miscellaneous small things, but small things that add up. You can break and enter this vent, but can't this identical one. You can interact with and throw around this object, but can't this object of the same general size. There's just small inconsistencies of that, which are understandable, but it's kind of a consistent minor quibble.
But yet, at the same time the game has so much stuffed into it and has constantly new things thrown at the player all the way to the end. This is a huge plus for me and I find is something in game design that is crucial to the greats, and I think elevates this game in many ways. During the 8-12 hour campaign, the game constantly builds up new scenarios and situations for the player to handle and deal with. You never meet a monster more than twice, they mix-up objectives, locales, and introduce new scenarios and situations all the way through the game, and do build off what the game teaches you.
The flipside to this is that some scenarios are clearly better than others, and in some ways I think SOMA might of been better if they explored some elements a bit more and cut the fat off from others. There are some moments that are shining moments of game design, narrative design, horror-soaked moments... But then there's others that feel kind of empty, or dull, not repetitive, but the game is sometimes very unclear in what you're supposed to be doing. The tasks are never too difficult, but sometimes the game doesn't seem to have been designed to lead you to certain points, leading to you wandering around a lot until you find the correct method to move forward. I am not completely against this area of design, but it's notable that the parts I was stuck at the longest was usually because I wasn't aware of something or another that brought my attention to something. Probably the most prime example of this is in the
room, where there's a cord that's unplugged that you need to replug back into the system, but the room its in is full of lights that bring attention to other things, there's a few suspicious objects that seem worth investigating like a movable stairway that's rather unique, gating, and consoles, but what you actually need to do first is notice in this dark corner that doesn't really attract attention that there's a cord unplugged. If it was just this one moment, that'd be fine, but I think there's a number of moments where there's easily overlooked elements that are the key to what you need to be doing, and I feel I'm not alone in experiencing that. It also feels inconsistent, as the game at other points guides you very well to things and points, maybe the fact it flip-flops between this makes it feel more jarring and easier to overlook something.
I think due to this game being so different, the game will disappoint those looking for a 'super-scary' horror game of hide, seek, and monster encounters. Some are saying it's more sci-fi than horror, but I disagree. I just think it's a different type of horror than Amnesia, or Outlast, would provide, and those looking for a game like that in here will be disappointed (until maybe custom campaigns start coming out, since messing with the tools, it's definitely possible to make a game like that in SOMA). The game almost feels like a narrative-driven experience game sprinkled with horror game encounters. A lot of the game is spent exploring, reading, talking, having story unfold, and solving light puzzles. It almost follows in the shoes of a 'Walking Simulator' type game, but with more game mechanics, and notably reminds of Gone Home due to intractability in the environment and well-designed rooms and game spaces. But the monsters of the game introduce more game-bearing scenarios, which both spice up but in someways also contrasts the rest of the game. There's a pretty clear definition a lot of the time when you're safe, and when you're not.
The horror elements I am actually more fond of than most. Through the game, there's something like 8-10 types of monsters you encounter, and all behave quite a bit differently. You spend so little time with most of them, though, often the monsters will only appear through one small meeting brief encounter with them, and then later a bit larger section avoiding them, but some monsters get even less than that (some only get one or two brief appearances), and then never are seen again. This does, however, provide the player an element to keep guessing what may come next, and never exactly knowing what to expect. The variety avoids repetition, and I think the monsters are well-design, both visually and audibly. The sound design of the monsters deserves specific mention, because they are excellently portrayed and really raises tension and fear.
But the straight-up horror elements are very inconsistent. In about the 8-12 hours it takes to beat the game, you maybe only spend a fifth or a fourth of it with any sort of threat to your well-being. There's only about 14-15 encounters with enemies counting in my head, and some of those only last a minute at most, with the longer ones being around 5-15 minutes long. And in some ways, it feels they could of explored so much more with what they have. There are some fantastic horror moments, especially later in, and they provide so many possibilities... But it feels like they only skim over it instead of really delving into it. On one hand, this makes the aspect of custom campaigns very promising as there's a lot to explore that wasn't run tired by the game itself. On the other hand, it left me craving more as a horror enthusiast, but didn't always do enough to water my appetite.
To name two moments that stood out to me especially;
-About 3/4ths of the way through the game,
-In the last fourth of the game,
There's more, but moments that feel they could of been explored and delved into much more.
But then, almost all of this almost feels like spread on the game. The real focus the game does is on its narrative, And it is a narrative worth experiencing, it throws many interesting ideas at you in a way only a game could, and explores themes that I can't think of any game really exploring in-depth. It provides tough choices, it rattles with your morality, and it does a good job making you care, and is completely worth experiencing I feel.
But it's also held back a bit. A gray zone design decision was that none of the choices you make really effect anything big, minor things, but the game has no system where these choices have long-term effects. On one side, I'm happy for this, since then it means choices aren't weighed to go down some certain story path and feel more internalized with the player than artificial. But on the other hand, it makes the choices feel like they lack some real weight at times, they are conceptually interesting but, also don't really reflect anything in gameplay. I think the story does a good job at making sure not to tip the scales of bias to make you feel one way or another about what is presented, and stands to strike within our humanity of processing it as we will, and adding gameplay weight to these moments may have made them more artificial, but having not to face-up to anything also feels like a missed opportunity at times. And the voice acting is a bit mixed, I personally liked it well enough, but I also acknowledge it wasn't always up to snuff with the scenes in question, and could detract from some scenes in certain cases.
In an overall sense though, these problems I bring up only because the game is, in my opinion, excellent. It's an excellent game that does unique things and explores unique themes that is held back by a few flaws, but also is worth experiencing and has some grade-A moments, in my opinion. And those moments are among some of the most striking in any game, I feel, and I do think some parts of the game will stick with me personally. The narrative didn't rely on twists and went with natural progression and developments, the horror had some fantastic moments, the game presented situations and themes I have never seen another game tackle quite like it and came off as a unique experience, but its also an experience I think some will not enjoy for looking for other things this game is not (it's really not all that much like Amnesia, for example, it almost doesn't feel like a Frictional game compared to their previous games), and others may not find some of the elements as gripping as others, and the game is held back by some flaws.
Still, I personally loved it, and think what I loved about it overtakes my few issues with it. I also am for some reason really interested in the custom campaigns this game may offer. The main game feels more narrative driven, but I think the game and its engines and mechanics can be explored by modders quite a bit to make some really good straight-up horror experiences.
SOMA in an overall sense I really enjoyed, a day later I'm thinking of it fondly, I'd even go as far to say that while I didn't find it to be Frictional's scariest effort, it might be my favorite effort from them tied with Penumbra Overture/Black Plague, but for very different reasons. In some aspects, it almost doesn't even seem like a Frictional title, there are moments Frictional's staples pop up, but in general everything from the level design, many of the monsters, encounter design, puzzles, and how narrative is told all feel very different from how they were handled in the Penumbra and Amnesia games. Not badly, just different.
And I think one of the biggest issues yet strengths of the game comes from the fact I think this is the truest effort of making something like an AAA game, but with an indie team and budget. You can tell they put a lot of effort into polishing up their game and trying to bring their ambitious ideas to reality, but with higher standards of a bigger studio, but made with a small team. And they've done some very impressive things and overcome some impressive feats to do it. For a team of less than 15 people, this is an incredibly good showing for them, and shows that they have real talent on-board in multiple areas and achieved a lot through hard work.
However, the game also is somewhat limited by this. There are certain areas the game is cut back in, which probably was due to time, money, and limited resources. A lot of it is minor and in no way a big issue, but the game has a few quibbles technically (as of right now) and mechanically that do somewhat detract from the experience, mostly in the sort of way that the game is inconsistent with its rules. Such examples come from miscellaneous small things, but small things that add up. You can break and enter this vent, but can't this identical one. You can interact with and throw around this object, but can't this object of the same general size. There's just small inconsistencies of that, which are understandable, but it's kind of a consistent minor quibble.
But yet, at the same time the game has so much stuffed into it and has constantly new things thrown at the player all the way to the end. This is a huge plus for me and I find is something in game design that is crucial to the greats, and I think elevates this game in many ways. During the 8-12 hour campaign, the game constantly builds up new scenarios and situations for the player to handle and deal with. You never meet a monster more than twice, they mix-up objectives, locales, and introduce new scenarios and situations all the way through the game, and do build off what the game teaches you.
The flipside to this is that some scenarios are clearly better than others, and in some ways I think SOMA might of been better if they explored some elements a bit more and cut the fat off from others. There are some moments that are shining moments of game design, narrative design, horror-soaked moments... But then there's others that feel kind of empty, or dull, not repetitive, but the game is sometimes very unclear in what you're supposed to be doing. The tasks are never too difficult, but sometimes the game doesn't seem to have been designed to lead you to certain points, leading to you wandering around a lot until you find the correct method to move forward. I am not completely against this area of design, but it's notable that the parts I was stuck at the longest was usually because I wasn't aware of something or another that brought my attention to something. Probably the most prime example of this is in the
submarine
I think due to this game being so different, the game will disappoint those looking for a 'super-scary' horror game of hide, seek, and monster encounters. Some are saying it's more sci-fi than horror, but I disagree. I just think it's a different type of horror than Amnesia, or Outlast, would provide, and those looking for a game like that in here will be disappointed (until maybe custom campaigns start coming out, since messing with the tools, it's definitely possible to make a game like that in SOMA). The game almost feels like a narrative-driven experience game sprinkled with horror game encounters. A lot of the game is spent exploring, reading, talking, having story unfold, and solving light puzzles. It almost follows in the shoes of a 'Walking Simulator' type game, but with more game mechanics, and notably reminds of Gone Home due to intractability in the environment and well-designed rooms and game spaces. But the monsters of the game introduce more game-bearing scenarios, which both spice up but in someways also contrasts the rest of the game. There's a pretty clear definition a lot of the time when you're safe, and when you're not.
The horror elements I am actually more fond of than most. Through the game, there's something like 8-10 types of monsters you encounter, and all behave quite a bit differently. You spend so little time with most of them, though, often the monsters will only appear through one small meeting brief encounter with them, and then later a bit larger section avoiding them, but some monsters get even less than that (some only get one or two brief appearances), and then never are seen again. This does, however, provide the player an element to keep guessing what may come next, and never exactly knowing what to expect. The variety avoids repetition, and I think the monsters are well-design, both visually and audibly. The sound design of the monsters deserves specific mention, because they are excellently portrayed and really raises tension and fear.
But the straight-up horror elements are very inconsistent. In about the 8-12 hours it takes to beat the game, you maybe only spend a fifth or a fourth of it with any sort of threat to your well-being. There's only about 14-15 encounters with enemies counting in my head, and some of those only last a minute at most, with the longer ones being around 5-15 minutes long. And in some ways, it feels they could of explored so much more with what they have. There are some fantastic horror moments, especially later in, and they provide so many possibilities... But it feels like they only skim over it instead of really delving into it. On one hand, this makes the aspect of custom campaigns very promising as there's a lot to explore that wasn't run tired by the game itself. On the other hand, it left me craving more as a horror enthusiast, but didn't always do enough to water my appetite.
To name two moments that stood out to me especially;
-About 3/4ths of the way through the game,
you reach a center full of researchers where the 'cancer' robot is really invading and corroding over. This moment is quite unique for a horror game as it captures a very 'The Thing' vibe of a small scientific group of researchers we hear about a bit in documents, recordings, and the like growing unweary, suspicious, untrusting of each other and who may and may not be themselves, we watch the aftermath of it all, meanwhile while we explore there's something obviously wrong as creepy messages quickly flash onto the screens of computer monitors in the middle of us reading notes, the bodies we could read all game suddenly give us nothing but static, and there are flashes of something else besides us in the base. It's well built-up too with the cancerous themes and themoments before it, it's creepy in motion, and even the screamer enemy is creepy in its own sense, but it feels like this segment could of done a lot more with its set-up and pay-off, and is such a good idea and execution that's cut a bit short of being something truly great, I feel.
shortly after the above, we end up in the deep sea, in what may be the creepiest part of the game. You end up in complete darkness in the sea, and have to stick in the light as something lurks in the darkness that will come and get you if you're in the dark too long. Meanwhile while you try to stick to the light, the game finally begins to explore the horror of some aquatic life, and has lots of twists and turns, from underwater spiders, an angler fish monster, schools of infected fish, strange sights and sounds, all while a storm begins to brew undersea. It's a wonderful, tense, and unique moment that is one of the definite highlights of the game, but I wish there was more of it in the game... Exploring the strange horrors of the ocean, the sort of claustrophobic yet vast open deep sea feel... Among other things. It makes a wonderful 10-15 minute gameplay segment, but I wish more of the game had explored stuff that were explored in those 10-15 minutes, there's so much to tap into there.
There's more, but moments that feel they could of been explored and delved into much more.
But then, almost all of this almost feels like spread on the game. The real focus the game does is on its narrative, And it is a narrative worth experiencing, it throws many interesting ideas at you in a way only a game could, and explores themes that I can't think of any game really exploring in-depth. It provides tough choices, it rattles with your morality, and it does a good job making you care, and is completely worth experiencing I feel.
But it's also held back a bit. A gray zone design decision was that none of the choices you make really effect anything big, minor things, but the game has no system where these choices have long-term effects. On one side, I'm happy for this, since then it means choices aren't weighed to go down some certain story path and feel more internalized with the player than artificial. But on the other hand, it makes the choices feel like they lack some real weight at times, they are conceptually interesting but, also don't really reflect anything in gameplay. I think the story does a good job at making sure not to tip the scales of bias to make you feel one way or another about what is presented, and stands to strike within our humanity of processing it as we will, and adding gameplay weight to these moments may have made them more artificial, but having not to face-up to anything also feels like a missed opportunity at times. And the voice acting is a bit mixed, I personally liked it well enough, but I also acknowledge it wasn't always up to snuff with the scenes in question, and could detract from some scenes in certain cases.
In an overall sense though, these problems I bring up only because the game is, in my opinion, excellent. It's an excellent game that does unique things and explores unique themes that is held back by a few flaws, but also is worth experiencing and has some grade-A moments, in my opinion. And those moments are among some of the most striking in any game, I feel, and I do think some parts of the game will stick with me personally. The narrative didn't rely on twists and went with natural progression and developments, the horror had some fantastic moments, the game presented situations and themes I have never seen another game tackle quite like it and came off as a unique experience, but its also an experience I think some will not enjoy for looking for other things this game is not (it's really not all that much like Amnesia, for example, it almost doesn't feel like a Frictional game compared to their previous games), and others may not find some of the elements as gripping as others, and the game is held back by some flaws.
Still, I personally loved it, and think what I loved about it overtakes my few issues with it. I also am for some reason really interested in the custom campaigns this game may offer. The main game feels more narrative driven, but I think the game and its engines and mechanics can be explored by modders quite a bit to make some really good straight-up horror experiences.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
^That echoes a lot of my thoughts. I recognize its problems but I really like this game
Yep, I agree with the vast majority of this. I think it will be well regarded in retrospect. I watched a streamer play some portions of this game last night and still felt a lot of the tension and very little of the frustration I felt in my first playthrough. Pretty fond of it.
Hmm... I love story driven "walking simulators"/adventure/puzzle games. I enjoyed Everbody's gone to the Rapture and Ethan Carter a lot. But i'm not into horror games at all, especially of the jump scare/monster kind (e.g. I would never play Outlast or Dead space). Hearing that this game is more on the edge of horror rather than full on horror makes me wonder if i wouldn't enjoy it. I think i'll watch a small portion from the beginning on youtube to get a better idea of the game.
Randomizer123454444
Member
Wow, just finished the game. Magnificent. The game crashed on me total of 20 or so times, the enemies were incredibly annoying, but in the end I think it was all worth. I really liked the story.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Something people may be interested in:
The modding tools of the game, I've been messing around with them and created a dumb little level, but there's some really interesting things in the modding tools. It seems they've decided to leave a lot of things in the game for modding, including scrapped levels, NPCs, monsters, and the like. I've been toying around with them, but know that they seem to have left a lot in the game on purpose. They have everything from the E3 demo of SOMA still in the files, scrapped rooms, they have sharks, there's this maggot zombie-like enemy that never appeared in the game and these mechanical spider things, among other things. All very interesting and will be fun to see them pop up in mods.
The modding tools of the game, I've been messing around with them and created a dumb little level, but there's some really interesting things in the modding tools. It seems they've decided to leave a lot of things in the game for modding, including scrapped levels, NPCs, monsters, and the like. I've been toying around with them, but know that they seem to have left a lot in the game on purpose. They have everything from the E3 demo of SOMA still in the files, scrapped rooms, they have sharks, there's this maggot zombie-like enemy that never appeared in the game and these mechanical spider things, among other things. All very interesting and will be fun to see them pop up in mods.
Just was I was considering condensing my own thoughts DuskGolem goes ahead and completely blows mine out of the water. I agree with most of what you said there are alot of flaws in this game from it being a overall one of a kind must play, however I constantly have to remind myself that this is a team of 15 people. Just fucking look at how amazing this game is both visually and at times mechanically compared to their previous games, while I don't agree with certain choices they made (focusing on more story rather then "Horror") I have to take a step back and simply admire what this small team as accomplished since my time of playing Penumbra/Ammnesia.
I see a brought future for these guys and hope SOMA Gives them enough funds to further capitalise on their ideas, also can't fucking wait for Custom Stories.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Really, really impressed with this game. The tension-release loop is spot on for me (without being predictable). I'm up to
. Do I have much left?
Omicron------111----------
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Chance Hale
Member
I'm up to the part where you
How far in is that?
I ask only because my gaming time is limited this week.
enter the wrecked ship and get chased by the creature you can't look at.
I ask only because my gaming time is limited this week.
StaffyManasse
Member
Around 1/3 done, give of take.
So I really like the look of this game, and I mean literally, the look, the aesthetic they're going for. Although I'm really not in the mood for just the mechanics of hide & seek gameplay, I liked Alien: Isolation for how well it emulated the feel of that first movie, but I didn't really care for Amnesia, because I wasn't super into it, it never grabbed me at all, maybe I could go back today, but at the time it didn't do anything for me. How well done are the narrative elements of the game? more broader stuff than just core plot, stuff like environmental storytelling, pacing, voice acting, writing? I haven't really watched any trailers detailing the much story, or any real trailers beyond the initial reveal, which was a long time ago, I don't expect the game to be completely like that any more -- I just want kind of spoiler free thoughts on the quality of narrative elements, I don't really mind how lacking the "game" parts are for a game like this.
Was a bit disappointed in the game at the start but it really ramps up quite well and am quite satisfied now. Think I'm nearing the end. Sort of an inversion of STASIS for me in which I was really into it at the start and kind felt a bit muted toward it by the end (though it was still good).
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Narrative is well handled, it's why it's getting a lot of praise, the pacing and storytelling are very good, voice acting is a mixed bag, writing is mostly quite good with a few hammy lines (but I found enjoyable so). However, this game is really not like Amnesia and the monster encounters are limited and there are ways to handle them rather than hiding and such, but I think if you like the aesthetic and interested in a story, you'll like it, the story doesn't really have big twists or revelations but explores interesting themes and makes you think a lot, and personally I liked the characters though they're kind of the love or hate kind.
I will say I think the second half of the game is much better than the first half, though I was liking the first half too. Both narratively and horror-wise.
StaffyManasse
Member
My opinion is, that environmental storytelling, pacing and writings, in addition to the broader philosophical stuff, is what the game is best at. The hide and seek stuff is just a flavour.
Now is this more of a "the first half is all necessary build up to the second half" situation, where naturally it's just going to be weaker by comparison? Or is it just weaker overall? Just curious, I'm still sold on this game either way and will purchase it as soon as I can -- but I'm am interested to see why people unanimously seem to like the closing hours more than the first few, if it's too spoilery to say than don't worry about it, I'll find out for myself shortly.
StaffyManasse
Member
Personally, I can't say I liked the beginning any less than I liked the latter parts. It's all part of the big picture for me.
That being said, the themes really start to hit home on the latter part of the game, which makes it more strong, I suppose.
Awh, man, just the fact that we are talking in terms of "themes" is getting me real excited.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Eeeexcellent. I just got the shopping list and was a little ho-hum on the idea, so this is good to hear.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
It's not really the first half builds up the second half, the pacing is good so the revelations happen naturally, and honestly by the half-way point the story is pretty much established. It's hard to say this all without spoiling things, but the second half doesn't really have twists and turns in its narrative and more basically unfolds and explores itself a lot more. The story is more fascinating because it explores certain things I can't think of any other game exploring, I can think of some films but through the medium of gameplay it resonates a bit more strongly, in my opinion... Again, hard to talk about without spoilers. It's not a very surprising tale, but I did find it an enjoyable one, it's kind of philosophical as been brought up.
However, horror-wise, the first half builds it up, and I think the second half, and last third especially, are pay-off, as a horror enthusiast the last third was elevated by the story but also specific moments in gameplay that weren't really scary, but unnerving, tense, and well-done. I also will mention the moments I refer to aren't really hide and seek moments either, horror presented in a different way.
I started the game yesterday night and i'm definitely enjoying it, but Sony needs to do something with the Dualshock 4 back light: that is completely killing the atmosphere for me by illuminating the room with its blue light. 
Why don't they include an option to remotely turn it off?
Why don't they include an option to remotely turn it off?
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Not specifically, but the word does pop-up some, just not fully defined. But the meaning of SOMA is the Greek word for Body, as the stations in the game are all named in Greek and Body is very important to the game.
StaffyManasse
Member
Yes, to some extent at least.
SomedayTheFire
Member
I have to say its one of the best games around for organic story telling. There's bits and pieces of exposition but you should already know that by just exploring and being in the world. I love it.
Wind's Howling
Member
I thought Irrational Games did an amazing thing with Bioshock when it came down to creating an atmospheric underwater universe, but I honestly believe that SOMA has it beat.
I say Goddamn.
I say Goddamn.
Really enjoying this so far. About 3 or 4 hours in.
Well im glad i yanked out both then.
Well im glad i yanked out both then.
Brerlappin
Member
After not enjoying the opening hour or so I'm on the bandwagon of "it gets much better". The 2nd monster is much better and the locations are more interesting too. The story starts picking up also.
More_Badass
Member
I was kinda underwhelmed at the beginning of the game because it wasn't real horror game as I expected. but now I'm loving it alot.
the story is very interesting and I can't wait to see the ending. I hope ending doesn't suck
Frictional did the game was like this
This is the very first horror game I'm playing, as opposed to youtubing. I love anything horror but I was always too scared to actually play them. So I picked this up after hearing it's not "that" scary and as expected, I already had trouble moving around near the beginning. The game's atmosphere just killed me on the spot and I had to take a little break. But for some reason though I felt compelled to continue soon after and so I did.
scariest moment so far
Hate it, but love it.
All in all I guess horror games are just somethingn to get used to and as a newbie I'm liking this a lot.
scariest moment so far
is that thing chasing you underwater whem you unplug the tentacles. I hate it when something chases me. Didn't even look back once since the exquisite sound design made it more than clear enough he was breathing down my neck at each turn.
All in all I guess horror games are just somethingn to get used to and as a newbie I'm liking this a lot.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
It's your gateway drug. I used to be a huge scaredycat when I was younger, and I thought horror wasn't for me, but Resident Evil 4 ended up being my entrance to them, the game was getting praised everywhere, so I decided to play it. I know RE4 isn't super scary or anything, but for a scaredy cat it got me a number of times, and I felt compelled to continue and loved it. I next went on to play REmake, then Zero, then I branched out to other horror game franchises, and the rest is history.
I think if you think you're too scared to play horror, but have some deeper sort of fascination with it, but you think you'll be too scared and that makes you think you won't be able to handle it, but then take the delve and find something that compels you, there's a high chance you may like horror deep down. It just takes a while to slowly transition in accepting the thrills of being scared and growing a bit tougher skin to it. But more than that, the other things about horror games that are appealing not often found in other game types (and movie types, in extension). I didn't realize it at the time, but it makes sense now in retrospective, even when young I loved things like ghost stories, Goosebumps, Scooby-Doo, Halloween, etc. I loved other things too, but I was too scared of things to put it together I actually like horror.
More_Badass
Member
This was actually the first horror game I completed. Dead Space games were more action than horror, was never scared playing them
But stuff like Amnesia, could never play them for very long
SOMA was so compelling and didn't rely on jump scares, I had to keep playing it
family_guy
Member
Something is off with these graphics. Some of the games elements and world draw parallels to Bioshock, a game that came out in 2007. This doesn't even come close graphics wise to that game and that includes the console versions of it. I'm playing on PC and I hope there's some mods for it.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
Oh my, congrats on completing your first horror game~ Different people find different things scary, as scary is objective, but I also will say I come from the belief a good horror game doesn't need to be scary to me to be a good horror game. An example is I -personally- don't find the Fatal Frame games that scary (many do, I don't), but I love them for other reasons which make me compelled to play and enjoy them.
Being a horror enthusiast, my favorite thing about horror games isn't that they're scary. In fact, many of my favorite horror games I don't particularly find scary. Scariness can be great for some games, and being scared can be fun when you grow a taste for it, but I think there's other things that attract me more to these type of things. Things like darker plots and narratives, interesting monsters, isolated and atmospheric locations, sometimes the thrill of surviving and/or managing yourself more than in many other game types, the feat of overcoming sections that may have challenged you/frightened you. Horror games tend to have a focus on individual moments more than any other type of game I've played, spindled with moments to resonate with the player in different ways, ranging from the comforting feeling of reaching a save room in Resident Evil after a long period of trials, or in SOMA's case (later game spoiler)
a delicious moment where everything comes together, like the deep sea section towards the end of the game
Dead Space is fun to talk about since some get terrified by it, others don't think it's that scary at all, subjectivity and all that. Dead Space 1 I admit the beginning got me, I played it when still teething to the genre, though by the time I played Dead Space 2 it mostly didn't phase me, though I found it to be the better game personally.