SOMA

Pretty good story

The game has VERY good story and atmosphere. The gameplay could be better, but overall I very enjoyed it. Playing this game was like reading a good book.

SOMA is quite an experience. I didn't play that many walking-simulators, but feel like this one stroke a very good balance between the passive walking and looking around, and interactive gameplay as in pulling switches and solving very easy and intuitive puzzles. Everything here is expertly realized. The graphics, though not very artistic, are well made and technically sound. It could be a bit more optimized, but I rarely saw a drastic dive in the frame-rates and the game proved fairly playable even in 4K at 15-20 fps (the sluggishness even added something to the atmosphere, like moving in a dream). The sound is very good - something is constantly cracking somewhere and the water dampening effect worked great. The screams of the monsters are really freaky and literally haunt you, while wondering the creepy empty halls. The general atmosphere of the game is outstanding. This could be a fantastic VR experience game. Everything really pulls you in. And the story... Wow! The game smartly gives you the plot in small doses scattered all along the game to the very end. Every time you think you know the plot and feel it's going to be a mechanical travel from point A to point B - the game throws you a twist and hammers it home with a dramatic scene or a reveal, you didn't quite expect. And it will make you think! A lot! It made quite a water-cooler discussion maker at my workplace, between my colleagues. Nobody who played it, remained indifferent. The ideas this game raises are very disquieting and though it doesn't let you hanging and everything is sealed and processed by the end - it will remain with you for a long time after you finish playing. The only thing that spoils this from becoming a masterpiece, are the monsters. They feel like an unnecessary afterthought, not well realized and disrupt the flow of the game. There's now an option to make them harmless, but I would probably put them in the background or removed them altogether. So the game is highly recommended.

This is an immersive adventure game, with heavy moral choices. The environments are intense, and the Non Player Characters will curse you out if you wrong them. Puzzles are straight forward, and there are no timed sequences or jumping problems. At first glance I thought it was a fumbling simulator, but once I got past my instincts to try to pick up everything and put it into my nonexistent inventory, I made progress. Just realize you can pull open drawers and examine objects. The ending left me drained.

Got it for free by GOG and what a gift it was. I don't expect much from horror games but SOMA was one of the best video game experience I had in a long time. -The controls feels like you are playing in VR, it's very natural you can pick up items, rotate them, open lockers by dragging the door with your mouse, lean left and right... -The athomosphere is amazing thanks to the great "SF" sound design and environments as well as the fascinating world setup. -The story brings a lot of suddle and obvious philosophical questions about identity, humanity, AI, some on those questions really ad to the scare part of the game. -The adventure it's self is fun and the reason why you go from one place to another doesn't feel forced (no stupid justifcation on why you need to go there [at least not too stupid]). -And the ending makes me feel weird in a good way. In short SOMA was amazing, I had a lot of fun playing, the story is great and it's scary in every way.