SOMA

To get one thing out of the way at once: There are NO guns in this game (other than a brief, scripted thing with a stun-gun). TL;DR version: It's a fairly linear horror game. As mentioned, no weapons. Sometimes, you need to explore and interact with an area to proceed. In others, you need to crouch and sneak around in a section to avoid a monster. Long version: You play most of the game underwater. Not having played Amnesia, which this game is frequently compared with, that claustrophobic feeling creeped me out on its own. Both the visual effects and sound effects of echos whenever metal clanks against metal really makes you think you are in a confined space. ...Which is not a good feeling, especially not in the parts you know there is something lurking about, sharing the limited space you have to move around in. You rarely see it, but you can often hear it when it is nearby. Some technical downsides: The game does not have any index, quest log or map that I have found, that tells you where you need to go, to remind you what you need to do, and it is often confusing what you need to do to move on. There are many instrument lights that doesn't sufficiently stand out compared to the ones you can actually interact with, which to me takes way a lot of the interest in the game. I either want to interact with everything or having it utterly plain what I can and cannot interact with. There are a few 2-choice options, however neither impacts the game other than triggering some additional voice acting, which always is only a little additional piece of the backstory. Being a completionist, I liked being allowed to explore whenever I wanted, except for the couple of part-ending scripted chase scenes where a line from "The Mummy" is called for ("Run, you sons bi***es! Run!"). With the music changing pace as well, they really did get my heart pumping on those occasions. Overall, the game was fine, but was sadly too linear and confined to hold much replay value for me.

I have a phobia to water and large body of water so the horror of this game double up to me. the game will attack you to the question of what made you real and what makes everything around you real or if you are truly real or if you really perceive that you are real. the horror it gave is not jumpscare-ish, the horror it gave is giving you scary possibilities of what technology stuff can do if it went wrong. my only problem is the lack of subtitle cause im playing on a loud environment so i had to pump the volume way up but that's not a case or a big problem. i'm fan of horror games and atmospheric and SOMA successfully deliver those kind of stuff that we've been missing since Silent Hill. also i'd recomend playing this in dark, way up volume, and full focus, and of course, blind.

Soma is a story-telling masterpiece on almost all possible levels. The story itself is profound, leaving an everlasting impression if only one stops to ponder upon grave questions it poses. Then, the way the games conveys the story is almost perfect. The main part is told in a direct way and it is enough to appreciate it. But when you start filling in the details from audio buffers, logs, notes and black boxes, you get a much more complete picture of the existential horror you are facing. One of the worst things? (CAREFUL, MAY BE A SOMEWHAT OF A SPOILER!) The protagonist does not seem to grasp the meaning and implications of his endeavors, so you start to subconsciously anticipate the end may be a very tragic one. The only other game that managed to leave a similar impact on me was Planescape: Torment. The jump scares are scarce. The tension caused by the monster encounters is somewhat dependent on your level of immersion and understanding on what is actually happening. Many think this is the weakest and most tedious part of the game, but I personally did enjoy and appreciate it. If you either are too stressed out by hide and seek sections of the game (or find them boring and unnecessary), you can always start the game in safe mode. This will still allow you to meet the monsters but ignore completely the stealth part. Finally, the art direction, visuals, audio, voice acting, writing - they are all top-notch and coherent. I can't recall thinking at any point "this is out of place, it breaks immersion, I would prefer it to be done differently". This game is carefully crafted, cohesive masterpiece.

This will get your mind going and possibly your heart! It's less about being overtly scary and more about uncomfortable thoughts about the lengths people may go in the aftermath of a terrible event. The enemy interactions are more like puzzles than reactions and quick decisions, so while some people say that lessened their fright, I guess it was still enough for me to get the pulse rate up. There is also a Safe Mode where the creatures will be freaky but not killer-y, if that's more your speed. The environments were well done I thought, and the environmental puzzles, while not too difficult, felt like reasonable actual things you might have to do in the circumstances, and I liked that a lot. For me four stars means "very much enjoyed it but not sure if I'll play it again". I still am not positive I won't play it again though...

I've played lots of this kind of game over more years than I'd like to confess and I think so far, this is the best yet. I played the Linux version with Ubuntu 15.10 and had to swap to Nvidia graphics instead of the stock 'Neuvau' ones otherwise the frame rate was too low but from then on it was 100% responsive with no video glitches at all. The only critisism is there is no game instructions in the package but having played the other Frictional games I could see the key actions are more or less the same. At the start I thought "did I just spend money on this garbage??" but believe me, when the lead character visits the clinic, everything changes. The graphics and sound suddenly come to life and you are not only in VERY different scenery but you are left wondering what is real and what isn't. Throughout the whole game you are not sure if you are suffering brain failure, a technical failure in the treatment at the clinic or were hijacked to a different world. The story slowly unfolds and leaves you with some challenging moral choices to make. Like the other Frictional games, there are bad guys but no weapons, you just have to avoid detection or run for your life. The scenes 4,000m under the sea are breathtaking and 'immersive' in more ways than one! Almost everything is interactive. Don't forget to carry Catherine with you, I forgot at one point and had to backtrack a long way, or you will not be able to open doors later in the game. One last thing - keep watching after the final credits roll by, everything is made clear!