SOMA

I came for the horror and I left with an admiration for the storyline. Movie A+ grade material.

This is a good game with a great subject, in my opinion the all important question that makes for great Science Fiction: what does it mean to be human? I was also impressed about by its aesthetics. The deep ocean levels were outstanding, the blurry water, the unseen dangers, the far away lights you must follow. This made the game for me. The voice acting is also awesome and truly professional. I loved the conversations between Catherine and Simon. I only deduct one star because it relied a little too much on cheap scares. While there are objectively few monsters (possibly too few for horror fans), it's still a horror game at its core, with all the usual tropes: scares, loud noises at unexpected times, lights that go out, hideously deformed/mutated humans chasing you, ghostly apparitions, etc. I'm easily scared and didn't like the horror aspect of it too much (though again, I did enjoy the scary sea creatures!). Some scares are necessary, but I would have included more puzzle minigames (maybe harder ones) and more focus on exploration and less on monsters, leaving them for very isolated moments. Still, these are minor objections. This is a great game -- it reminded me of System Shock 2, only better! -- and I wish they make more like this.

Les + : histoire riche, bien ficelée, avec une reflexion philosophique. Pour comprendre l'histoire, il faut un bon travail d'investigation en recherchant les documents pour reconstituer le puzzle. - L'ambiance opressante - Quelques sursauts à la rencontre de certains monstres dans des situations inattendues - Utiliser la ruse pour berner les monstres qui peuvent bloquer l'accès de certains passages - La résolution des énigmes par nous-même, le jeu nous laisse chercher par nous même les pièces, les chemins... Les - : Des petits problèmes de chargement sur certain passage (ralentissement) -J'aurai aimé que les choix soit un peu plus impactant sur la fin En bref, un superbe expérience de jeu (un peu près 11 heures), avec une histoire riche et une ambiance opressante qui nous fait réfléchir sur beaucoup de choses (je ne veux pas spoiler). Je pense que je vais suivre sur les titres de frictional game de près.

I feel guilty because of some of the choices and actions I had to attend during this game. They didn't affect the story (maybe some dialogues), but they had a huge impact on me. Also, I got the game during a giveaway. And I feel guilty for having it for free. It is worth every cent of its full price. Maybe at a certain point you can be a bit annoyed by the monster hide and run. But even playing in plain day, they scared and disturbed me, as long as the places I visited: I felt trapped, under water, inside facilities, inside my damn body.

I love classic horror games, but you have to admit the genre has so much more potential nowadays. It is no longer necessary to purposely handicap the player in order to create a "scary" situation, nor is it as necessary to sacrifice gameplay for the sake of performance on an early 3D console. That is why it is so disheartening to see many modern horror games rely mostly on jumpscares and graphical trickery at the expense of everything else. You also tend to see the same sort of plots over and over; if anything, horror game designers seem to view plot and characterization as a hindrance to horror, and tend to dispense with them whenever possible. That is why a game like SOMA is so refreshing. Simply put, it has the best story and writing of any horror game, superior even to vaunted classics like Silent Hill 2. Like that game, SOMA understands the concept of subtlety, and rather than over the top scares, what you have instead is the ever-present feeling of dread. This makes the eventual payoff even more effective than just throwing spooky stuff at the screen constantly. Technically, the game is also an improvement over its predecessors in the genre. Camera and player control is mostly seamless and doesn't hinder the fun, and the level exploration is satisfying. Puzzles don't get too crazy, but more than get the job done. Despite the fact that its a linear adventure with nothing in the way of "extras," I've replayed it simply because the core game is so satisfying. I cannot recommend this game highly enough.