Whether you're a fan of Douglas Adams' work or a fan of first-person point & click adventures like 'Myst', 'Zork Nemesis', 'Zork Grand Inquisitor' or 'Morpheus' - chances are you will love this game. It is clearly one of the most captivating journeys of the genre. Most of all, I liked the escapism, the chilling atmosphere of departure at the beginning of the game and the curious, awe-striking first hours in which you explore the ship. The fact that you leave planet Earth and take a trip on a glamorous luxury space liner - the most glamorous one in the whole universe, in fact - has a unique feel to it. Starship Titanic is full of robots that have more or less lost their marbles and this is ingeniously presented through their special manners of speaking and characteristic quirks. Their sanity and usefulness can be improved throughout the game, too, which is pretty funny, too. That said, most of the game's strength is to be experienced in the beginning and the first hours of playing. 90% of the locations are found rather quickly and the rest of the game consists of travelling back and forth via elevators, tubes and gondolas, while getting a feeling of familiarity with the ship. What makes it all worth it, are the VERY well conceived puzzles, which are always interesting, challenging and logical, but never unfair. There are also plenty of secrets and things to discover on the ship. The text parser alone invites the player to experiment a lot when talking to NPCs, the reactions of whom are accurate most of the time, and always likable and funny. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous - even though they are of the typical rendered style of the late 90s. I would love to see a remake of 'Zork Nemesis' or 'Zork Grand Inquisitor' in this quality! That would be absolutely satisfactory for a graphical overhaul, if you ask me. The game's soundtrack is also very pleasant and immensely atmospheric. 5/5 stars, two thumbs up - WAY up - and a wholehearted recommendation from me!
... enemies at all? Seriously, that's the only thing really bad about the game, if you ask me. 'Soma' starts off really strong by putting you in a usual everyday environment and presents some really interesting bits and pieces of the backstory of... well... you! As the protagonist. It's all brilliantly executed and feels a bit like you're wandering through a game like 'Gone Home'. (That said: I did not and do not expect a game like 'Gone Home' here at all and I do realize that this is something completely different.) Soon, of course, the whole thing turns into the scenario presented on all the screenshots and videos here. Which is the first problem, actually. All of a sudden you find yourself in some strange, uncomfortable place and Frictional Games wants you to actually CARE about it, too. Seeing how it initially reminds of the environments of "Doom 3", I couldn't help but think "could you please get me back into reality now?". And then the enemies (some kind of evil Mini Mechs, really) appeared and the last remains of interest I initially had, were compromised. Moving on through some corridors (not really caring if it's the right way at all), I found myself in some kind of power station and somebody talked to me via some device. This – and some particular part with talking machines – made me interested again. A few steps further, another one of those robots came and crushed my skull. "You died." Yeah, thanks. To sum up: If somebody knows a mod which turns off all the stupid, annoying, non-scary enemy robots – please tell me! I'd REALLY like to experience the story and the environment without those distracting elements. It feels like Frictional Games put those in merely in order to get a point like "See? We ARE the guys that made Amnesia! So our new game HAS to have this, right?!!" across. It's just a pity they had to go with the same stuff as in the 'Amnesia' and 'Penumbra' series.
