If you are a fan of horror games or a fan of games that are just downright good, then you should buy SOMA. Frictional Games really outdid themselves this time and made what I believe is one of the best games this decade! SOMA was made by the same people who created the lesser known Penumbra series and the more well known Amnesia series. Personally, I thought that Penumbra and Amnesia were okay games. They were kind of scary, but I didn't think that they were anything very special. SOMA takes the same gameplay formula as those older games but throws in an amazing story, far better graphics, and even more scares! I don't really want to spoil it at all, but this game has a great story. I went in really not expecting too much from it, since I didn't really care too much for their past game's stories. Just know that SOMA has an interesting, engaging, and frightening story from start to finish though. SOMA is also very good at scaring the crap out of you. With prior Frictional games I got kind of used to the scares after a while of playing. Once I realized that the monsters would behave in a certain way, they just weren't very scary anymore. SOMA does a great job of varying the pace and totally switching things up on you though. I don't know if the scares would last after multiple playthroughs, but, if you're like me, you'll find yourself jumping throughout the game on more than just a few occasions! Not only would I say that SOMA is the best horror game that I have ever played, I would say that it is also one of the best games that I've ever played. Even after beating it, the amazing atmosphere and story have drawn me back in several times. This game is certainly worth your time and money!
The review title pretty much sums up my feelings for Knock-Knock. I love horror games of all shapes and sizes and this one looked like it had so much potential! I immediately fell in love with the game's charming art style, but unfortunately that's probably the best part of the game. The gameplay is pretty simple. You wander around some houses, repair lights in each room while avoiding spooky ghosts, and wait for the sun to rise. I got bored of the repetetive gameplay very quickly. The game is also very short. It only took me about 2 and a half hours to complete it. Supposedly there are different endings or things you can find by playing through it again, but I didn't even bother. The story was another disappointment for me. That's because there is no story. You'll find the occasional note and the guy you play as will spout off some random sentences here and there, but it's so vague and nonsensical that I didn't even care to figure it out. It was like the writers for Knock-Knock wanted fans to generate theories about their game's story so badly that they didn't even bother to create one themselves. The graphics and sound design are probably the best part of the game. Hearing doors slam shut and lightbulbs pop around the house was genuinely creepy and startled me a couple of times. Overall it really isn't a very scary game though. I either felt bored or frustrated while playing it. Boredom because of its repetetive nature (and the stupid forest segments that seem completely pointless!) and frustration because sometimes this game would pull out some cheap tricks. The only times that I ever died in the game were when a ghost spawned on top of me or spawned right in front of the only exit to the room that I was in. I'm giving it a 3 instead of a 2 for one reason: I bought it on sale. The regular price is $10 I believe and I would say that it is definitely not worth that much. If you aboslutely feel like you need to buy this game, wait for it to go on sale again.
