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SOMA rated for Xbox One

J

jbug617

Banned
DJJ9PWwUMAATQs-


Credit to Wario
https://mobile.twitter.com/wario64/status/905924533198086145
 
T

Tarrin

Member
For some reason I thought this was already on the One.

Nice that it's coming over. Great game, enjoyed it more then Amnesia.
 
J

JoeLT

Member
YESSSSSS, absolutely loved this game. Hope they bring the Amnesia collection over and hope both have X support
 
N

Nev

Banned
Joeku said:
It falls somewhere between Amnesia and Walking Simulator. Not as scary as the former nor as non-mechanical as the latter. And it's fucking amazing.
Click to expand...

I'd say for some people this might be considerably scarier than Amnesia.

The themes it plays with certainly are more unsettling than spooky castle for me. (I love Amnesia)
 
I

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
Joeku said:
It falls somewhere between Amnesia and Walking Simulator. Not as scary as the former nor as non-mechanical as the latter. And it's fucking amazing.
Click to expand...

Agreed. My thoughts from Feb '16 when I finished it on PS4:

I was caught by the narrative it expressed and the concepts it played with. This type of gameplay is not really my bag, baby (I'm still nursing frustration from a parked save in Alien: Isolation), and the stealth-like nature of it also brought back finnicky memories of bad experiences with old Splinter Cells and knockoffs like Vampire Rain. Outlast, for example, was thrilling at first but after enough trial-and-error it eventually felt like a big chore I plugged through in order to uncover the mystery, only to be disappointed it was all 'cuz of...
Nazi Nanomachines?
. For me, SOMA presented a mystery and eventually a mission I felt compelled to pursue, with solid horror-ending payoff at the end.

I haven't yet played Machine for Pigs but my experience with the original Amnesia was very staccato: I played it in fits and starts spread out over so many months it was at least a year. This is partly because the narrative as conveyed in the game really did fail to compel me, it seemed so disconnected from the story I was playing, i.e. for god's sake run from the horrible thing until you can get out of the area. The narrative seemed to want a character who would push on through this environment to uncover the plot of Amnesia, but my experience as a player was to gaze longingly at each window and wish I could just bust it open and get out of the forsaken place.

Soma presents instead an environment from which there is clearly no escape, or at least no immediately obvious escape.
And, yes, for some unlucky few, definitely no escape, depending on the "coin toss."
The sense of oppression is indeed highlighted by the sound design, particularly in base Alpha which felt like it nearly crushed me with its audio alone. I also really appreciated the concession that there was a Frictional "sanity effect" present, but it didn't seem to trigger in darkness, or have a large effect on your health. In fact, it literally capitulated to its own reality of just being a digital effect overlaid on your vision when you see something horrible---actually building an in-world explanation for its existence. In this way, it felt like a deprecation of the "sanity effect" in favor of a story that wasn't quite sure what to do with the tradition. I feel its an inferior way of conveying insanity.

As for the "run and hide" gameplay it did not become too tedious, and at times it was inspired. I did have some complaints that the method of detection each monster used, and thus the methods you need to use to avoid detection, were a bit unclear. I did appreciate that it changed with different creatures throughout the game, and thus introduced gameplay variety that I perceived as a player naturally, but I would have appreciated creature intros that sussed out their nature a bit more.

I also felt like the game presented choices that implied consequences,
in the use of the WAU, or in which characters to save or euthanize
, and these choices went nowhere and did nothing beyond how you took them personally. That's fine, really, but for some reason I expected the game to be accounting these choices in a calculation for the ending. I wouldn't change this "full" ending, but maybe it would have been fun to have
which side of the "coin toss" plays out first (or last?)
determined by how many others you would have condemned to that same fate.

This is a game that has stayed with me a bit after finishing it. I like it quite a bit, but adding some control in the endings or some variety in the player options available for progressing might have prompted a sooner replay than the "every once in a while" I have planned out now. Still, getting on that "every once in a while" list is an accomplishment. And leaving your game's story themes echoing throughout a players head long after the credits is an even rarer one.
Click to expand...

Since I wrote this I finally finished (and turned around on) Alien: Isolation BTW.
 
J

Joeku

Member
Nev said:
I'd say for some people this might be considerably scarier than Amnesia.

The themes it plays with certainly are more unsettling than spooky castle for me. (I love Amnesia)
Click to expand...

More unsettling, sure; darkly thought-provoking, in the way that good sci fi is. It's very well written. Strictly speaking as a haunted house experience, though, it's not pushing that quite as hard as Amnesia did. I could never do more than an hour or so of that game (or others more directly inspired by it) but managed to work through SOMA with just the right amount of dread to keep me on my toes but not scare me off.

Imbarkus said:
Since I wrote this I finally finished (and turned around on) Alien: Isolation BTW.
Click to expand...

Good read! Alien Isolation felt like it was just too damn much for too damn long. For my part I loved getting to know Sevastopol, but I think my nerves just burnt out of being shocked at a certain point. AI is twice as long as SOMA, and I think it's Exhibit A in the case against horror being long-form.

SOMA, despite people having understandable issues with its encounters, feels like it hits that sweet spot of length for maximum effect. I'd talk about the ending, but there isn't a LttP topic for it going right now...and this is an announcement topic.

Play this game, people.
 
D

dancrane212

Member
Was playing this on my PSTV streamed from someone else's PS4 before I owned one back when SOMA launched. Ended up putting it on hold though once I got tires of the video streaming making the ocean sections too dark/compressed for me, but I always meant to go back to it after I got my own PS4 but never did.

The game has a cool tone and the story was headed in some intriguing directions; I really should pick it up again and restart my progress once my PS4 gets back to me.
 
D

Damn Silly

Member
Sweet. At the very least, I've heard that it has some very interesting ideas, so I'm sure I'll get round to it eventually, if not at launch.
 
J

jond76

Banned
Finally. This was one of the games I bought a PS4 for. I would highly recommend this to any Xbox only owner.
 
H

HeresSomeWeapons

Member
I must be in the minority of people who didn't think this game was very good. There's something, I suppose, to be said of the themes and perhaps of the experience, but as a game I found it mediocre at best. It really is mostly a walking simulator. The rare occasions where you have to actually do anything tend to be mostly tedious, and what are supposed to be the horror encounters tend to be mostly just frustrating. The cheap deaths from getting caught by a monster when you think you're hidden wear real thin after the first few times it happens and it really pulls you out of the experience. There just aren't enough options to avoid getting caught, especially later in the game. It also already feels dated, and it really isn't a very old game. But technically it's kind of a dog.

Three out of five stars. Mostly for the plot. As a horror game in a post-PT world it falls woefully short.

EDIT: If you're looking for a much better game that touches on the same themes, I highly recommend The Swapper.
 
D

Death Metalist

Member
Fits right below Silent Hill 2 as one of the most haunting and effective survival horror games I've ever played. The more people that get to play it, the better.
 
I

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
Joeku said:
Good read! Alien Isolation felt like it was just too damn much for too damn long. For my part I loved getting to know Sevastopol, but I think my nerves just burnt out of being shocked at a certain point. AI is twice as long as SOMA, and I think it's Exhibit A in the case against horror being long-form.
Click to expand...

Thanks! My solution for Alien: Isolation was to play it in two half-chunks, separated by a year. Worked great!

I wasn't sure if the game was too long or if it was just the way I sloooooowly inched everywhere, glancing all around me and freaked out, that dragged the experience out.
 
J

Joeku

Member
gamz said:
My kids love this shit. We can play it together. Cool
Click to expand...

It might be, uh, a little heavy for them, unless they're a little older or really cool.

Imbarkus said:
Thanks! My solution for Alien: Isolation was to play it in two half-chunks, separated by a year. Worked great!
Click to expand...

Weirdly that's almost exactly what I did (also scanned over a Youtube playthrough to remind myself of any story beats I forgot) but it still felt like too much in the end.
 
RowdyReverb

RowdyReverb

Member
Man I had forgotten about this game. It only came to platforms I don't own on release, so it had kinda fallen off my radar. Looking forward to giving it a try
 
D

Dream_Journey

Member
Don't miss this fantastic game folks! Will never forget about SOMA, that game was so fucking intense. Also i can put SOMA to my top 5 game list easily.

Btw, i wonder when we will hear about their next game(s).
 
F

Frigid Muffin

Neo Member
I still remember my reaction to the ending. I can't believe that I didn't suspect how it'd end, but I was so invested in the atmosphere. This is great news.
 
L

Louis Cyphre

Banned
The game started out fantastic until I got to some underwater level and got disoriented and lost interest. I'm kind of weird that way when I get stuck I just stop playing and move on to something else.
 
M

Mutant

Member
Nev said:
I'd say for some people this might be considerably scarier than Amnesia.

The themes it plays with certainly are more unsettling than spooky castle for me. (I love Amnesia)
Click to expand...

Yeah, this isn't jump scare city.

However BOOOOOY does some of the stuff in the game stick with you.
 
Y

Yabberwocky

Member
Excellent! Grab it if you haven't played it already, it's still one of my most memorable gaming experiences of the last few years. It's a rare game that leaves you questioning yourself, and what you would do - the game never judges you for the choices you make, either, but leaves that judgement up to you.
 
Stiler

Stiler

Member
Great to see it come to more platforms.

Soma was my GOTY, it just had one of the BEST stories of a game in a looooooong long time, it just sticks with you long after you've stopped playing it.

Louis Cyphre said:
The game started out fantastic until I got to some underwater level and got disoriented and lost interest. I'm kind of weird that way when I get stuck I just stop playing and move on to something else.
Click to expand...

The starting isn't even the best part, you are doing yourself a disservice by stopping as soon as you got into the water stuff, that's where the story and themes it sets fourth really pick up and the ending, oh man that ending will stick with you.
 
F

Foxshot

Neo Member
I really wonder how this game is going to sell on XB1? I mean, nearly two years after the release date is a tough pill for XB1 users to swallow. Anyhow, I'll try and give my support, but I need to see the pricing and a steep discount first.
 
M

Montresor

Member
I'm always glad to see these late ports come to Xbox One. Better late than never. I'd rather the game eventually come to my platform rather than not at all.

Only thing that sucks is these ports go unannounced for so god damn long. I wish that would change.

This game sounds great. Pleased to see games like this, Thumper, What Remains Of Edith Finch, and Broken Age get late ports.
 
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