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A lot has been made of how games are supposedly becoming more 'mature' or 'adult', but truth is that lot of games - particularly those you have to be over eighteen to buy - aren't mature at all. Instead, they're the video-game equivalent of giggling at a girlie mag or chasing someone with a bit of dog poo on a stick. Take the Grand Theft Auto series for example - they're great games, but they're hardly mature story-wise. Not that I'm just pointing the finger at Grand Theft Auto, though. While video-game storytelling has been getting better - The Last Of Us being a prime example - many games still have a storyline on a par with a Michael Bay film, if that.
Soma, however, is a different kettle of mutated nightmare fish entirely, a game that contains mature themes but is also genuinely unsettling. It's from Frictional Games, the team behind the deeply scary - and heavily 'Lets Play'ed - Amnesia: The Dark Descent. But whereas Amnesia had you wandering around an old castle, Soma has a more futuristic sci-fi setting. The game takes place on an underwater research station, although you, as the player, aren't one of the station's employees. In fact, you have no idea how you got there, and things don't get any better for you from thereon in.
As you might have guessed, Soma is a 'horror' game of sorts though, not unlike Silent Hill 2, it's more unsettling than plain scary. Gameplay typically involves wandering around, carrying objects to and fro, flicking switches and clambering through the odd vent. Yes, it's 3D survival horror time, but Soma does far more than many of the 3D horror games that seem to be flooding Steam et al. The game does contain the odd jump scare and a few monster encounters, but the game's real horror comes from its setting and narrative. Right from the word go, it becomes clear that there's something very wrong with the station, even before you encounter your first bloodstain.
When you do finally encounter a foe you'll almost be relieved that the horror has been given a tangible form. At which point you'll be scared all over again as you realise said form is out to kill you and, given that you can't fight back in this game, so stealth is the order of the day. Unlike Amnesia, there are several different foes to be discovered and avoided. Despite this variety, my 'favourite' enemy in Soma had to be the equivalent of Amnesia's shambling monstrosities, monsters that only see you when you look at them. So you end up crouching in a corner, wanting to know if they're gone but being afraid to look in case they're still there. Genius.
The game features a few audio-logs that help advance the story, although they're fairly spread out. This isn't a game where you'll be tripping over speech records as if they'd been scattered around by the Plot Fairy. Soma lets your mind fill in the blanks, keeping you guessing until it finally reveals what happened. But there are also plenty of mini-mysteries along the way. I won't give the plot away, but it does touch upon the nature of consciousness, by way of robotics. It's a plot that is genuinely mature and which does make you think. Yet despite this, the game's never preachy, nor does it rely on cutscenes or overlong conversations to further the plot.
Soma's locales and enemies also look absolutely superb on the PS4 and, if you've got enough computing horsepower, on PC. My PC isn't cutting edge, but it was able to run the game with only the occasional pause. Naturally, Soma's decaying research station - and the areas you visit when you occasionally venture out into the ocean - aren't particularly bright and shiny. But the game manages to avoid using the 100% brown colour palette that some other games - Gears of War etc - tend to default to. The voice acting is excellent, as are the sound effects, with creaks and other unexpected noises adding to the tension. There is some music in the game, but not a lot and it rarely dominates a scene, which suits the game perfectly.
So is it all good? Not quite. Soma does tend to drag a bit, about halfway through the game. Without giving too much away, you're told to do something to overcome an obstacle. So you perform the action question, only to find you need to go somewhere else in the area to get another item or flick a switch. So you eventually do this, and get back to the original obstacle. Are you done? No, because while you get past the obstacle in question, there's another obstacle further along and you need to deal with this. Granted, a lot of games do this, but in Soma's case it feels like they games designers were trying to lengthen the game unnecessarily. Granted, the station is supposed to be falling part, but once the third 'vehicle' you've got into crashes, irritation can start to set in.
Thankfully, the rest of the game is better than that, but that section - which lasts a couple of hours - doesn't do the game any favours. But the rest of the game is so great I can live with it and, I suspect, so can you. Soma is also suprisingly replayable, despite the fact that it's relatively linear, because once you know what the story's all about, you start seeing events in the game in a new light. Soma is a rare treat - a 'horror' game that's not only frightening and fun to play but which is also intelligent and genuinely mature. Whether you're normally a sci-fi/horror fan or not, you owe it to yourself to play it. Superb stuff.
(This review is also on my Destructoid and Wordpress blog)
Soma, however, is a different kettle of mutated nightmare fish entirely, a game that contains mature themes but is also genuinely unsettling. It's from Frictional Games, the team behind the deeply scary - and heavily 'Lets Play'ed - Amnesia: The Dark Descent. But whereas Amnesia had you wandering around an old castle, Soma has a more futuristic sci-fi setting. The game takes place on an underwater research station, although you, as the player, aren't one of the station's employees. In fact, you have no idea how you got there, and things don't get any better for you from thereon in.
As you might have guessed, Soma is a 'horror' game of sorts though, not unlike Silent Hill 2, it's more unsettling than plain scary. Gameplay typically involves wandering around, carrying objects to and fro, flicking switches and clambering through the odd vent. Yes, it's 3D survival horror time, but Soma does far more than many of the 3D horror games that seem to be flooding Steam et al. The game does contain the odd jump scare and a few monster encounters, but the game's real horror comes from its setting and narrative. Right from the word go, it becomes clear that there's something very wrong with the station, even before you encounter your first bloodstain.
When you do finally encounter a foe you'll almost be relieved that the horror has been given a tangible form. At which point you'll be scared all over again as you realise said form is out to kill you and, given that you can't fight back in this game, so stealth is the order of the day. Unlike Amnesia, there are several different foes to be discovered and avoided. Despite this variety, my 'favourite' enemy in Soma had to be the equivalent of Amnesia's shambling monstrosities, monsters that only see you when you look at them. So you end up crouching in a corner, wanting to know if they're gone but being afraid to look in case they're still there. Genius.
The game features a few audio-logs that help advance the story, although they're fairly spread out. This isn't a game where you'll be tripping over speech records as if they'd been scattered around by the Plot Fairy. Soma lets your mind fill in the blanks, keeping you guessing until it finally reveals what happened. But there are also plenty of mini-mysteries along the way. I won't give the plot away, but it does touch upon the nature of consciousness, by way of robotics. It's a plot that is genuinely mature and which does make you think. Yet despite this, the game's never preachy, nor does it rely on cutscenes or overlong conversations to further the plot.
Soma's locales and enemies also look absolutely superb on the PS4 and, if you've got enough computing horsepower, on PC. My PC isn't cutting edge, but it was able to run the game with only the occasional pause. Naturally, Soma's decaying research station - and the areas you visit when you occasionally venture out into the ocean - aren't particularly bright and shiny. But the game manages to avoid using the 100% brown colour palette that some other games - Gears of War etc - tend to default to. The voice acting is excellent, as are the sound effects, with creaks and other unexpected noises adding to the tension. There is some music in the game, but not a lot and it rarely dominates a scene, which suits the game perfectly.
So is it all good? Not quite. Soma does tend to drag a bit, about halfway through the game. Without giving too much away, you're told to do something to overcome an obstacle. So you perform the action question, only to find you need to go somewhere else in the area to get another item or flick a switch. So you eventually do this, and get back to the original obstacle. Are you done? No, because while you get past the obstacle in question, there's another obstacle further along and you need to deal with this. Granted, a lot of games do this, but in Soma's case it feels like they games designers were trying to lengthen the game unnecessarily. Granted, the station is supposed to be falling part, but once the third 'vehicle' you've got into crashes, irritation can start to set in.
Thankfully, the rest of the game is better than that, but that section - which lasts a couple of hours - doesn't do the game any favours. But the rest of the game is so great I can live with it and, I suspect, so can you. Soma is also suprisingly replayable, despite the fact that it's relatively linear, because once you know what the story's all about, you start seeing events in the game in a new light. Soma is a rare treat - a 'horror' game that's not only frightening and fun to play but which is also intelligent and genuinely mature. Whether you're normally a sci-fi/horror fan or not, you owe it to yourself to play it. Superb stuff.
(This review is also on my Destructoid and Wordpress blog)
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A lot has been made of how games are supposedly becoming more 'mature' or 'adult', but truth is that lot of games - particularly those you have to be over eighteen to buy - aren't mature at all. Instead, they're the video-game equivalent of giggling at a girlie mag or chasing someone with a bit of dog poo on a stick. Take the Grand Theft Auto series for example - they're great games, but they're hardly mature story-wise. Not that I'm just pointing the finger at Grand Theft Auto, though. While video-game storytelling has been getting better - The Last Of Us being a prime example - many games still have a storyline on a par with a Michael Bay film, if that.
Soma, however, is a different kettle of mutated nightmare fish entirely, a game that contains mature themes but is also genuinely unsettling. It's from Frictional Games, the team behind the deeply scary - and heavily 'Lets Play'ed - Amnesia: The Dark Descent. But whereas Amnesia had you wandering around an old castle, Soma has a more futuristic sci-fi setting. The game takes place on an underwater research station, although you, as the player, aren't one of the station's employees. In fact, you have no idea how you got there, and things don't get any better for you from thereon in.
As you might have guessed, Soma is a 'horror' game of sorts though, not unlike Silent Hill 2, it's more unsettling than plain scary. Gameplay typically involves wandering around, carrying objects to and fro, flicking switches and clambering through the odd vent. Yes, it's 3D survival horror time, but Soma does far more than many of the 3D horror games that seem to be flooding Steam et al. The game does contain the odd jump scare and a few monster encounters, but the game's real horror comes from its setting and narrative. Right from the word go, it becomes clear that there's something very wrong with the station, even before you encounter your first bloodstain.
When you do finally encounter a foe you'll almost be relieved that the horror has been given a tangible form. At which point you'll be scared all over again as you realise said form is out to kill you and, given that you can't fight back in this game, so stealth is the order of the day. Unlike Amnesia, there are several different foes to be discovered and avoided. Despite this variety, my 'favourite' enemy in Soma had to be the equivalent of Amnesia's shambling monstrosities, monsters that only see you when you look at them. So you end up crouching in a corner, wanting to know if they're gone but being afraid to look in case they're still there. Genius.
The game features a few audio-logs that help advance the story, although they're fairly spread out. This isn't a game where you'll be tripping over speech records as if they'd been scattered around by the Plot Fairy. Soma lets your mind fill in the blanks, keeping you guessing until it finally reveals what happened. But there are also plenty of mini-mysteries along the way. I won't give the plot away, but it does touch upon the nature of consciousness, by way of robotics. It's a plot that is genuinely mature and which does make you think. Yet despite this, the game's never preachy, nor does it rely on cutscenes or overlong conversations to further the plot.
Soma's locales and enemies also look absolutely superb on the PS4 and, if you've got enough computing horsepower, on PC. My PC isn't cutting edge, but it was able to run the game with only the occasional pause. Naturally, Soma's decaying research station - and the areas you visit when you occasionally venture out into the ocean - aren't particularly bright and shiny. But the game manages to avoid using the 100% brown colour palette that some other games - Gears of War etc - tend to default to. The voice acting is excellent, as are the sound effects, with creaks and other unexpected noises adding to the tension. There is some music in the game, but not a lot and it rarely dominates a scene, which suits the game perfectly.
So is it all good? Not quite. Soma does tend to drag a bit, about halfway through the game. Without giving too much away, you're told to do something to overcome an obstacle. So you perform the action question, only to find you need to go somewhere else in the area to get another item or flick a switch. So you eventually do this, and get back to the original obstacle. Are you done? No, because while you get past the obstacle in question, there's another obstacle further along and you need to deal with this. Granted, a lot of games do this, but in Soma's case it feels like they games designers were trying to lengthen the game unnecessarily. Granted, the station is supposed to be falling part, but once the third 'vehicle' you've got into crashes, irritation can start to set in.
Thankfully, the rest of the game is better than that, but that section - which lasts a couple of hours - doesn't do the game any favours. But the rest of the game is so great I can live with it and, I suspect, so can you. Soma is also suprisingly replayable, despite the fact that it's relatively linear, because once you know what the story's all about, you start seeing events in the game in a new light. Soma is a rare treat - a 'horror' game that's not only frightening and fun to play but which is also intelligent and genuinely mature. Whether you're normally a sci-fi/horror fan or not, you owe it to yourself to play it. Superb stuff.
(This review is also on my Destructoid and Wordpress blog)
Soma, however, is a different kettle of mutated nightmare fish entirely, a game that contains mature themes but is also genuinely unsettling. It's from Frictional Games, the team behind the deeply scary - and heavily 'Lets Play'ed - Amnesia: The Dark Descent. But whereas Amnesia had you wandering around an old castle, Soma has a more futuristic sci-fi setting. The game takes place on an underwater research station, although you, as the player, aren't one of the station's employees. In fact, you have no idea how you got there, and things don't get any better for you from thereon in.
As you might have guessed, Soma is a 'horror' game of sorts though, not unlike Silent Hill 2, it's more unsettling than plain scary. Gameplay typically involves wandering around, carrying objects to and fro, flicking switches and clambering through the odd vent. Yes, it's 3D survival horror time, but Soma does far more than many of the 3D horror games that seem to be flooding Steam et al. The game does contain the odd jump scare and a few monster encounters, but the game's real horror comes from its setting and narrative. Right from the word go, it becomes clear that there's something very wrong with the station, even before you encounter your first bloodstain.
When you do finally encounter a foe you'll almost be relieved that the horror has been given a tangible form. At which point you'll be scared all over again as you realise said form is out to kill you and, given that you can't fight back in this game, so stealth is the order of the day. Unlike Amnesia, there are several different foes to be discovered and avoided. Despite this variety, my 'favourite' enemy in Soma had to be the equivalent of Amnesia's shambling monstrosities, monsters that only see you when you look at them. So you end up crouching in a corner, wanting to know if they're gone but being afraid to look in case they're still there. Genius.
The game features a few audio-logs that help advance the story, although they're fairly spread out. This isn't a game where you'll be tripping over speech records as if they'd been scattered around by the Plot Fairy. Soma lets your mind fill in the blanks, keeping you guessing until it finally reveals what happened. But there are also plenty of mini-mysteries along the way. I won't give the plot away, but it does touch upon the nature of consciousness, by way of robotics. It's a plot that is genuinely mature and which does make you think. Yet despite this, the game's never preachy, nor does it rely on cutscenes or overlong conversations to further the plot.
Soma's locales and enemies also look absolutely superb on the PS4 and, if you've got enough computing horsepower, on PC. My PC isn't cutting edge, but it was able to run the game with only the occasional pause. Naturally, Soma's decaying research station - and the areas you visit when you occasionally venture out into the ocean - aren't particularly bright and shiny. But the game manages to avoid using the 100% brown colour palette that some other games - Gears of War etc - tend to default to. The voice acting is excellent, as are the sound effects, with creaks and other unexpected noises adding to the tension. There is some music in the game, but not a lot and it rarely dominates a scene, which suits the game perfectly.
So is it all good? Not quite. Soma does tend to drag a bit, about halfway through the game. Without giving too much away, you're told to do something to overcome an obstacle. So you perform the action question, only to find you need to go somewhere else in the area to get another item or flick a switch. So you eventually do this, and get back to the original obstacle. Are you done? No, because while you get past the obstacle in question, there's another obstacle further along and you need to deal with this. Granted, a lot of games do this, but in Soma's case it feels like they games designers were trying to lengthen the game unnecessarily. Granted, the station is supposed to be falling part, but once the third 'vehicle' you've got into crashes, irritation can start to set in.
Thankfully, the rest of the game is better than that, but that section - which lasts a couple of hours - doesn't do the game any favours. But the rest of the game is so great I can live with it and, I suspect, so can you. Soma is also suprisingly replayable, despite the fact that it's relatively linear, because once you know what the story's all about, you start seeing events in the game in a new light. Soma is a rare treat - a 'horror' game that's not only frightening and fun to play but which is also intelligent and genuinely mature. Whether you're normally a sci-fi/horror fan or not, you owe it to yourself to play it. Superb stuff.
(This review is also on my Destructoid and Wordpress blog)