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Soma (video game)

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Soma
Developer(s)Frictional Games
Publisher(s)Frictional Games
Director(s)Thomas Grip
Writer(s)Mikael Hedberg
Composer(s)Mikko Tarmia
EngineHPL Engine 3[2]
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4[1]
Release22 September 2015[1]
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Soma (stylized as SOMA) is a science fiction survival horror video game developed by Frictional Games and released on 22 September 2015.[3][4] The game takes place on PATHOS-II, an underwater remote research facility with machinery that begins to take human characteristics.[5][6]

Gameplay

Soma is a science fiction survival horror game played from a first-person perspective.[2] Thomas Grip of Frictional Games stated that the player would "encounter a number of strange creatures, each an embodiment of an aspect of our themes".[2] The game primarily utilizes elements of psychological horror instead of conventional scares found in most video games within the genre. Throughout the game, the player will find a large array of clues, such as notes and audio tapes, which builds atmosphere and furthers the plot. As with most titles by Frictional Games, there is little-to-no combat, and instead the player progresses through puzzle-solving, exploration and the use of stealth.

Synopsis

Setting

Soma takes place in an underwater research facility known as PATHOS-2. While the station itself is now in a state of disrepair, the player quickly establishes that PATHOS-2 was a group of stations scattered around the North Atlantic ocean originally functioning as a "space gun", or more precisely, a mass driver, an installation designed to send objects into space without the hassle of building expensive rockets. Unexpectedly, PATHOS-2 became a shelter and the last known human settlement to exist on Earth after a comet impact caused a major extinction event. There, the last humans survive on a day-to-day basis, attempting to fight the negative effects of their collective isolation. During this period, the machines in PATHOS-2 begin to develop human characteristics and a consciousness.

Plot

In May 2015, protagonist Simon Jarrett is involved in a fatal car crash in Toronto that kills his friend Ashley and leaves Simon with severe brain damage and cranial bleeding. Because of lingering effects from the accident, Simon agrees to an experimental brain scan in a run-down medical lab. During the scan, Simon appears to black out, and regains consciousness almost a century later in the Upsilon branch of PATHOS-2, a seemingly abandoned underwater research facility, with no knowledge of how he got there. Shortly after he wakes up, Simon begins to communicate with someone named Catherine, who instructs him to come to her location in Lambda station. While exploring PATHOS-2, Simon learns that he woke up in the year 2104. In 2103, a massive comet had devastated Earth's surface, leaving PATHOS-2 as the last outpost of humanity. Along the way to Lambda, Simon meets a robot that believes it is human, as well as numerous other robots that are hostile to him.

Arriving at Lambda, he realizes that "Catherine" is not human, but a "scan" of a human consciousness placed into a robot body. She reveals that "Simon" is also a scan of the original Simon, which has been placed into a robotic body, though she does not know who did it. Catherine explains that the facility has been taken over by an artificial intelligence known as the "Warden Unit" (WAU), and it has turned all the humans on PATHOS-2 into bio-mechanical monsters through the use of structure gel, believing that this is the best way to carry out its prime directive of preserving humanity and the station. She tells Simon about the ARK, a computer that runs a simulated world containing the scans of the station's staff, which was created to let humanity "survive" beyond the Earth. Despite being complete, the ARK was never launched into space. Simon agrees to help her recover the ARK and launch it into space.

As the ARK is located in a station deep beneath the abyssal Atlantic sea, Simon must construct a new body that can withstand the pressure before descending to retrieve it. After constructing the new body, Catherine moves Simon from his old body into the new one. As Simon awakes in the new suit, he hears another Simon talking in the previous suit he was in. Simon realizes that he wasn't actually moved, but copied into the new suit, as Catherine tells him that it is not possible to move scans of people. Simon can choose to either kill the "old" Simon, or let him survive.

Descending into the Abyss, Simon retrieves the ARK, taking it to Phi station. Simon learns that the original Catherine was accidentally killed by her colleagues when they had a disagreement over whether or not they should launch the ARK. Simon successfully loads the ARK into PATHOS-2's space gun, with Catherine promising to scan them into the ARK once it launches. Once the ARK launches, Simon is confused as to why they're still on PATHOS-2, with Catherine explaining yet again that she cannot transfer brain scans, only copy them. The player's Simon "got the wrong flip of the coin"; their copies are aboard the ARK while they must be left behind on the station. After a heated argument with Simon, who refuses to accept his fate, Catherine shuts down when her systems fail under the unconstrained pressure, leaving Simon alone on the station.

In a post-credits scene, the version of Simon copied to the ARK, completely unaware of the other version left behind on PATHOS-2, wakes up in an idyllic landscape. He takes a survey which asks if he would prefer to live an artificial existence in the ARK or accept death. No matter the player's choice, Simon is reunited with Catherine in front of a futuristic island city. Meanwhile, it is shown that the ARK successfully made it into space aboard a satellite as it leaves behind a devastated Earth.

Development

Soma was in the making since 2010.[2] It was revealed in April 2014, that setting the game in the bottom of the ocean was an idea which was decided on a "whim" by Frictional Games co-founders Thomas Grip and Jens Nilsson, and Grip further said that they wanted to try this for a long time.[7]

Marketing

A teaser trailer featuring gameplay footage of Soma was released on 11 October 2013.[3] The official website's info page displays a quote by author Philip K. Dick.[6] Another trailer of the game was released on 3 April 2014.[7]

Two live action shorts, "Vivarium" and "Mockingbird" were shot back-to-back at LeftJet Studios in Seattle, over the course of nine days. The films were produced by Imagos Films, an independent film company based in Seattle.[8][9] In collaboration with Frictional Games, Imagos Films also completed a set of live action clips, collectively given the tentative title "Depth", which was set to release in 2015 in monthly installments and would connect to the story of the upcoming game.[10][11] Due to production problems the release date was delayed and on September 28, 2015, shortly after the release of the game, Frictional Games announced they had made available the first clip on their YouTube channel under the title "SOMA - Transmission #1", with seven more to follow in each coming day.[12] The live action miniseries acts a prequel to the events of the game, albeit one which is inspired by its plot and characters rather than being strictly canonical to it.[13]

Reception

Soma has sold 92,000 units as of October 1, 2015, 10 days after its release.[28] Frictional Games' goal is to sell 100,000 copies in the first month. Sales of near 300,000 units are needed to recoup the development costs of the game.[29]

Soma received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 84.87% based on 35 reviews and 85/100 based on 55 reviews[14][16] and the PlayStation 4 version 80.60% based on 15 reviews and 79/100 based on 21 reviews.[15][17]

Richard Wakeling from GameSpot gave the game a 9 out of 10 and praised the "engaging and thought-provoking" story, the "impressive" writing and voice acting, and the atmosphere and sound design, which together, fills the game with "dread" and provides a "chilling", "edge of your seat" feeling. Wakeling disliked the sections in which the player walks on the ocean floor, however, and also felt that enemy encounters were "tedious".[21]

Philip Kollar of Polygon gave the game a 9/10 and wrote: "I don't know if SOMA will scare people as much as Amnesia did, but it is without a doubt a stronger game, with better pacing, smarter writing and more powerful subject matter. This isn't a horror game about obfuscation; events aren't building to a huge, shocking twist. More than anything, it's about the process of dealing with the horror of reality."[26]

Caitlin Cooke from Destructoid awarded the game a 9/10. She stated "SOMA gets everything right about the survival horror genre. It’s like someone created the perfect video game mixtape -- a little bit of abandoned underwater atmosphere from BioShock, detailed environments a la Gone Home, and (of course) the frenzied monster mechanics from Amnesia. Even if you dislike non-combat-oriented games, I dare you to give it a try."[18]

Tim Turi from Game Informer awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10. He commended the sound for convincingly immersing the player in the game, as well as the "eerie" environments, the "simple", "reliable" controls, and the "intriguing" narrative. Turi had minor criticisms concerning character models, stealth, and the interaction with monsters.[19]

In his review for GamesRadar, Leon Hurley wrote: "A disturbingly different take on interesting sci-fi concepts let down by a slow start and disappointing monsters, but worth it overall." Hurley praised the "great" story, "likeable" characters, and the "interesting and unpredictable" locations. He also commended the game for its ability to pull the player through the story by providing rewarding situations. Hurley did feel "lost" at times, as there are no distinct directions, and felt that the monsters lacked any threat.[22]

IGN's Daniel Krupa scored the game an 8.1/10 and wrote: "SOMA is a sustained exploration of an original and thought-provoking idea. The concept of artificial intelligence has been explored by lots of science fiction, so it isn’t unique in that regard, but it makes particularly intelligent use of video game conventions to present those familiar ideas in new and surprising ways. At 12 hours long, the story feels a little stretched, especially when so much of its gameplay feels less original than its ideas. That’s not to say its scares aren’t effective or intense but I found myself drawn to its quiet moments in which its philosophical yet unpretentious storytelling is allowed to breathe without interference from unintuitive puzzles and monsters that can’t be manipulated."[24]

References

  1. ^ a b Futter, Mike (28 May 2015). "Frictional's Soma Has A Release Date, 12 Minutes Of New Gameplay Footage, And An ARG". Game Informer. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Grip, Thomas (11 October 2013). "SOMA: Frictional Games Brings Sci-Fi Horror to PS4". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b Savge, Phil (11 October 2013). "SOMA trailer shows first game footage, Frictional's sci-fi horror due 2015". PC Gamer. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  4. ^ Nilsson, Jens (29 May 2015). "SOMA Release Date And Gameplay Trailer". Frictional Games website. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  5. ^ Nichols, Scott (11 October 2013). "'SOMA': First gameplay trailer from 'Amnesia' creators - watch". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "SOMA - Info". Somagame.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b Grip, Thomas (4 April 2014). "New SOMA trailer dives deep into the darkness". Blog.eu.playstation.com. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Leftjet Studios - Check out The Escapist article about a... - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  9. ^ "In The Games Of Madness: SOMA Officially Revealed". frictionalgames.blogspot.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Don Thacker Interview: Motivational Growth". Renegade Cinema. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  11. ^ "In The Games Of Madness: SOMA - 10 days after launch". frictionalgames.blogspot.com. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  12. ^ "First of a daily video series from Frictional Games". frictionalgames.com. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Depth Was A Hoax". frictionalgames.com. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  14. ^ a b "SOMA for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  15. ^ a b "SOMA for PlayStation 4". GameRankings. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  16. ^ a b "SOMA for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  17. ^ a b "SOMA for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  18. ^ a b Cooke, Caitlin (21 September 2015). "Review: SOMA". Destructoid. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  19. ^ a b Turi, Tim (21 September 2015). "Intense Underwater Horror That Makes You Think - Soma - PC". Game Informer. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  20. ^ Vazquez, Jessica (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  21. ^ a b Wakeling, Richard (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  22. ^ a b Hurley, Leon (21 September 2015). "Soma review: deep sea nightmares". GamesRadar. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  23. ^ Jones, Brandon (22 September 2015). "SOMA Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  24. ^ a b Krupa, Daniel (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". IGN. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  25. ^ Kelly, Andy (21 September 2015). "SOMA review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  26. ^ a b Kollar, Philip (21 September 2015). "SOMA review: 20,000 leagues". Polygon. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  27. ^ Orry, Tom (22 September 2015). "SOMA Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  28. ^ Porter, Matt (1 October 2015). "Early SOMA Sales Figures Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  29. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (1 October 2015). "Soma has sold 92k copies in a week". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 1 October 2015.

See also

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