Soma (2015)

This game holds up very well for being over 10 years old.

This game did a really good job for its time of really immersing you in the world. You wake up in your room and prep for a doctor's visit, head to the office to find it in sort of disarray, but proceed with the scan, and then you "wake up" in a different place entirely, only to find out it's an underwater station, 100 years in the future, after a comet wiped out most of humanity. All of these things you do, you actually do, picking up and inspecting items, reading and listening to lore; it's all HUD-less and while it's not a new concept, it really draws you in.

The gameplay is a mix of stealth and evading the enemies guarding certain areas and puzzle solving to unlock or wrap up objectives. The puzzles are pretty simple compared to true puzzle games, though some can be a little unintuitive. So if you don't have a lot of experience with video game puzzles you may hit some blockers, but veterans of the genre will mostly breeze through it.

I didn't like that some of the stealth sections aren't true stealth as they require you to be seen and chased in order to progress, essentially baiting the baddies into following you one way so that a door/objective is unguarded briefly. I genuinely dreaded the stealth stuff and could do without them, but then it would be a different game and not SOMA, so I can't really complain. These sections are genuinely heart-pounding, edge of your seat, even when you've died and replayed them a few times.

The devs did a great job exploring the sci-fi theme of taking human brain scans and storing/running copies, and exploited it for some interesting puzzles and ideas. I especially liked the part where you're trying to extract some information from someone, so you have to repeatedly rerun the simulation and learn something about the person's background in order to manipulate them into feeling comfortable enough to divulge what you need. I liked how they touched on what it means to be a copy or have a copy of yourself living its own life or in a simulation; though it was a little unbelievable how Simon reacts to realizing he's not the Simon getting sent on the ARK; like after everything we do in the game, he wouldn't understand that his consciousness isn't actually be transferred, just a copy of himself. I feel like the game does a bad job with the "coin toss" analogy of "which consciousness do I become." I absolutely loved the dark themes and moral choices that are made like turning people off, the part where Simon has to turn off his first body after he's transferred, and how the Simon that gets made down in the underwater station accidentally destroys the Catherine computer and is stuck down there in the dark by himself. Just lots of really cool and gruesome ideas that the devs weren't afraid to play around with.

Overall, really well executed game with some cool themes and moral conundrums. You can get it for a steal and it still holds up 10 years later. Absolutely recommend.

I really liked the story and the atmosphere of the game, but I think the more walking-sim style of horror game isn't too heavily to my liking. I do preface that I am a little bitch and don't like the sections where you just gotta run from monsters. Some of the interactions were fun and creepy and cool, but some were just difficult and annoying to get around.

The philosophy and questions the game poses are super interesting and fun to think about, but at the same time, I wish they had changed the ending slightly to have Simon act a little differently and slightly more competently. I'm all for an emotional breakdown at the understanding of what is going on, but being confused about what was happening was more bothersome than anything. I really enjoyed it, and I also understand it.

Still, maybe I was hoping it would better reflect how I would have felt in that situation, since up until that point, we are essentially the catalyst and vessel for Simon, making all of the decisions based upon what WE, the player, would prefer.

Banger game, in all honesty, made me think, and even if I didn't love the gameplay, it was short enough that it didn't truly get in my way.

This title is a deeply atmospheric psychological horror experience that trades traditional scares for profound existential dread. Set in the decaying underwater facility PATHOS-II, the game thrusts you into a haunting narrative about identity, consciousness, and what it truly means to be human. The MC is called Simon Jarrett, an ordinary man who, after a brain scan in 2015, wakes up decades later in a mysterious research station at the bottom of the ocean. As he explores the flooded corridors and abandoned laboratories, Simon uncovers disturbing truths about humanity’s extinction and the desperate attempts of the station’s AI and its former inhabitants to preserve consciousness through technology.

The narrative is gripping, unfolding through environmental storytelling, computer logs, and tense dialogue that gradually reveals a terrifying yet thought-provoking picture of the world. Unlike most horror games, it doesn’t rely on jump scares or gore. Instead, its horror comes from philosophical unease, the blurred boundaries between humans and machines, the loss of self, and the nature of existence without physical form. It’s a game that makes you question your own identity and morality as you make difficult choices with no clear right answers. Despite all this, the game doesn't really have any moral or decision making mechanics, which is unfortunate since it could improve it's replay value.

Visually, it captures the oppressive isolation of the ocean floor perfectly. The lighting and sound design work hand-in-hand to build an atmosphere of suffocating tension. You can hear the creak of metal under pressure, the distant hum of machinery, and the distorted cries of something that used to be human. The art direction is superb, combining gritty industrial realism with eerie sci-fi surrealism. The gameplay is mostly exploratory, interspersed with stealth sections where you must avoid hostile creatures. These segments are among the game’s weaker points, you may find them frustrating or at odds with the otherwise slow, meditative pace. Fortunately, the later-added Safe Mode allows you to experience the story without worrying about being attacked, making it ideal for those more interested in the narrative than the horror mechanics.

What makes this title stand out the most is its emotional and intellectual resonance. It’s less about surviving monsters and more about confronting what happens when humanity transcends, its own physicality. By the time the credits roll, most people are left reflecting on questions that linger long after the screen goes dark. In short, this game is a masterful fusion of science fiction and psychological horror. It’s a slow, heavy, and deeply affecting experience that rewards patience and introspection. If you value atmosphere, storytelling, and existential themes over action, this is a game that will stay with you.

This game is not for everyone, it is one of the heaviest titles that I've ever played, and if you are not a fan of this kind of game than I would stay away from this one. I would also recommend not playing this is you have a hard time with horror experiences, because despite me considering myself almost bullet-proof when it comes to these games, I admit that it wasn't a walk in the park. Ultimately, this is truly one of the best games of it's genre, it showed how the Amnesia team evolved in absolutely every way possible, especially when it comes to story-telling and writing, I consider this a must-play not just if you like horror titles, but also if you like thought provoking stories.

Man, this is one of my favourite horror games. I played it on Safe Mode, and the overwhelming consensus seems to be that that's the superior way to play in order to experience the atmosphere and be able to take in the setting and details, so I concur and would recommend other players do the same. This isn't a jumpscare-y game, per se, especially with Safe Mode enabled, but it's horror in the psychological, pervading, keeps-you-up-at-night-having-an-existential-crisis way, which is my favourite flavour of horror. Even when I was at my absolute wimpiest and couldn't make myself watch five minutes of a horror movie, I loved psychological horror - plot twists, bendy narratives, eerie atmospheres, that feeling of something just under the surface being terribly, terribly wrong but not knowing what yet... SOMA has all of it and more.

People rag on Simon for being unintelligent as a protagonist, but I think he's written realistically for someone whose entire arc revolves around the fact that he has brain trauma, as well as the fact that he's very clearly in deep denial about a lot of things right up until the ending of the game.

I also understand why people criticise the ending for adding the post-credits sequence and say it ruins the emotions of the initial ending scene, but I wouldn't change it. The crushing, shocking despair of the first scene, only for that overwhelming relief when you find yourself on the ARK, and the brilliant way they re-incorporated the survey that they'd had you take earlier was great. I ended up with completely different answers to when I'd taken it the first time, and a huge part of that was because of that relief and gratitude I felt in comparison to being down there; I don't think it could've worked so well any other way.

I don't like horror games bacause it's stress for nothing. Fear is not a pleasure exept if it shared maybe... But the first part in the room make me think it's a good game, good interactions with physics, good ambiant, everything of a good horror game look to be here, that's why i will not search for that omnitool ! xD

For people that say that robots doesn't fear : play this game ! xD

Pros

• Great touch at high psychological and philosophical levels.
• The atmospheric environments is spot-on
• Sound design and voice acting is what made this game an incredible experience

Cons

• The gameplay is really simple.

There were certainly moments in the game where it was just really intense. The game was more focused on telling a clever story than it was being a horror game. It is an experience in addition to being a high achievement in storytelling and art. The way that It was strung together in this game was phenomenal. Such a sombre ending though.

Soma is a walking sim with light puzzle solving (item gates). It is very similar to Moons of Madness or other Frictional Games (such as Amnesia, the Dark Descent) I liked the game but the story went places that I found questionable and somewhat disappointing. To explain my view (without too much spoilers) there are some places you can take sci fi that explore hard subjects, but if you do take those kinds of subjects you have an obligation to explain or view them with hard science. Some historical examples of science fiction ideas that cross into this domain are A.I.

30 years ago our concepts of AI were drastically different than what they are now (Blade Runner) compared to 60 years ago (Forbidden Planet) Because most people simply know more about what AI is and is not. Soma disappointed me with this, and tackles some concepts in such a way which aren't very sound from both a scientific and philosophic view, but I was still supposed to roll with it even though I knew better, and well I found that a bit grating. The worst of it though was the ending (the one that rolls after the credits) in which suddenly the game chooses (or would seem to suggest) an entirely different view, which is in no way accounted for nor explained.

The ending was a truly awful ending. after a whole story that i completely disagree with the worst of it is that they suddenly change their mind at the last minute for no discernable reasons. Once they took the route they did, the initial ending was the right idea, and they should have just pushed it hard and then they could have tackled a kind of subsequent 'immortality problem' which could have played out quite nicely by letting the player 'hang around trapped in isolation' after the credits until realizing they were trapped forever (inside the piloting machine, and go into a kind of eternal panic)

In addition to these things, it stacks on numerous plot holes as well.

BUT the good tight environments, minimal game play and brooding claustrophobic atmosphere with selective sneaking is all good stuff. I just wish that the overall idea of this game had presented its case better. Had it found a way to do so, and tweaked those things accordingly, it would have been a game that very well could have scared the shit out of me instead of just being another aesthetically cool, creepy corridor-crawler walking sim/stealth hybrid that borrows its influence from other games.

Great sci-fi horror walking sim. The plot and dialogue are very engaging and explore themes like the nature of consciousness, the role our physical forms play in our sense of identity, and how perspective shapes out experience of reality.

The puzzles are not too challenging, but enough to make me feel like I'm not just watching a story unfold... and I never found a point where figuring out the next step was any harder than exploring another area I haven't explored yet.

It loses a star from me because mechanically, it tries - and fails - at building a stealth/evasion mechanic into the game to, I presume, make it feel like less of a walking sim. There are times when it successfully raises the dramatic tension, creepiness factor, and sense of danger, but other times when it is frustrating and just gets in the way of the narrative.

The particular flavor of existential dread SOMA imparts in the player may not be entirely new, even for casual scifi fans. I was confronted with the idea of being a copy of myself, of being on the losing side of the coin toss as Simon in the game says, as a young teen watching the Stargate SG-1 episode Tin Man where the crew comes back from an advanced but abandoned planet only to realize they've been turned into androids. They're sent back to restore themselves, only to realize they haven't been turned into androids, they've been copied, and ultimately have to watch the flesh and blood originals leave while they stay with the planet's sole inhabitant (also an android) and the unique power source that is the only thing keeping their bodies going.

Then of course there was the horrifying realization of how Star Trek transporters actually work once I started watching that in my early twenties. It would take me a little longer to realize pretty much everything in Stargate had been lifted from Star Trek.

However, what SOMA does to make this its own is combine and conflate a very personal crisis of identity and self with a much larger crisis involving the identity of the entire human race, which has been wiped out by a devastating impact event and only lives on as digital brain scans in a virtual world called the ARK. These two themes build upon each other into a haunting crescendo that will leave you thinking about the game long after the credits roll.

What you will try not to think about is pretty much everything else in the game, which doesn't live up to the brilliant story at best, and actively detracts from it at worst. Let's talk about it.

Visuals

First, the visuals. They're bad. There's just really no charitable way to say it. The game has no unique, strong art direction, instead opting for the generic, "realistic" style most AAA games aim for, but with a fraction of the budget. The result is a plethora of textures that look like they came from the PS2 era, and some very dodgy looking character models. Throughout the game you come across actual humans who have been kept alive by a sort of nano-machine A.I. programmed to keep humanity alive however it can, even if it involves shoving tubes through them and letting them live in agony or as zombies. These human models are so bad they actually took me out of the story, especially when you meet the last intact, living human late in the game. The underwater facility is incredibly bland and plain, looking the same from minute one to the end of the game and completely devoid of any sort of personality. Nothing about being in this environment is enjoyable, and I don't mean that in a, "they nailed an unnerving and uncomfortable place," kind of way. It was just boring, and didn't feel like the team really cared about how their game looked and weren't trying to make any sort of statement on a visual level. I would not be shocked if there was no art director on the team. Nobody's expecting Witcher 3 graphics from an indie game, but that's where strong art direction comes in. Just look at Ashen, or Return of the Obra Dinn. Just have a vision, have style, have confidence. That's all I'm asking. This is, quite frankly, one of the ugliest indie games I've ever played, on both a technical and artistic level. The only time it starts to look decent are in the underwater sections where you're walking on the ocean floor.

Gameplay

Let's get this out of the way. This game didn't need to be a horror game where things chase you, doesn't really benefit from it, and isn't a particularly good one of those kind of games anyway. It very much felt like this part of the game only existed because of the developer's pedigree with horror games. Like, "this is the kind of game we make, we're the Amnesia people, so it has to be a horror game and monsters have to chase you." But the encounters with creatures are fairly sparse, short, easy, and even brute-force-able because you can take multiple hits before dying and resetting from a checkpoint. There's just not a whole lot of tension or craft in the monster/encounter design, and it pales in comparison to the quieter, existential horror of the story, which would have benefited from some room to breathe and contemplate. I would trade these five-ten minute sequences for more Simon introspection any day. I've heard the "safe mode," fixes these complaints but alas I did not choose that option.

The gameplay beyond that is fairly uninspired but also unobtrusive. Enter new area, fetch macguffins to unlock next area, occasionally look at a computer screen and do a basic puzzle of some kind. The one standout is a puzzle in which you have to load a brain scan of one of the crew members to get him to tell you a security code. If you load him into a simulation with nobody else there, or in a place that wasn't where he was originally scanned, he'll realize he's in a computer and have a mental breakdown.

In Conclusion

In a world where video game writing still largely pales in comparison to other media, SOMA's story absolutely deserves praise and recognition as one of the best. Unfortunately, as a person who loves to read and can get my story fix through books, I generally come to games for gameplay over story and find bad gameplay very, very hard to forgive. But not everyone is like me, I realize. Some people don't read books at all, maybe don't even watch much TV, and spend all their free time playing games and try to get whatever needs we humans fill through art filled almost exclusively through video games. My best friend is like that, and for someone like him SOMA is an entirely different experience, I imagine. When you must get a deep, existential scifi story through a video game or not get it at all, the flaws become much, much easier to overlook. And what a story it was.