Somerville Reviews
Somerville's greatest flaw is just how boring it is. It is more of a walking-sim than a platforming-adventure game. Reactive objects are also colour-coded yellow, so there is never any question about what to do. This robs any sense of discovery in a title that is already so tightly focused on pushing players forward. The terribly slow walking speed will pad out Somerville's length to around four to five hours, when there is maybe only two hours of actual substance. Traditionally, these kinds of games are short but make up for it with excellent pacing. Somerville feels like a flatline for most of the entire run.
Somerville relies on its fantastic animations and settings to tell a story of a father trying to reunite with his family. But without important story fundamentals such as exposition, you have no idea what is going on. Coupled with the fact that the adventure consists of simply solving puzzles while walking around, it is hard to immerse yourself in the story or even care about what will happen. Solving puzzles can also be difficult because you are expected to fumble around and discover what can be interacted with. There's no guidance or assistance, which leads to frustration when you have no idea what to do next. There's a good attempt at telling a story here, but it's difficult to find yourself wanting to reach the end.
So yeah… Somerville kind of sucks. The best parts of the game are when it focuses on the alien invasion aspect. The worst parts are everything else. Honestly, skip this game. It actually makes me worried for what Playdead has coming next because they have said they want to do more than just 2D games too and if they play anything like Somerville I’ll probably skip it.
Somerville never hits its stride, thanks to flat direction and frustrating mechanics.
Somerville's biggest fault isn't with Jumpship utilizing Playdead’s successful template, but rather in forgetting to incorporate the pedigree alongside it.
If you're wanting something that is easy and quick to play, and you're a big fan of sci-fi-oriented narratives, then Somerville's short two and a half hour runtime could work for you. However, frustrating puzzles, clunky controls, and an all-round unstable performance unfortunately left a sour taste in the mouth - even for such a short game.
Jumpship's debut shows admirable taste and intelligence, even if it doesn't always manage to hold interest with the same ease.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Jumpship's debut mixes grand sci-fi and familial drama in a more cinematic take on PLAYDEAD's earlier titles to mixed effect.
Although Somerville has some standout features, gorgeously peaceful environments, and atmospheric, silent storytelling, they're somewhat dulled by its terrible controls, awful performance, and lack of exposition. Being restricted to walking pace and the path forward often unclear, you frequently end up walking into invisible barriers. There are huge drops in frame rate throughout, especially when loading new areas, and the lack of names and backstories for the family you're playing leaves you frustrated with little to no attachment to them and their eventual outcomes. If you’re looking for a short, touching title to tide you over until the next big release, this may be worth a look, but with all its issues, it's better off left alone in the dark.
A disappointing follow-up to Limbo and Inside that lacks the same complexity of plot and puzzles, and yet struggles surprisingly poorly with the move to 3D.
Appealing art direction and excellent sound design do a lot of the heavy lifting in Somerville, but are undermined at almost every turn by frustratingly sloppy gameplay mechanics.
I couldn't say Somerville is my favourite game, nor would I say it's particularly action-packed or noteworthy in terms of puzzles, but technically it's a serviceable emotion-stirring two-and-a-half-hour jaunt that some may find value in.
Despite its issues, Somerville manages to offer a mostly enjoyable experience. The family bond forged in an opening scene, which is easily the highlight of Somerville, simply works and drove me through the game. I wanted to figure out what happened to my character’s family and see them together again, and that kept me going through a relatively short game. The strong atmosphere, which kept things visually interesting, and a soundtrack worthy of praise don’t hurt either. Unfortunately, with actual storytelling that doesn’t really work, busy areas which are hard to navigate, gameplay that doesn’t stand apart, and glitches that further weaken the experience, Somerville is hard to fully recommend. While fans of Playdead titles who can check it out on Game Pass or for a good price may find it worth the rather small-time commitment, other players should perhaps consider checking into the many similar games which simply execute this formula better.
Somerville is more of an interactive film than a narrative game. Unfortunately, the game's superb presentation fails to take away the impression that it could have been so much more. We would have liked for the devs to deepen the game mechanics, for the different members of the family to be used for gameplay purposes, for the player to have more opportunities to express his uniqueness, but above all for the rhythm of the game to be better balanced.
Review in French | Read full review
Somerville is a game where both the new and old ideas don't work in the game's favor. The platforming is nonexistent, while the puzzles are hampered by either a lack of creativity, an uncooperative physics system, or a combination of both. The use of 3D produces situations where your objectives can become obscured due to the camera angle and distance. The shock and awe one would expect from the game's pedigree is greatly dampened, and the wordless story doesn't do much to carry a narrative that seems pedestrian and doesn't care about its characters. Some will still find fun in the various situations, and the runtime is brisk enough if everything works in your favor. If you are still interested in Somerville, wait for a sale before checking it out.
Somerville takes inspiration from 2 great modern classics, Limbo and Inside, however, it falls short to offer a deep contemplative experience. Despite some technical difficulties, it offers great value as a visually compelling puzzle adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Players are left to decipher the path to these endings with little to no guidance from the game itself. This lack of direction will lead players to seek guides to uncover these elusive alternate endings. Even when armed with the knowledge of what actions to take, the solutions often lack coherence and may fail to provide players with a satisfying understanding of the game’s narrative twists and turns.
Somerville is an exceptional project with huge missed potential, reason being the overall weak technical state. The game is just raw and would greatly benefit from at least another six month of dev time.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Overall, Somerville has a fantastic and intriguing world that’s begging to be explored from the off. Wonderful art and sound design compounded with excellent character animations really bring this narrative adventure to life, but a smattering of bugs, lacklustre puzzle elements, and an ambiguous story that left me feeling unrewarded after posing so many initial questions, really hampered the experience.
One man and his dog traverse the English countryside after an alien invasion in this haunting, wordless game: a masterclass in foreboding sound design and minimal storytelling