SOMA Reviews
A thought-provoking journey that creates tension with its brilliant audio work, SOMA lacks some of the jump scares found in other survival horror games, but offers new ideas that keep you totally immersed.
SOMA is at its best when it's challenging you on a philosophical level rather than on a mechanical one. As a horror game, SOMA feels old and archaic.
SOMA creates a tangible underwater facility with overpowering tension and a haunting atmosphere. It paces the horror carefully and will captivate minds with its narrative.
SOMA will scare you, no doubt, but it won't be the memory of a gnarled, disfigured mass clumsily ambling towards you in a corridor that leaves you awake and unable to sleep at night. It will be the question of what makes us human.
Soma tells an affective tale and carries the horror genre a few steps forward. Had Frictional shown the courage to shake off tradition entirely, it could have carried it further still.
It may not strike the same level of outright terror that Amnesia: The Dark Descent but even in this genre, SOMA is a standout title with an interesting storyline centered around the age old debate of being human.
If loads of jump scares or action are your thing, SOMA might disappoint. It takes its time, is even a little self indulgent, but more than anything it wants you to actually think about what's going on. If you are going to come for this one come for the excellent writing, voice acting and atmosphere.
The game, like the best works of science fiction, understands that horror can come from discomfort inherent to the erasure of boundaries we assume exist. The unintelligible whispers of static and the shattered visuals of glitch provide only the most cursory glances at a machine world inaccessible to us.
Sweden's Frictional Games has knocked it out of the park this time, but the less you know about their latest game prior to playing the better
In 2015, and with no mind digitization in sight, the questions Soma raises are difficult to answer without dreadful introspection.
If you're looking to get your pants scared off, SOMA may not be the game for you, but for those who appreciate its brand of subtle horror, it is truly a masterpiece. Leaning towards the cerebral, the narrative has been set up to make you ponder all of the dialogue and question every decision, even one that moves you forward. It's a thought-provoking story wrapped in a stunning package.
SOMA tells an interesting albeit convoluted story but is a chore to play through.
SOMA is one of those once-in-a-generation experiences that so wildly defies both expectation and assumptions that I can say with confidence that it will forever impact how we define video games.
As an immersive and anxious experience that also manages to be just as beautiful as it is terrifying, SOMA is in a class all its own. The stunningly well-realized world melds brilliantly with the outstanding score and sound design, begging the player to buy into the atmospheric world that Frictional Games has so painstakingly crafted. It genuinely feels like this is the natural evolution of everything that was started in Amnesia, just done with a bit more careful attention to detail and polish. This is an experience that completely justifies its budget price tag and more than validates the game's five-year development cycle.
If you're a fan of Frictional Games, you'll find Soma equally spooky and thought-provoking. At times it was difficult for us to maintain our immersion in this nightmare under the sea.
Despite the issues outlined above, most horror fans will have a good time with SOMA. Frictional Games have shown us time and time again that they are masters of telling a scary story; this time, without the crutch of plentiful jump scares. SOMA is a game that can cause you to question your humanity, if only for a few moments. It's just a shame that the HPL Engine 3 was not up-to-snuff for the PlayStation 4.
Soma's slowly-unfolding story, and the choices you live with, make the experience one that will stay with you for some time, the ending hitting all the right notes.
SOMA had the tools to come together to be something special, but like some of the AIs and machines in the game, it's not quite a complete product, but still quite enjoyable nonetheless.
While SOMA may be lacking in the fear department, it more than makes up for it in existentialist unease.
When Soma is able to stretch its legs and be the horror game fans have been waiting for these past five years, it delivers in giant terror-inducing waves. Sadly, some inconsistent pacing and clunky mechanics weigh it down, leaving us with a good game rather than a great one.