Tacoma Reviews
While some of its threads don't always come together as neatly as they should, Fullbright's sophomore effort is a quiet and haunting examination of the ways corporations dehumanize us all.
Fullbright brings a fascinating hypotetical future, featuring eight characters and making them all interesting in a short time.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tacoma is a quiet, lovely, yet slightly melancholy exploration of humanity struggling in a corporate vacuum, and one that proves Fullbright still has an eye for detail.
The makers of indie cult favourite Gone Home have created a linear sci-fi title set in 2088 that feels satisfyingly lived in and free from stereotypes
Tacoma is a beautiful, albeit graphically ascetic, game for fans of the "Walking Simulator" genre and interesting stories, which requires your attention when exploring the environment, listening to dialogue and viewing electronic correspondence. However, it is well translated into Russian, so you'll need just a desire to know the secret of the space station and enough perseverance. And that's not a problem for the project, which takes just two hours from start to finish.
Review in Russian | Read full review
With Gone Home representing a key moment in gaming, Tacoma had plenty of potential to suffer from so called "second album syndrome". While it never manages to hit the same emotional highs – or lows – as its predecessor, it still stands out from the crowd, mainly through the implementation of some nicely interactive AR scenes to deliver its key story moments. While there are certainly other complaints you could level at Tacoma – such as its rigid linearity and how it occasionally falls into genre clichés – these can be easily forgotten as developer Fullbright once again proves where its strengths lie: with down-to-earth characters and thought-provoking storytelling.
Tacoma is as thoughtful and introspective as you'd hope, effortlessly pairing lofty sci-fi ideas with grounded personal stories and diverse characters. Your time on the Tacoma space station may be brief, but it's undeniably satisfying exploring the station and its interactive AR recordings, and there's enough intrigue to the plot to keep you guessing to the end.
If you're looking for sci-fi action and alien blasting, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you're in the market for a fascinating narrative and an intriguing space station to lose yourself in, you could do a heck of a lot worse than Tacoma.
Tacoma's augmented reality cast allow it to tell its engaging story in a unique way. It's a slow burn of a game that deftly interrogates interpersonal relationships in an engaging sci-fi setting.
An abandoned space station, impetuous corporate interests, a curious A.I. — Tacoma's facade floats between charming futurism and abrasive, old-fashioned avarice. This may seem like inhospitable space to explore the depths of benevolence, but the power of identity and humanity are alive and well supported inside of Tacoma's twirling science fiction architecture.
Another smart entry into the interactive narrative adventure/walking sim genre, Tacoma is a sci-fi story that's engaging from beginning to end. To state the obvious, if you dig this kind of game, then you're going to love Tacoma too.
Fullbright captured lightning in a bottle with Gone Home, and I began Tacoma wondering whether they could hold onto it, as rare as that is. Thankfully, they did. The core mechanics are simple, yet they make sense within the game's world. Most importantly, they do not over-complicate matters. It allowed us to take in another magnificent Fullbright narrative.
While some may find Tacoma's length and lack of gameplay depth off-putting, it still manages to feel full in itself. A grounded, futuristic setting serves as Fullbright's most creative stage yet for thorough environmental storytelling that shines with an ordinary yet endearingly authentic cast of characters.
Rather than big and bombastic, Tacoma is small and personal, inviting you to be involved. It's a strong testament to the power of visual narration and characterization possible in today's video games despite some nit-picks here and there.
Tacoma doesn't match the excellence of Gone Home in the story department, but nonetheless manages to provide a quick yet engaging adventure.
The story, the characters and the dialogue of Tacoma demostrate the evolution of Fullbright. The interaction system and the complete control over the story is interesting, while the mid-sections are dull and boring.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tacoma developer Fullbright should be commended on creating a very original game and given they were responsible for Gone Home, it's great to see them using this premise and adding another layer of complexity with some very clever story telling.
The PS4 version of Tacoma doesn't add anything new to the PC and Xbox One ones, and thus is still a compelling and emotional journey to the space that we strongly recommend you take.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, Tacoma is a great follow up to Gone Home. With a fantastic set of characters and solid execution of its plot, its well worth considering. Unless you're the sort who compares every second of gameplay to the cost of the game, there's no reason not to check it out.
Tacoma is a beautifully told story filled with real characters and real emotion that you won't be able to put down until you've experienced it in full.