A First Look at SOMA by flotsam



A sci-fi horror(ish) survival game, having played only a little, am keen to play more.

What starts in a mundane Toronto apartment, quickly ends up in some sort of facility, somewhat worse for wear and littered with robots and machines in various states of repair. Clearly something is wrong. The odd corpse is another indication.

SOMA comes from the Amnesia stable and uses a combination of mouse and keyboard. Like Amnesia, the mouse is used to simulate certain actions in the game world. Want to open a drawer? Click with the mouse then "pull". Same with turning a wheel - click and hold and "turn" the mouse. Depending on your view, it may or may not be more "real".

It looks and sounds great, and while it's early days, I don't expect those things to change.

Near as I can tell, this is a game of hiding and (hopefully) moving on. I have no weapons, so getting past the patrolling robots seems to be dependent on crouching (movement is quieter) and hiding. Failure to do so will result in "you died", not instantly but you don't get many chances.

The fear factor so far is in the chase. I snuck past the first robot but clearly he was alerted by something. He pursued, as I looked for somewhere to hide. The growing noise from behind as he came closer, and then the mechanical rumbling and stomping as I sat hidden and hoped he would not find me, created an effective feeling of panicked helplessness. The second malevolent robot I encountered I am still to outwit.

Not every robot is out to get you, but those that aren't are damaged and some are strangely human. I have interacted with a few so far, having found them strewn around the floor, and spoken with one or two. I also had to "kill" one, who pleaded with me in a female voice not to do so.

I have spoken to at least one person in another facility, and am now on my way to try and get there. I will let you know how I go.