It’s the month of terror and what better way to celebrate it than reviewing a scary game. What horrors shall we explore today? Being dumped in a place that we are unfamiliar with and where just about everything has gone wrong. Face beings beyond our comprehension and even when we locate the source of their origins they still don’t make complete sense. How about constantly facing torment that is supposed to symbolize the sins we’ve accumulated over the years and there’s no way out. Why not do all of the above and add in a secret ingredient. Psychological trauma that will leave you distrurbed by the end and make you question just what the hell did you play. Ah, that’s the stuff right there. Good enough to keep you up at night and not fall asleep. I probably shouldn’t be joking around right now, because the game in question is more disturbing than you think. Rather than face the horror of the unknown or some monsters with buttholes for faces it instead scares them through philosophical themes. It’s one of those games that asks, “What makes us human?” and tests your moralality.
Soma, a survival horror game developed and published by Frictional Games who you may know for Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its sequels. The original Amnesia brought a huge change for the survival horror genre. Rather than being focused on managing supplies and fighting off enemies it instead left you defenseless. Unable to fight the monsters hurdling your way. All the player could do was run, hide, and play slowly as they left out in the open. Top this off with an insanity system that made the player see things that weren’t actually real and a lovecraftian story, you had one nightmarish adventure to go through. The setting and ideas Amnesia brought to the table weren’t the only reasons why it became so loved and popular. Let’s Players and reaction channels were rising at the time, and what better game to react to than a horror game designed to knock your socks off. Amnesia set a new standard for horror, but not every it brought to the table benefitted the horror genre. A lot of people argued that by removing the fight n’ flight combat of traditional survival horror you made a game that felt more like a walking sim with spooks thrown in. A lot of moments in Amnesia aren’t as effective during a second playthrough, because once you know what happens or what to do then you aren’t as scared. There’s also the fact that the game taught developers that all they had to do was make scary experiences, but not worry about if what they were making was a top quality game. That’s why we now have so many defenseless horror games, or what I like to call runaway horror.
Frictional would go on to make A Machine For Pigs and Rebirth, sequels to the Amnesia series. However, both sequels weren’t as well acclaimed as the first game. The formula Amnesia helped setup wore off really fast. It got overused, became repetitive, and turned into a cheap way to get shock from the player. Not saying these sequels were terrible games or the themes they explored were pointless. In fact, the story of the sequels were interesting and sparked a bit of conversation. It’s more like The Dark Descent was a product of its time, and it should have remained that way until Frictional tried pushing it further than it should have. Amnesia is stuck in a rough spot right now as reception for Rebirth was not the greatest. This isn’t the whole story though, because there was one other video game Frictional made outside the Amnesia series. After they worked on A Machine For Pigs they decided to explore another realm. Instead of lovecraftian horror why not explore science fiction horror? It would not only open up an entirely different setting and ideas, but allow the writers to explore different themes besides the cosmic unknown. They did just that and what they ended up with was a game not about hiding from monsters. Not about the setting itself, but the overarching story. For once they crafted a plot that stuck in the players’ minds, and it was a disturbing story to say the least. Soma is one of the most questionable horror games ever made. It has a deep story, a depressing atmosphere, and even when the game ends there are still questions to be had. It’s still discussed to this day for the philosophical themes and questions about life. It’s not much of a video game and Frictional even tossed off the gameplay mechanics Amnesia was well known for, but instead made a work of art that addressed an issue.
Soma is beauty bleak, and is by far Frictional’s greatest achievement. I bought Soma a year ago during a Playstation sale. I heard great things about it and people have been telling me of how amazing of a story it had. I hopped right in and the game didn’t click for me at first. It wasn’t the monsters that were annoying me, but as mentioned the lack of video games to speak of. I stopped playing after two hours, but my friends convinced me to continue playing. Ignore the lack of video games and instead focus on the story at hand. If you do just that then eventually the good bits will kick in. I decided to follow their advice, and thank god I did because Soma became exhilarating. I wasn’t playing for each encounter, but rather to see what happened next. I finished the game recently and the ending left me shocked. How could a title such like this fly under the radar? I mean it’s more popular than a lot of horror games out there, but why didn’t this blow up in the same way Amnesia did. It doesn’t matter. Soma left me amazed and while it’s not perfect I can state it’s important. You really owe it to yourself to play this game. Today we’ll be talking about why I liked Soma and why it deserves your attention.
Story
Simon Jarett, a young man who lives in Toronto and works at a small bookstore. He has a really peaceful life and is surrounded by supportive individuals, but one day it all goes downhill. He gets in a terrible car accident with his best friend, Ashley Hall. He manages to survive the car crash, but Ashley is killed on impact and he receives massive brain damage. Internal bleeding as it so happens, and if it’s not treated properly then he could die instantly. Luckily he visits a clinic to treat his brain damage. With the help of David Munshi, Simon is placed in a high tech chair so that they can do a brain scan. A headset is placed over Simon and Munshi prepares the machinery around him. The screen flashes white and Simon is knocked out. When Simon awakens from the brain scan he finds himself in a place that is definitely not Munshi’s office. Metal hallways, tubes, and computers align the walls. Simon begins navigating the place to see if anyone is there. A black goo emerges from the walls and the only life Simon finds are machines. Some having voices and memories of human individuals. Luckily, Simon is contacted by someone willing to help and explain to him what is going on. Catherine Chun, who turns out to be another robot with a human voice and memories.
Simon is confused with what is going on, and Catherine explains that he is in the underwater research facility known as PATHOS II. Designed to analyze underwater life and create robots designed to help with basic work. Eventually the research facility evolved and they began testing out more experimental tools and developing machines that could feel. The year is 2104, but before the brain scan it was 2015. Meaning Simon had awoken almost one hundred years in the future. Okay, in order for this review to work we have to dive into one of the game’s biggest twists and history. If you haven’t played Soma then I highly suggest you do it first or look up a playthrough, because this is one of the game’s biggest plot points. You’ve been warned, reader.
SPOILERS: Turns out in the year 2103, a massive comet hit the earth and disrupted the surface. Scoring and eroding everything that got caught in a massive shockwave. All surface life was knocked out besides the crew members stationed at PATHOS II, and it would be impossible to migrate back to the surface due to the toxic fumes floating about and being scorched alive. Food supplies are limited on PATHOS II, and the crew know that it won’t be long until they all die. Rather than try to repopulate they instead decided to form a plan that could preserve whatever knowledge and discoveries the earth had made over several centuries. Build a digital world that is much like our own, and could be maintained by digital copies of existing human beings. This work would take months, but the crew of PATHOS II managed to create the digital world known as The Ark and forge a rocket designed to launch it into space. So that it may be found by other life or when the earth is habitable again it can land back down.
Many PATHOS II members died during the development of The Ark, but during that time they found a way to preserve their minds so work could continue. They managed to copy their minds and upload them to robots that could continue working on The Ark. For copies would be managed if an existing machine containing the mind would be destroyed. These copied minds would also be uploaded to The Ark. All was going to plan, but a tragedy hit the facility and the work wasn’t completed. The Simon you play as is a copy of the Simon Jarett who died in 2015, and you are the last hope for the plan. You have been brought back from the dead, more specifically into existence, and you must help Catherine find the Ark and transport it to the rocket it’ll be launched with. Several monsters roam the facility who used to be the remaining crew, and Catherine keeps saying a super intelligence known as the WAU helped create it. Simon just wants to get out and luckily there is a way. By uploading his mind to the Ark as Catherine says. Simon will have to navigate PATHOS II if he wants to find a safe haven.
Gameplay
There’s not really much to talk about when it comes to the gameplay of Soma. The game is fairly linear with puzzles and horror sequences scattered about. No real reason to explore or go off the beaten path. Puzzles are pretty simple and they don’t take too long to beat. What are moments that require care and attention are those horror sequences. A monster stands between you and progression, and you must find a way around them or to get them out of the way. Sometimes they’ll be patrolling the room for your presence, or just stand there. You can sneak around them, create some noise to lure them over to a specific spot, and if all else fails run for your life. Noise can be made by either throwing an object or interacting with machinery that creates such noise. If you do get caught by a monster you are offered a second chance with a few quirks. Simon’s vision becomes blurry and run speed becomes reduced, but you can heal yourself by finding these glowing holes that you can stick your hand into. Die before you can heal and the monster will kill you. Making you load a previous checkpoint or save. Besides that there really isn’t much else. No combat or collectibles to speak of. Just follow the path forward and you are fine. The shallow gameplay is Soma’s biggest fault, but remember the story is really good. Enough to redeem the game and make it worth recommending. Hopefully Simon can locate the Ark, find the rocket, and get him out of this hellhole of a laboratory lying at the bottom of the sea.
Thoughts
Soma is an excellently written science fiction story and I can’t believe I’ve been evading it for such a long time. It’s not my favorite one though. 13 Sentinels, Nier: Automata, and Prey (2017) still hold the torch for me, but Soma is one of the best. It remains memorable hours after the credits roll and for one specific reason. The philosophical questions about human existence and what defines us as human beings. You will be thrown dozens of questions and tests throughout your journey. The first being a human hooked up to a machine, and you need to unplug her from it so that you can lose the power yourself. You start pulling away at the plugs, but she begs you not to. Afraid to know what is on the other side. You then start evaluating the situation. She’s a human being and it would be wrong to kill them. However, she’s trapped in a facility hundreds of meters below the surface and there’s nothing left out there. She has nothing to live for herself and it seems she’s stuck in place. Encapsulated in this black goo and constantly in pain. Maybe pulling the plug on her would be a mercy kill. Later we encounter a robot with a human mind, memories, and personality. Much like the human from earlier, we must pull the plug as well. The machine starts screaming in pain. It starts expressing emotions and fear of what lies next. Is the machine human for how it expresses feeling or not because it’s not made of flesh and bones. Your choice.
It’s scenarios like this that make the story of Soma horrifying more so than the monsters it throws at you. We are told there is a heaven and hell awaiting human souls after death. What about a machine or a copy of ourselves? They can develop emotions and memories of their own, but does anything await them? Will their intelligence be dumped into an abyss and left to wander alone. Will they just black out and never come back into existence. What if a heaven awaited them, but the real version of themself is already there and there’s not enough room for a second copy. The main character in fact has a speech which addresses this. As he descends deep into the world. The underworld where nothing but death, decay, and darkness lies. Time and time again, Simon’s mind is torn apart. Copies of copies, and facing the ugly truth. Spoilers, but the ending is great despite not being satisfying or happy. Simon and Catherine’s consciousness is copied onto the Ark, but they aren’t transferred. The two we play as are left at the bottom of the sea, and as the lights go out Simon is left there to sit alone as the power cuts the only sane person he had left talking to. For if there’s nothing to kill him, then he’ll never fade out. Humans had found a way to give themselves immortality through turning themselves into machines. Yet, they realize the punishment for it and when they are forced to sit in a lifeless world then that is worse hell than being dead. Soma is dark, depressing, and bleak which is the point. It’s supposed to not be good to play, because by extending our natural life cycle we only create more suffering. We witness the aftermath and results of a ruined world.
There’s just so much to talk about with the story of Soma. Even someone who delves deep into video games cannot do a perfect job describing what makes this game’s story fantastic. Now we talked enough about the story, so let’s describe what else Soma does splendidly. The setting and atmosphere is the top. This game nails immersion in how it feels to navigate and interact with the environment. How you have to slide doors open or interact with machinery. The sounds that echo through the facility. The screaming and knowing something bad is about to approach. The art direction and detailing of the world adds to the experience as well as so much care has been put into each section of PATHOS II. Each character performance is great and the voice actors did a splendid job making every role believable. If Soma was just these elements below then I’d be giving this game a high review score, but what holds it back is the gameplay. It’s not terribly designed, but after a while it feels needlessly tacked on. Almost all the puzzles are a cakewalk, and the monster sequences, while not hard, get frustrating to deal with. Grinding the game to a halt as you must take time sneaking around them. There is a mode to turn the monsters off, so if you don’t want to deal with the horror, the stopping, and just want to focus on the story then here it is. Soma lacks replayability due to how linear the game is and how certain moments won’t work as well during a second playthrough. However, the game maintains good pacing and lasts roughly around seven hours long which isn’t too long. It goes on sale often as well meaning you get a quality package for a few dollars. I do strongly recommend it for the story along. In the end I give Soma an 8.5/10 for being pretty good.
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