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Soma (video game)

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Soma
Developer(s)Frictional Games
Publisher(s)Frictional Games
Director(s)Thomas Grip
Writer(s)Mikael Hedberg
Composer(s)Mikko Tarmia
EngineHPL Engine 3
Platform(s)
Release
  • Linux, OS X, PS4, Windows
  • 22 September 2015
  • Xbox One
  • 1 December 2017
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Soma (stylized as SOMA) is a survival horror video game developed and published by Frictional Games.[1][2] The game was released on 22 September 2015 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, and PlayStation 4,[3] and on 1 December 2017 for Xbox One.[4]

Soma takes place on an underwater remote research facility containing machinery that exhibits human characteristics such as consciousness. Simon Jarrett, a fish-out-of-water protagonist, finds himself there under mysterious circumstances and embarks upon discovering its history, while trying to make sense of his predicament and potential future.[5][6]

Soma's gameplay builds on the conventions established in the previous horror titles of Frictional Games, including an emphasis on stealthy evasion of threats, puzzle-solving, and immersion. However, in a break with this tradition, it also de-emphasizes aspects such as inventory management in favour of a tighter focus on narrative. Soma received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its story, themes, atmosphere, sound design, and voice acting, but criticized its enemy design and encounters.

Gameplay

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Soma is a survival horror video game played from a first-person perspective.[7] The player will encounter a number of creatures, each of which embody an aspect of the game's themes.[7] Throughout Soma, the player will find a large array of clues,[8] such as notes and audio tapes, which builds atmosphere and furthers the plot. Similar to most titles by Frictional Games, the player progresses through puzzle-solving, exploration, and the use of stealth;[8] the player may die if they fail to avoid monsters, although two years after the initial release, a "Safe Mode" has been added that keeps the monsters but stops them from killing the player.[9]

Plot

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Setting

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Soma takes place in 2104 and is set in an underwater research facility known as PATHOS-II, a once-sophisticated research outpost located in the North Atlantic Ocean that has fallen into a state of disrepair. Originally established as a thermal mining operation in the 2060s by conglomerates Haimatsu and Carthage Industries, PATHOS-II's primary purpose shifted to space technology and the operation of the Omega Space Gun – an electromagnetic railgun designed to launch satellites and other small equipment into orbit without the cost or risks of traditional rockets. All operations and maintenance on PATHOS-II are overseen by the Warden Unit (WAU), an artificial general intelligence integrated with all computer systems in the facility.

The crew of PATHOS-II unexpectedly became the last people to exist on Earth after a major extinction event caused by a comet striking the planet. These humans survived on a day-to-day basis, attempting to fight the negative effects of their collective isolation, as well as other issues that began to pose a threat to their well-being.

Story

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In 2015, Simon Jarrett survives a car accident, but sustains severe brain damage and cranial bleeding. Due to his injuries, Simon agrees to undergo an experimental brain scan. During the scan, Simon appears to black out, and regains consciousness on Site Upsilon of PATHOS-II, an apparently-abandoned geothermal power center. Exploring Upsilon, Simon makes contact with a woman named Catherine Chun, who invites him to Site Lambda and reveals that he is currently in the year 2104, one year after a comet devastated the Earth and left PATHOS-II as the final known outpost of humanity. When the communication platform Simon is in floods, he briefly blacks out and awakens to discover that he is inside a diving suit. Exploring the seabed around Site Upsilon, he manages to find a working train and uses it to travel to Site Lambda. Throughout the journey, Simon encounters hostile robots that believe they are human.

Arriving at Site Lambda, Simon discovers that Catherine is not human, but a brain scan of a PATHOS-II employee downloaded into a storage unit of a robot. Simon himself is the result of his brain scan from 2015 being uploaded into the modified corpse of another PATHOS-II employee by an artificial intelligence named the Warden Unit (WAU), which took control of the center and turned all the surviving humans into bio-mechanical mutants to fulfill its task of preserving humanity. The sole means of anything of human origin escaping Earth is the ARK, a digital black box designed by Catherine that houses a simulated world in which the brain scans of all the PATHOS-II personnel have been preserved. Despite its completion, the ARK has not yet been sent into space. Simon agrees to aid Catherine in recovering the ARK and completing her mission.

As the ARK is kept in the Tau site at the absolute depths of the Atlantic Ocean, Simon heads toward the Theta site to retrieve a submarine named DUNBAT that can withstand the abyssal pressure. However, the WAU has preemptively tampered with the DUNBAT, forcing Simon to make his way to the Omicron site to create a new body capable of traveling through the seabed. While searching for the essential components at Site Omicron, Simon receives mental messages from a WAU-converted but still sane artificial intelligence specialist, Johan Ross, who begs him to destroy the WAU. After completing Simon's new body, Catherine copies his consciousness into it. Simon realises that his old body is still conscious, forcing him to choose between euthanizing the Simon in his old body or leaving him to whatever fate befalls him.

Descending into the abyss, Simon braves the now mutated fauna of the Abyss and retrieves the ARK from Site Tau, discovering the original Catherine was accidentally killed in a confrontation with other PATHOS-II staff who refused to launch the ARK due to fears of a potential launch failure. Simon takes the ARK toward Site Phi, where the Omega space cannon is located. However, he is forced to take a detour through Site Alpha, where the WAU's core is located. Here, Ross reveals to Simon that the structural gel with which he created his new body was designed by Ross to poison and destroy the WAU, and that his colleagues refused to use it in time. Ross gives Simon the opportunity to eliminate the WAU, while secretly planning to kill him to prevent the WAU from adapting to Simon's immunity. Before he can do so, Ross is devoured by a mutated aquatic leviathan, from which Simon escapes by reaching the Phi site.

At the Phi site, Catherine copies their brain scans into the ARK at the last moment before it is launched into space, but Simon is confused as to why they are still outside the ARK despite their accomplishment. Catherine explains that it is their copies that are on the ARK; they argue about the nature of their mission until Catherine's cortex chip short-circuits from overexertion, effectively killing her. Simon is left helpless and alone in the darkness of the abyss.

In a post-credits scene, the copy of Simon stored on the ARK awakens and reunites with Catherine in an idyllic, simulated landscape. Meanwhile, the ARK drifts off into space and leaves the devastated Earth behind.

Development

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Thomas Grip of Frictional Games presents Soma at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.

Soma was in the making since 2010,[7] beginning with the advancement of new technology for the game engine.[10] Setting the game at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean[11] was an idea decided on a "whim" by Frictional Games co-founders Thomas Grip and Jens Nilsson, which Grip said they had wanted to try for a long time.[12] At some point in development, the story of the game underwent a number of major changes before ending up at the final version that was released, with an older build released via an easter egg.[13] The storytelling was designed to rely on the player's actions rather than serve as a guide for the player to adhere to, so as to allow those who ignore exposition material, such as audio logs and notes, to follow the plot. Soma's underlying theme is consciousness, and was developed in order to explore the nature of free will and the self. The game's atmosphere was inspired by the work of Philip K. Dick, China Miéville and Greg Egan.[14]

Achieving a realistic sound to fit the mood required audio director Samuel Justice to utilise what he called "the room size system". Instead of processing sounds to make an effect possible, recordings were made of environments that complemented such needs, like the reverb of a large hall. With this system, over 2,000 footstep sounds were captured.[15][16]

Marketing

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A teaser trailer featuring gameplay footage of Soma was released on 11 October 2013.[1] The official website's info page displays a quote by author Philip K. Dick.[6] Another trailer of the game was released in April 2014.[12]

Two live action shorts, "Vivarium" and "Mockingbird," were shot back-to-back at LeftJet Studios in Seattle, over the course of nine days. The films were produced by Imagos Films, an independent film company based in Seattle.[17][18] Imagos Films also completed for Frictional Games a set of live action clips that were set to release in 2015 in monthly installments and would connect to the story of the upcoming game.[19] Due to production problems the release date was delayed and on 28 September, shortly after the release of the game, Frictional Games announced they had made available the first clip on their YouTube channel under the title "SOMA - Transmission #1", with seven more to follow in each coming day.[20] The live action miniseries acts as a prequel to the events of the game, albeit one which is inspired by its plot and characters rather than being strictly canonical to it.[21]

In collaboration with Frictional Games, a feature film tentatively called "DEPTH" was filmed by Imagos Films under the code name "Project Apophis".[22] The film's director is Don Thacker and clips from it were used for Soma's marketing campaign, such as the "Transmissions" webseries.[23] The film stars Trin Miller, Josh Truax, and Rachelle Henry, and was expected to release in 2016.[24][25]

Reception

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Soma received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[26][27][28]

Richard Wakeling from GameSpot gave the game a 9 out of 10, and praised the "engaging and thought-provoking" story, the "impressive" writing and voice acting, and the atmosphere and sound design, which together, fills the game with "dread" and provides a "chilling", "edge of your seat" feeling. However, Wakeling disliked the sections in which the player walks on the ocean floor, calling them "dull, plodding affairs" and "incredibly linear".[32] Philip Kollar of Polygon also gave the game a 9/10 and wrote: "I don't know if SOMA will scare people as much as Amnesia did, but it is without a doubt a stronger game, with better pacing, smarter writing and more powerful subject matter. This isn't a horror game about obfuscation; events aren't building to a huge, shocking twist. More than anything, it's about the process of dealing with the horror of reality."[37] Caitlin Cooke from Destructoid awarded the game a 9/10 as well. She stated "SOMA gets everything right about the survival horror genre. It’s like someone created the perfect video game mixtape -- a little bit of abandoned underwater atmosphere from BioShock, detailed environments a la Gone Home, and (of course) the frenzied monster mechanics from Amnesia. Even if you dislike non-combat-oriented games, I dare you to give it a try."[29]

Tim Turi from Game Informer awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10. He commended the sound for convincingly immersing the player in the game, as well as the "eerie" environments, the "simple", "reliable" controls, and the "intriguing" narrative. In his review for GamesRadar+, Leon Hurley wrote: "A disturbingly different take on interesting sci-fi concepts let down by a slow start ... but worth it overall." Hurley praised the "great" story, "likeable" characters, and the "interesting and unpredictable" locations. He also commended the game for its ability to pull the player through the story by providing rewarding situations, although Hurley did feel "lost" at times, as there are no distinct directions.[33] IGN's Daniel Krupa scored the game an 8.1/10 and wrote: "SOMA is a sustained exploration of an original and thought-provoking idea. The concept of artificial intelligence has been explored by lots of science fiction, so it isn’t unique in that regard, but it makes particularly intelligent use of video game conventions to present those familiar ideas in new and surprising ways."[35]

Criticism of Soma focused on the implementation and design of its enemies. While Cooke generally enjoyed the monster encounters and their "unique and frightening" designs, she felt disappointed that there were only a few different types, most of which only made one appearance in the game.[29] Turi found that the cat and mouse gameplay of stealthily evading monsters now felt "formulaic" in the genre and "required patience".[30] Wakeling wrote that while the encounters were necessary to provide adversity, he felt they were otherwise "tedious" and found himself "clambering to get back to the story."[32] Hurley wrote that the monsters lacked "threat" and "never really deliver ... they’re little more than dumb ambulatory obstacles", being overcome by the player "looping around behind them, or slipping past while they obediently investigate thrown objects."[33] Alex Avard of GamesRadar+ praised the game's "Safe Mode" update from 2017 that decreased the threat of the monsters, having felt they were originally "unwelcome interruptions to an otherwise enthralling mystery", but instead in Safe Mode gave the "high minded story the space it always needed to breathe". He wrote that the enemies' typically passive behavior and discernible forms improved the game's atmosphere and themes while allowing him to fully engage in the narrative, writing: "I’m no longer beset with frustrated paranoia or constantly distracted by my own survival instincts. Instead, my attention is entirely focused on engaging with Simon’s personal journey and learning more about the history of PATHOS-II".[39]

After ten days of release, Soma had sold 92,000 copies, exceeding the 20,000 copies made by the developer's previous game Amnesia: The Dark Descent in its first week.[40] In March 2016, Frictional Games announced that the game had sold more than 250,000 copies and that the company was close to breaking even,[41] which required them to sell 276,000 units.[40] In a blog post commemorating one year of release, Frictional Games estimated that the sales figures had exceeded 450,000 copies.[42] By March 2021, 1 million copies were sold on PC alone.[43] At the 2016 Golden Joystick Awards, Soma was nominated for three categories: Best Original Game, Best Storytelling and Best Visual Design.[44] In 2018, GamesRadar+ ranked the game 8th in their list of "the 20 best horror games of all time".[45]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Savge, Phil (11 October 2013). "SOMA trailer shows first game footage, Frictional's sci-fi horror due 2015". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  2. ^ Nilsson, Jens (29 May 2015). "SOMA Release Date And Gameplay Trailer". Frictional Games website. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Frictional Games Presents SOMA - Available Now". frictionalgames.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  4. ^ "SOMA Xbox One Release Date Revealed, New "Safe Mode" Announced". IGN.com. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. ^ Nichols, Scott (11 October 2013). "'SOMA': First gameplay trailer from 'Amnesia' creators - watch". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "SOMA - Info". Somagame.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b c Grip, Thomas (11 October 2013). "SOMA: Frictional Games Brings Sci-Fi Horror to PS4". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  8. ^ a b Carlson, Patrick (5 February 2016). "If you like SOMA, you'll also like..." PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  9. ^ O'Connor, Alice (1 December 2017). "Soma launches Safe Mode with friendlier monsters". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. ^ Chalk, Andy (6 January 2015). "Frictional Games says SOMA has been "crazy hard" to make". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  11. ^ Grip, Thomas. "SOMA - Crafting Existential Dread". GDC. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  12. ^ a b Grip, Thomas (4 April 2014). "New SOMA trailer dives deep into the darkness". Blog.eu.playstation.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  13. ^ "SOMA Players Crack Hidden Code, Unlock the Game That Could Have Been". 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  14. ^ Kelly, Andy (13 December 2013). "SOMA interview: Frictional's creative director discusses disturbing new sci-fi horror". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  15. ^ Justice, Samuel (17 September 2015). "SOMA - Behind The Sound". blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  16. ^ Smith, Adam (18 September 2015). "From The Depths: Soma's Sound And Story". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Leftjet Studios - Check out The Escapist article about a... - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  18. ^ "In The Games Of Madness: SOMA Officially Revealed". frictionalgames.blogspot.com. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  19. ^ "In The Games Of Madness: SOMA - 10 days after launch". frictionalgames.blogspot.com. October 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  20. ^ "First of a daily video series from Frictional Games". frictionalgames.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Depth Was A Hoax". frictionalgames.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Don Thacker - Principle [sic] photography has wrapped on... - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Don Thacker Interview: Motivational Growth". Renegade Cinema. 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  24. ^ "Discussion about Depth and other movies". frictionalgames.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  25. ^ "Imagos Films". Twitter. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  26. ^ a b "SOMA for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  27. ^ a b "SOMA for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  28. ^ a b "SOMA for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  29. ^ a b c Cooke, Caitlin (21 September 2015). "Review: SOMA". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  30. ^ a b Turi, Tim (21 September 2015). "Intense Underwater Horror That Makes You Think - Soma - PC". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  31. ^ Vazquez, Jessica (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  32. ^ a b c Wakeling, Richard (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  33. ^ a b c Hurley, Leon (21 September 2015). "Soma review: deep sea nightmares". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  34. ^ Jones, Brandon (22 September 2015). "SOMA Review". GameTrailers. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  35. ^ a b Krupa, Daniel (21 September 2015). "SOMA Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  36. ^ Kelly, Andy (21 September 2015). "SOMA review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  37. ^ a b Kollar, Philip (21 September 2015). "SOMA review: 20,000 leagues". Polygon. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  38. ^ Orry, Tom (22 September 2015). "SOMA Review". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  39. ^ Avard, Alex (28 November 2018). "Take note, developers: Soma's 'Safe Mode' is an essential option for players who value storytelling over stress". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  40. ^ a b Makuch, Eddie (1 October 2015). "PS4/PC Horror Game SOMA Sells 92k Copies, Enough to Pay Bills for Two Years". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  41. ^ Dransfield, Ian (25 March 2016). "SOMA has almost made its money back; two new games coming". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  42. ^ Sykes, Tom (25 September 2016). "A year after release, Soma has sold nearly half a million copies". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  43. ^ "SOMA sold a million copies on PC and it deserves every last sale". 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  44. ^ Loveridge, Sam (15 September 2016). "Golden Joystick Awards 2016 voting now open to the public". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  45. ^ "The 20 best horror games of all time". GamesRadar+. 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

Further reading

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Media related to Soma (video game) at Wikimedia Commons

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