From the development studio that brought you Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Frictional Games, SOMA, is a sci-fi horror game to keep any audience and fans on their toes while traversing through the horrors and realities of the world. When players enter the game, the world is nearly post-apocalyptic as communications have died, food is becoming scarce, and machines have evolved to take over.
How to Download SOMA
You can download SOMA from either Steam or GOG.com. To begin your download click on the Download button at the end of this review. SOMA can be played on PS4, Xbox One, Windows, macOs, and Linux.
The Game Review
In SOMA players try to survive in a facility deep within the ocean known as PATHOS-II that now stands in complete isolation which will require some tough decisions ahead. The game is a thriller to question the identity of ourselves and what it means to be human. Although the game is a horror game, I found that more times than not, the game is more eerie and hard hitting to certain questions that are brought up about the human nature.
Within the game’s world, there are all sorts of deranged beings that the player must avoid such as corrupt humans, rogue robots, unknown creatures, and more. Meanwhile, the player must also venture the terminals and find documents to uncover the secrets of what is truly going on behind the scenes. Just know that confronting anyone but yourself is not an option to learn the movements and habits of all your predators and run.
While not familiar with all the popular titles Frictional Games has released, a lot of fans have said that SOMA is definitely the better evolution of two certain series, Penumbra and Amnesia, combined. The game is visually stunning compared to the two and even for a game that was released so long ago. The underwater aesthetic is both chilling and atmospheric to be around and definitely adds to the scare factor.
What I really want to talk about though is the game. What I mean by this is that there is actual meat to this title. What I mean by that is the lore is actually the core of the game and not the running around scare factor. The game also has choices that really matter and can change the course of the game which consequently means that there will be a limit to the replayability.
But for the time that you are playing it, it is a masterpiece among its genre despite new releases. The AI like I mentioned before is actually “smart” and unique instead of the feeling one gets every other horror game that is, in short, being detected by an invisible radar and running until you are out of the line of sight of the enemy.
There is weight to every character in the world and makes playthroughs more intense. I would like to say that this is what a horror game should be, not a game that scares you in the moment, but scares you after you play. Be sure to check it out on Steam for more information and ask yourself: what does it mean to be human?
