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Soma - All News

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Tuesday - September 29, 2015
Sunday - September 27, 2015
Tuesday - September 22, 2015
Monday - September 21, 2015
Friday - September 18, 2015
Monday - September 14, 2015
Tuesday - August 25, 2015
Saturday - June 20, 2015
Sunday - June 07, 2015
Box Art

Tuesday - September 29, 2015

Soma - Live Action Mini Series

by Myrthos, 12:30

A live action mini series has been made, taking place in the world of Soma. Part 1 of that series is available now.

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A new episode will be available daily, Sept. 28 through Oct. 5, through the Frictional Games YouTube channel.

Sunday - September 27, 2015

Soma - Review Thread @ Neogaf

by Hiddenx, 11:19

In this Neogaf-thread you can find a nice list of Soma reviews:

Twinfinite - 5/5

All in all, SOMA is a fantastic game. From the detailed world in which it takes place, the engaging plot, and the perfect amount of creeping terror and suspense, there’s a lot to love if you’re into horror. Speaking as someone who hasn’t delved as much into the genre, I still found myself fascinated and not wanting to pull away.

Game Revolution - 5/5

SOMA surpassed my expectations of what a psychological science-fiction horror story could be. I expected to be scared but not absolutely fucking terrified to the point where I had to stand up and physically walk out of the room on multiple occasions

Rely on Horror - 9.5/10

SOMA is Frictional Games’ best work yet and a tour de force in the survival horror genre. It subjects players to finely crafted sensory and narrative horrors, with an effectively unsettling story and polished design. SOMA may not be a revolutionary title within the genre, but its pacing and how it frames its terrors is masterclass. It’s far more narrative driven than the studio’s past work as well; a compelling cast of characters and philosophical story makes SOMA more than just a series of good scares. The studio has nearly a decade of experience crafting horror and it shows. It’s a damn fine example of what the survival horror genre can accomplish

The Escapist - 9.5/10

Frictional's latest title is a benchmark for the horror genre, and easily one of the best examples of video game storytelling this year. Whether you're a returning fan, or a horror newbie, SOMA deserves your immediate attention.

ZTGD - 9.5/10

It’s not very often that a game comes along and makes you think long and hard afterward while hitting you in the face with emotion, but here I am. Soma is both an extremely beautiful and terrifying experience. While I still think Amnesia takes the cake for scare factor, everything else in Soma is done better here Story, visuals, and the soundtrack are superb and top tier from Frictional at this point. One of the best sci-fi stories I’ve every experience in a videogame and one that can get under your skin.

Polygon - 9/10

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.

Destructoid - 9/10

SOMA gets everything right about the 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

Gamespot - 9/10

I came in expecting something similar to Amnesia, just in a terrifying new location, but what I found is an intelligent game that forced me to think and contemplate ideas as only the best sci-fi is capable of doing. It may not stir the hordes of wailing YouTubers looking for the next best haunted house, but SOMA succeeds at crafting something much more meaningful in a genre that’s deserving of more than just simple jump scares.

The Sixth Axis - 9/10

I’ve never played a game that’s affected me as much as SOMA, and to be honest I’m not sure I want to ever again, although I’m very glad I did. It has the DNA of movies like Alien, 2001, Sunlight, and Event Horizon, with a splash of the original Dead Space and Bioshock, but brings plenty of new ideas to the table. It makes you think about what it means to be alive, and indeed how you classify life, and is a brilliant example of just how far video games have evolved.

GameInformer - 8.5/10

Video games have challenged us to unsympathetically blast apart deadly robots since their earliest days. Soma’s impressively realized underwater ordeal challenges even the coldest robot-slayers to consider a world where making such snap moral decisions is anything but automatic.

God is a Geek - 8.5

When it comes to horror, Frictional are your fellas. While they might have had a bit of a shaky response to A Machine for Pigs, they’ve found their way back and then some with SOMA. Despite being knocked slightly by some frame rate issues, a fascinating story forms the basis for its success with the scares taking more of a backseat this time around. Don’t get me wrong however, it is still intense, terrifying and quintessentially Frictional. Set in a spectacularly immersive setting and supported by masterful sound design, SOMA is solid evidence that the Swedes are still in total control when it comes to horror.

IGN - 8.1/10

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. At 12 hours long, the story feels a little stretched, especially when so much of its gameplay feels less original than its ideas. That’s not to say it’s scares aren’t effective or intense but I found myself drawn to its quiet moments in which its philosophical yet unpretentious storytelling is allowed to breathe without interference from unintuitive puzzles and monsters that can’t be manipulated.

PC Gamer - 8/10

SOMA has big, interesting ideas when it comes to story and themes, but this ambition and imagination doesn’t carry over into its game design. But, monster encounters aside, this stricken underwater base is one of the most fascinating, atmospheric spaces I’ve ever explored in a game. There’s all manner of horrific imagery down in those murky depths to be uncovered, and the story is unsettling. In this sense, it’s a great horror game. It affects you psychologically and emotionally—often in a subtle, understated way. But all this does is highlight how ineffectual its more familiar attempts to scare are. Ultimately, it’s what’s inside your head that scares you in SOMA, not what’s in front of you.

The Jimquisition - 8/10

Intentional or not, SOMA regardless provides that example. This is not just another horror game. It’s a science fiction story with horrific shades, a game that ponders the human condition in an industry where “the human condition” has become an awkward dead horse of a phrase. A horror game that, curiously, would have benefited from a little less horror.
Simply put – there needs to be more games like this in the world.

Pushsquare - 8/10

SOMA's an interesting release that succeeds and stumbles in areas that we didn't expect it to. Indeed, given the developer's track record, we'd anticipated a terrifying title – but while it has its eerie moments, it's a bit of a disappointment as a horror game. Where it's more successful is in its ability to depict the moral challenges of AI, and this subject matter results in some of the tougher decisions that we've seen in a game for a while. The plot is compelling, the presentation is generally very good, and the conclusion is outstanding. But all of these achievements will be tempered if you're looking for the kind of scares that defined Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Playstation Lifestyle - 8/10

Frictional Games have shown us time and time again that they are masters of telling a scary story; this time, without the crutch of plentiful jump scares. SOMA is a game that can cause you to question your humanity, if only for a few moments.

We Got This Covered - 4/5

SOMA might have downplayed its terror a little bit, but it will still get into your head and leave a lasting impression about the state of consciousness, the mysteries of reality and the existentialist nature of humanity as we know it. And for that reason alone, it’s definitely worth checking out.

GamingBolt - 8/10

Whether you’re a fan of Amnesia: The Dark Descent or first person survival horror or just enjoy a deep, meaningful story who’s themes extend beyond the confines of a simple video game, SOMA is worth a look.

Gamesradar - 3.5/5

A disturbingly different take on interesting sci-fi concepts let down by a slow start and disappointing monsters, but worth it overall.

Kotaku - YES

Though jump scares are fun in the moment, they don’t last. The best horror sticks with you long after the credits roll, an uneasy feeling that lingers uncomfortably in the moments before you fall asleep. I’ve been thinking about what happened in SOMA for days now, especially the game’s closing minutes, and can’t let it go. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. If that’s not a sign of success, I’m not sure what is.

Eurogamer - Recommended

That Frictional has been able to take such an over-used concept as exploring an abandoned research base, populated by bloody corpses and monsters, and turn it into a sombre philosophical adventure that is also exciting and even funny, is quite the achievement. It may not move the genre forwards much in terms of mechanics, but it spins a story you'll be glad to have experienced.

RockPaperShotgun - N/A

While it is an enormously satisfying and well-crafted game, SOMA never managed to convince me that its themes and plot were in tune with its more traditional first-person frights. It scared me and it gave me cause to think about some of the issues raised, but now that I’m done, I doubt it’ll stay long in my mind, or plucking at my nerves.

Gamersyde - N/A

After Amensia: The Dark Descent, Frictional Games are back with some serious arguments which will automatically appeal to science-fiction and horror fans alike. Thanks to a good sense of storytelling and a very atmospheric world, the Swedish developers have bested their previous game with quite a memorable title. By putting the player under constant pressure instead of conveying visceral fear (though the more sensitive ones should be terrified alright), SOMA may interest a wider audience than Amnesia, but it still remains a game for the brave. Although the emphasis on story is important, it doesn't mean gameplay mechanics are reduced to their minimum, quite the contrary. Those not particularly receptive to the "walking simulator genre" can rest assured that SOMA is not one of those games. In the end, we can vouch for Frictional Games' new creation and strongly advise you to give it a go as soon as tomorrow.

PC World - N/A

SOMA is not the horror game I expected out of Frictional, but I don’t care and it doesn’t matter. This is an excellent work of science fiction, not necessarily unique but uniquely told through its skillful use of video game conceits. It’s System Shock 2 for a modern sensibility, BioShock freed of its AAA chains. It’s damn good and, for my money, the most cohesive and ambitious game Frictional’s made so far.

The Washington Post - N/A

Whereas other sci-fi horror games like “Dead Space” or “Alien: Isolation” focus on delivering a series of visceral jolts via the near-omnipresent threat of violent death, “SOMA” goes in for the mind game. The emotionally uncomfortable situations Simon is placed in will bite at your nerves more than any pesky xenomorphs.

 

Soma - Hidden Code detected @ Kotaku

by Hiddenx, 08:58

Some Soma players have solved the biggest puzzle of the game, already:

SOMA Players Crack Hidden Code, Unlock The Game That Could Have Been

SOMA players have discovered—and solved—something weird. If you shove a plastic toy into the toilet and flush, a set of numbers appear on the screen. If you find enough of these numbers and use them as the password for a file called _supersecrets.rar in SOMA’s installation directory, you’ll find something special.

Warning: We are going to enter spoiler territory about SOMA now. Go back if you don’t want to know anything.

OK?

-> link

 

Tuesday - September 22, 2015

Soma - Launch Trailer

by Myrthos, 19:11

Soma has been launched today and here is the accompanying trailer.

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Frictional Games Presents SOMA - Available Now

September 22, 2015 - Frictional Games, creators of the Amnesia and Penumbra series, presents SOMA. Plunging into the abyss to tear at the delicate threads of human consciousness, SOMA is available today on PlayStation 4 and PC.

Creative Director Thomas Grip, reflecting on the development of SOMA:

"Five years ago, SOMA started as a simple idea; to make a game that would explore the more disturbing aspects of what it means to be a conscious being. Since then, we have gone through years of iterations, lots of hard work and almost tripled the size of our team. And finally, today, the game is done. We are very proud of how it has turned out, and feel that we have achieved what we set out to do. It has easily been the most ambitious project we have undertaken, and getting to this point has been quite a struggle. We hope people find SOMA to be a creepy and provocative experience that stays with them long after playing."

The radio is dead, food is running out, and the machines have started to think they are people. Underwater facility PATHOS-II has suffered an intolerable isolation and we're going to have to make some tough decisions. What can be done? What makes sense? What is left to fight for?

From Frictional Games, creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, SOMA is a sci-fi horror game that questions our concepts of identity, consciousness, and what it means to be human.

SOMA is available for $29.99 on PS4 via the PlayStation Store, and for PC (Windows/Mac/Linux) via digital distributors including Steam, GOG.com, and Humble Store.

Monday - September 21, 2015

Soma - Review @ Gamespot

by Hiddenx, 15:28

Richard Wakeling (Gamespot) has reviewed the sci-fi horror adventure Soma:

SOMA Review

What lies beneath.

While SOMA may have been dubbed a spiritual successor to the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent, it would be reductive to simply call it a ‘science-fiction Amnesia’. For all its foreboding dread and ghastly creatures that go bump in the night, SOMA is driven more by an enigmatic narrative than any chilling moments of bloodcurdling terror.

It’s a sophisticated and thoughtful game, with some grand, exciting, and frankly strange ideas, that proves to be a welcome sign of maturation for developer Frictional Games. It’s clear the Swedish developer isn't content to simply revisit well-trodden ground with another haunted house filled with ghouls and Lovecraftian horror, but instead eager to forge forward with something unpredictable and fresh. SOMA may not routinely rouse a quickened heartbeat, or cause beads of sweat to trickle down your forehead as regularly as Frictional's previous work, but it’s also all the better for it.

Plunging deep into the murky depths below, your time with SOMA is spent in the water-logged boots of Simon Jarrett. How he ended up on this derelict subterranean research facility is just one of SOMA’s many mysteries; gradually revealed over the course of a story-driven experience that never stopped surprising me.

[...]

I came in expecting something similar to Amnesia, just in a terrifying new location, but what I found is an intelligent game that forced me to think and contemplate ideas as only the best sci-fi is capable of doing. It may not stir the hordes of wailing YouTubers looking for the next best haunted house, but SOMA succeeds at crafting something much more meaningful in a genre that’s deserving of more than just simple jump scares.

Score: 9/10 - Superb

The Good:

  • Engaging and thought-provoking story
  • Impressive writing and voice acting throughout
  • The atmosphere is drenched in dread
  • Keeps you on the edge of your seat
  • Sound design is particularly chilling

The Bad:

  • Enemy encounters can be tedious
  • Walking the ocean floor is dull and plodding

 

Friday - September 18, 2015

Soma - Interview @ The Wayfaring Dreamer

by Hiddenx, 23:26

Ian Hipschman has interviewed Thomas Grip, creative director of Frictional Games, about the upcoming game Soma:

Soma so·ma (sō’mə)

  1. pl. so·mas or so·ma·ta (-mə-tə)
  • The entire body of an organism, exclusive of the germ cells.
  • The axial part of a body, including the head, neck, trunk, and tail.
  • The body of a person as contrasted with the mind or psyche. 1

“What you have is a word that stands for both the physical body and the immaterial mind,” says Thomas Grip, creative director of Frictional Games, who next week will release SOMA.

SOMA is a science-fiction horror game set in an underwater research facility containing machinery that believes it is human. Following the release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent in 2010, Grip and co. have been hard at work on SOMA, which will release on the 22nd of September.

[...]

Gamers and industry professionals alike are immensely looking forward to SOMA, especially my colleague Patrick Klepek, who according to this tweet is quite excited for the game. Touted as a psychological horror experience, Grip dives into the game’s narrative:

“Basically, you have a set up, and the premise for this set up is still secret. We’re keeping this secret because we want players to go into the game and get this question of, ‘Shit, what happened here?’ There should be some sort of philosophical conundrum, and it’s very important that that come fresh,” Grip explains.

“Otherwise, you’ve got Simon, who’s our protagonist. Contrary to Amnesia, he has a proper backstory and a proper personality from the get-go. You start playing as Simon as he’s in this place that he doesn’t know much about, and his situation is unknown to him. He finds himself in a run-down underwater base, where this weird black goo has penetrated the walls, and seems to be taking over stuff. You see these strange robots walking around, some are outright monsters, some think of themselves as human.”

“The narrative is that Simon needs to figure out what is going on here, and he’s going to need to get an understanding of his place there. He’s on a certain mission that he needs to get completed.”

“As a tangent, when people played our alpha in its early days, when they got some of the early questions answered, they felt like everything else was pointless. Normally, you’d say, ‘Well that’s a bad premise,’ but I was glad because they should be feeling like everything is pointless,” Grip explains.

“At the same time, we don’t want them to stop playing the game, so we needed to reconcile these two things. Later when we had a beta test, no one complained about this, some simple tweaking seemed to solve the issue.”

There are certain themes that Frictional Games are including in SOMA, all of which boil down to philosophical conundrums. One of these themes, as Grip explains, is, “how do you deal with this thing? I think this is an interesting theme to explore in video games, and horror is sort of driven by this. In a game, you need to be the person that progresses the storyline, even if that is simply pushing a button to move you forward.” [...]

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Our Eye spotted this!

Monday - September 14, 2015

Soma - Creature and Environments Trailers

by Hiddenx, 16:46

Frictional Games released some new haunting trailers:

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1) Is SOMA scarier than Amnesia: The Dark Descent?
We think that SOMA is just as scary, if not even more so, but in a different fashion.

In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, there's constant oppression that starts from the get go, peaks somewhere half-way through, and then continues until the end. What you get is a game that's very nerve-wracking, but which also becomes numbing after while. It's pretty common for players to feel the game loses much of its impact halfway through. SOMA is laid out a bit differently. At first it relies more on a mysterious and creepy tone, slowly ramps up the scariness, and peaks pretty late in the game.

Another aspect is that SOMA's horror relies a lot on the player starting to understand the underlying subjects we're exploring. These elements will be present from the very start, and then as the game progresses you'll encounter them in increasingly disturbing situations; things which seem trivial at the start of the game will become much more deeply entangled with your own story later in the game.

It's also important to point out that SOMA relies on very different scare tactics. In Amnesia the focus was on having a "haunted house"-style ride where creepy supernatural things could pop up any point. Most of the scares were all about inducing primal "afraid of the dark"-like responses. SOMA, on the other hand, derives much of its horror from the subject matter. The real terror will not just come from hard-wired gut reactions, but from thinking about your situation and the events that unfold from it.

2) Will SOMA have proper puzzles?
Short answer: Yes. It will have puzzles similar to those in Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Long answer: While SOMA does have a bunch of puzzles, they are designed a bit differently.

First, the puzzles in SOMA have been designed to flow along with the narrative. Our goal is for you to never feel like puzzles have been added merely to provide some extra padding. We want them to feel as an integral part of the experience. For example, in one area we have a door that needs to be opened. But there is also a communications device that runs off the same power source as the door, so the puzzle-goal becomes entangled with a narrative one. On top of that, you also need to take part in a creepy activity in order to get the power running. This means that solving the puzzle is far from a purely mechanical exercise, but includes a strong sense of narrative too. Just about all of the puzzles are structured along similar lines.

Second, many puzzles are spiced up with some kind of hard decision, making them a lot less straightforward to solve. For instance, in one scene you need to decide whether you want to inflict terrible pain on a robot, or take your chances with the warning signs that the former residents of Pathos have left for you. Which one to choose?

Third, the complexity of the puzzles will rise as the game progresses. The reason for this is to give the player some time to understand the world and their place in it. And then when that's established we start to demand a bit more from the players, and crank the difficulty up a bit. This doesn't mean that the game becomes all about puzzle-solving, though, it just means that we include more elements that you need to keep track of, we make the world more open, and we hold your hand less. Puzzles will be an integral part of the game's narrative from start to finish.

3) How is the story told?

The storytelling in SOMA has both an active and a passive part. The active part is the narrative that unfolds that as you play the game. These are the things that happen to you as a player and what the gameplay is built around. On top of that is the passive part, that tells you about past events. It's told through notes, pictures, terminals, audio and the environment itself.

An important thing to note is that the passive part is almost completely optional. It'll obviously give you a much greater understanding of the game's world and lore but it's not our major means of getting the story across. This is very different from Amnesia: The Dark Descent where reading the diary entries scattered across the game was crucial for understanding what was going on. This means that you are free to choose how much you want to invest into uncovering all of the backstory. For instance, you could choose to only check the fragmentary audio buffers of intercoms, and just skim any notes. Or you could decide to find everything in one area, but skip most in another. The game has been designed to support a variety of play styles and still give a complete experience, but we hope you'll find that by immersing yourself in the world of SOMA your story experience will be considerably enhanced.

There is also a big emphasis on making everything coherent. You won't find any haphazardly strewn notes, documents or props in SOMA; everything is there for a reason. This to the point where you can get story information from merely pondering the placement of a book or a picture on a desk.

SOMA is easily the most story-heavy game we have made so far. But unlike our other titles, a major part of that story comes from simply playing the game.

 

Tuesday - August 25, 2015

Soma - Can be preordered on GOG and Steam now

by Hiddenx, 07:58

The release date date for the sci-fi horror game Soma is September 22, 2015.
Yo can pre-purchase the game on GOG and Steam now.

Here's a new video about the music in Soma, composed by Mikko Tarmia:

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Saturday - June 20, 2015

Soma - Preview @ theKoalition

by Hiddenx, 09:40

Stephanie Burdo (theKoalition) : Some first impressions from Soma:

SOMA Preview – 10 Seconds Before Death

Frictional Games, the developer behind Amnesia demonstrated SOMA at this year’s E3. The demo followed the same gameplay trailer that had been released by the team earlier this month. The begin portion of the previous gameplay trailer was removed and replaced with a more intriguing conclusion. As I left the PlayStation 4 demo, I had many questions, all of which I cannot wait to have answered after SOMA’s release.

You play as Simon, a man roaming about an abandoned science facility. Simon has a special ability; he is able to hear the last 10 seconds before someone’s death. Similar to the earlier demo, you encounter a wounded mech claiming to be a man named Carl. As I roamed the halls I found a deceased male with the same name as the mech I had just encountered, which left me feeling…confused.

I used the code on Carl’s identity badge to log into the staff computers, opening a door to the main power system. Next to the power switch there was a note that warned me of the repercussions that would follow powering on the system, “there is no turning back”. Following the actions of the earlier demo, I decided to power up the system and take my chances. In doing so, I unknowingly released a frightening and quite frankly, very noisy creature. (...)

Gameplay:

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Sunday - June 07, 2015

Soma - Release Date & Trailer

by Hiddenx, 08:13

Frictional Games finally announced the release date of the highly anticipated horror sci-fi game Soma:

After almost five years of blood, sweat and tears we can finally make the following announcement:

SOMA, our upcoming sci-fi horror game, will be released on the 22nd September this fall on PS4 and PC.

And to celebrate that, here are 12 minutes of uncut gameplay footage:

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Here are three quick bits of trivia about the video:
  1. When the video starts we are about 1 hour into the game.
  2. The protagonist is not an amnesiac. He has an established past, knows who he is, but isn't at all sure about the situation he's in.
  3. There are lots more things to explore in this level than what's shown in the video. For instance, you can avoid the robot attack completely by acting differently.

Information about

Soma

Developer: Frictional Games

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Sci-Fi
Genre: Adventure-RPG
Combat: Unknown
Play-time: Unknown
Voice-acting: Unknown

Regions & platforms
Unknown
· Platform: PC
· Released: 2015-09-22
· Publisher: Frictional Games