85%PC

Amazing, profound story. It will stick with you after you stop playing. This is Frictional Games' best game in my opinion. I loved Penumbra and the first Amnesia, but this game eclipses them all. Well worth a playthrough. This game is a psychological thriller and induces fear through sound and environmental design. Yes there are creatures, but there are no cheap scares (like jumpscares). Fantastic game.

80%PC

https://youtu.be/Nac2wTRStC4
https://youtu.be/q4kX24tKZS4
https://youtu.be/SJq-hsdx_Co

90%PC

One of the best stories in horror

80%PlayStation 4

creepy game that kinda combine ai with supernatural horror stuff

85%PC

Excellent psychological horror, I absolutely loved the ethical and philosophical dilemma's that come with one's personal definition of what it means to be human, yourself, what makes something worth doing, what life is worth living, and satisfyingly getting across what I'd always say about people's fantasies of 'becoming' a digital self, then making it MUCH worse bahaha.

SOMA follows Simon Jarrett after things go wrong after a brain scan, and he wakes up in what appears to be a space station.

SOMA's narrative felt like a fun combination of Total Recall and Bioshock, with its own painful twists. You'll mainly be walking about in first person across the stations (including underwater), navigating and solving minor puzzles to progress in sometimes simple ways like finding a code, and sometimes in not so ethical ways. Later on you are accompanied by Catherine, an uploaded human attached to your Omnitool to converse and have a shared goal with. Every once in a while a monster controlled by a cancerous unchecked AI will hinder your exploration, which you cannot defend yourself against, only hide. Though there is little penalty for being caught.

While the narrative is superb, the gameplay is unfortunately the weaker part of SOMA. Map design often leaves you turned around rather easily, especially when underwater. I was almost softlocked due to wandering in the wrong unclear direction after the robot guiding me was destroyed, and unwittingly found an older checkpoint where the robot could understandably no longer be recalled. I was lucky to find the correct direction after trial and error of straight lines until I wasn't respawned back to the old checkpoint.

After playing through in Normal Mode and being engrossed by the narrative, I'd honestly recommend playing Safe Mode to not have to deal with the monsters, who are more of a nuisance you have to crawl into a corner and just... wait... until you can carry on with what you were doing.

65%PC

Very linear and story-based, almost a walking simulator. I suppose the 2 difficulties "normal" and "safe" should have clued me in.

There are small promising nuggets of gameplay which leave you wondering why they didn't put more in. In total I believe there were about 3 gameplay-heavy sections of about 40 minutes in total. There are no non-quest items in the game, so exploring feels more and more pointless as time goes on. Half of the "lore" contains zero relevance to the plot and may as well be 2 people having a random conversation about the weather.

The game does away with interfaces, including maps. This actually does work kinda well as it does give a genuine feeling of getting lost in a blizzard, similar to The Long Dark. However I think it's unrealistic that there would not be a map provided in this setting, or at least better signage.

The game has a couple of vaguely interesting puzzles which take about 1 minute to solve. Once again it would have been nice if there were more in there.

The basic premise of the game is a good one, however to me it does not go beyond the most basic examination of the mind-body problem and issues with how teleportation would work. I was hoping that there would be some interesting external philosophy sprinkled in in the form of excerpts from real philosophers but there is no such thing.

There seems to be zero replay value, nothing changes after you finish the game.

Overall it was a bit interesting but didn't really feel like a game to me.

Score: 63%

85%PC

Like many games of its kind, Soma is impossible to discuss in any depth without threat of ruining what makes the game special. If you need the quick and dirty on it : its good, does plenty of unique elements, and overstays its welcome. Its flawed, but worthwhile, particularly if you are more of a contemplative gamer that likes to delve into themes and stories, and not so much demand deep mechanics or gameplay. Its more horror than scary, if that makes sense. And it should be experienced.

And now for the rest of the review
11 hours of horror, mystery, and a gut wrenching internal conflict. In fact, I'm conflicted. I don't know if I really liked this game. Which is a strange thing to say, given that I enjoyed a lot of it, but was so thoroughly annoyed by some major bits and pieces that its tough. The game's motif, its central schtick, its raison d'etre is a major downer to me. The questions it poses, and kinda-sorta doesnt answer are unsettling, and all of that is fine, FINE! But I cant say I was thrilled to see this one through.

Lets be clear, when I began the game I didnt know what it was or how it would go about its scares. All I knew is that spooks were involved. Object manipulation and a dour protagonist were not what I was expecting, but after our initial scan and the introduction to PATHOS-II its got some serious pull with atmosphere. Sound design is top notch, voice acting is at peak, and frankly the mystery of what and how things are going down is quite piquant. I do recall being frustrated that the very first puzzle is a "hold and throw" the object, which maybe I missed where they teach how to toss stuff. All I knew was this initial bit was already a turn off for me. Puzzles, sure, but not such obviously gamified ones, add that it clashes with the serious set up starts this one on a mechanics low.

Lets talk about the exploding enemies and how enemy design in general almost ruins the game. First: all the enemies are depicted fantastically. They nailed the art direction, keeping every enemy noticeably creeptastic and unique. Minus the angler. That's where the positives end. All of the enemies are seek-and-stab types, alternating on whether they are slow or fast, or quick or dogged when they chase/find you. The trouble then is ALL of them are programmed to always know where you are and to move in patterns to obstruct, or zone you out. I know this was meant to add stress, with a sense of “c'mon, just go away” or “oh shit, it's coming, IT'S COMING!” but in practice it's quickly realized it's all being done behind the scenes and throws the player completely out of an otherwise immersive narrative. It's ANNOYING. And when you get 2 shot, or even 1 shot and sent back a couple minutes or more its FRUSTRATING, actively destroying the whole experience. Its a cursed problem. The monsters need to be scary, they need to be a threat. For them to be a threat there needs to be consequences, but those consequences toss the player out of the scary part. Killing me and resetting just makes me mad, not scared. That one elevator later on was agony. Also the exploders 'saw' through walls and blew me up despite a metal barrier and crouch. That was what broke me.

I cant get behind the object manipulation stuff. It didnt work ever with my mouse, so I'm wobbling hatches, turn-not-turning knobs, and all around making a fool of myself. Coupled with 'tense moments' where I have to do this while being chased and its truly frustration maxed. They needed something entirely different for their puzzles, and maybe more waiting. In fact, I was heavily annoyed later that I couldnt explore areas due to being chased constantly. This is horror stuff, I know, and that's why I cant say the game is bad. If anything its good, maybe great! Just not for me on a mechanics part.

Story wise I know I'm supposed to be going between clawing for survival, or accepting that humanity is over (myself included) and how this ties into what we are as selves, but I wanted to know what was happening with WAU, or Akers, or Ross! He's there at the end teleporting and mind blasting, and able to do whatever the fuck the writers want, but why? WHY? What was any of that? Alpha, or the whole of PATHOS-II. If the name is a giveaway that we are supposed to mourn the loss of ourselves or humanity as a whole its rather on the nose.

I saw Blue Velvet, knew it was excellent, and despite it hurting me it was an immediate favorite. I saw Requiem for a Dream and all the pain it gave made me NOT want to see it again, knowing full well it was also excellent. Why then does SOMA seem to fall on the Requiem side, complete with warts and questions and agony, while I can do a Blue Velvet? even so I feel the game is a soft triumph. Its fraught with missteps, annoyances, and actively works against its own immersion. But the medium chosen to discuss Humanity, or Reality, or Worth, or even Mortality is poignant. Any, 8.5/10; Great, just not for me.

75%PC

- After playing so many fast paced games, this one feels a bit boring
+ the condition of Amy made the plot interesting
+ story is unique and amazing
- not enough gameplay elements
+ one hell of a story

100%PC

you must play!

70%PC

I like the experimentation type of setting in the start, and the fact that the protagonist is going to go under scientific observation. 27/6/2025: 30 mins.

Well the game just puts you into it's universe, no explainations, no intro to what is happening etc, it uses visuals purely, for everything, starting from the lore, what's going on, etc, the thing this game excels at best is atmosphere, there really isn't much instructions/hand holding, many a times you got to solve the floor/level/puzzle/problem by figuring what to do, it's quite scary at times and very philosophical throughout. I need to finish it to really see if the game is worth it. So far, it's okay, nice presentation of a philosophy, but the overall gameplay is not my thing, but so far it's a 6. 2/7/25: 6hr 30mins.

Just finished the game, it was scary to walk in the deep ocean, that's one of my primal fears. The ending made feel about how it be to be the last sentient thing out there, not being chosen, not being you, having to be left behind, being no longer what you thought it means to be human. It makes sad, I don't want to experience it, to be the last, to see the end, it's scary, lonely and hopeless. I guess that's why I liked catherine, when she was an omnitool, it felt comforting to have someone even though not real, it gave me hope. I grew to like her voice, and wanted to spend more time with her, but in the end she was gone, the instance during which the ark was launched and the omnitool broke, and everything went dark, I truly felt alone, I didn't want to be left, anyone, anybody please stay with me, tell me there is somebody out there. The game was horrifying, philosophical and emotional, it was a good experience, makes me contemplate about the time we have left on this Earth. -7: 04/07/2025

50%PlayStation 4

Osobně nedokáži ocenit tenhle typ her. Mírumilovní nepřátelé, kteří jsou blbí jak cikáni ...totálně bez mozku. Snad a to je jediné, to je děj, který mě držel celou dobu a pak tu byl konec a já ...a to je vše? Sakra, chtělo by to více! ...? ...chtělo? Celou dobo prostě pochoduji, pomalu se ani schovávat nemusím. Okolí je dosti krásné, to ano, ale chtělo by to něco ...něco jako v Outlast, něco, co Nás baví v hratelnosti a to je náboj. Atmosféru to má, ale chce to více!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122108482400899186&type=3

85%PlayStation 4

Let's play français de la chaîne Twitch JolanLive :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fqXFgbLy-I&list=PLXDqxRHvrHmW2MIzLolHbIyTRX0d337-r

100%PC

absolute masterpiece, christopher nolan should 100% make this into a movie

100%PlayStation 4

i adore this deep philosophical cyberpunk shit. absolutely beautiful.

80%PC

Nice indy puzzle game with an intriguiung story about the end of mankind and hope. Has some annoyances regarding enemies in the last 2 hours, but overall really lovely.

80%PC

Man, this is one of my favourite horror games. I played it on Safe Mode, and the overwhelming consensus seems to be that that's the superior way to play in order to experience the atmosphere and be able to take in the setting and details, so I concur and would recommend other players do the same. This isn't a jumpscare-y game, per se, especially with Safe Mode enabled, but it's horror in the psychological, pervading, keeps-you-up-at-night-having-an-existential-crisis way, which is my favourite flavour of horror. Even when I was at my absolute wimpiest and couldn't make myself watch five minutes of a horror movie, I loved psychological horror - plot twists, bendy narratives, eerie atmospheres, that feeling of something just under the surface being terribly, terribly wrong but not knowing what yet... SOMA has all of it and more.

People rag on Simon for being unintelligent as a protagonist, but I think he's written realistically for someone whose entire arc revolves around the fact that he has brain trauma, as well as the fact that he's very clearly in deep denial about a lot of things right up until the ending of the game.

I also understand why people criticise the ending for adding the post-credits sequence and say it ruins the emotions of the initial ending scene, but I wouldn't change it. The crushing, shocking despair of the first scene, only for that overwhelming relief when you find yourself on the ARK, and the brilliant way they re-incorporated the survey that they'd had you take earlier was great. I ended up with completely different answers to when I'd taken it the first time, and a huge part of that was because of that relief and gratitude I felt in comparison to being down there; I don't think it could've worked so well any other way.

100%PC

играл на пиратке и я ахуел
сюжет на кончиках пальцев и геймплей не отстает

85%PC

Jebena kraca horror igrica. Nije toliko strasno kao neke ali ima svojih strasnih trenutaka ali vise je duboka nego strasna. Pogotovo kraj je pogodio uzasno je zamisliti biti u takvoj situaciji. Svaka cast ovo je super igrica.

100%PC

all my homies love post-game sleepless nights

90%Linux

A thought provoking story that wonders what it means to be human.

The gameplay is basic, but serviceable stealth survival horror. The lack of any options to fight back help to build a real sense of dread, and a generally foreboding atmosphere.

I found myself approaching every new room with trepidation, as I never knew when the lights would go out leaving me to escape from some new monstrosity.

75%PC

Pretty good but I was ready for it to end. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would given how people talk about it.

70%PC

very compelling story with deep philosophical and ethical themes related to what it means to be human. but these walking simulator games are not for me personally. this would be the type of game story where i would consider reading a novelization over actually playing. however, i don't know if this particular game would work for that type of media when considering the attachment to simon we feel and how it makes us feel when he gets copied not once but twice after waking up in the apocalypse.

90%PC

Finally got round to playing Soma after having it on my backlog since about 2019. I'm pleased to report it holds up remarkably well — with brilliant visual design, incredible audio and great voice acting. It's a taut, well-told story, finding eerie new ground in the well-worn 'failed scientific mission' trope.

There are moments in this game that are going to linger with me for a long time — and one particular jump scare that nearly made me poo my pants.

Soma is a desolate and chilling experience that genuinely unnerved me. I'm going to be in an deep existential funk for the next 2-3 days now... loved it!

80%PC

mola

80%PC

A thought provoking story about what it means to be human and the impact of AI. Hugely immersive and terrifying, but I played on Normal mode and found the monster encounters more annoying than anything.

50%PC

The story is okay, but the gameplay is obnoxious. It's a glorified walking simulator. There are a few horror moments where you have to progress through an area without being caught by a monster, but those parts are a detriment to the rest of the gameplay because the monsters are not difficult to evade and it feels like it elongates the game for no reason. Like it tried to be both a walking simulator and a horror game, but succeeded at neither. I think it would've been a better game if they focused their energy on picking one and extrapolating on it.

80%PC

The gameplay is a drag sometimes but the storytelling is impeccable and this game stuck with me a long time after I finished it.

95%PC

This is one of those pieces of art that when you finish them you will stare at a blank wall for 30 minutes questioning the reasoning of your existence and your place among the universe.

Apart from that, I had some minor screen tearing issues, any V-Sync option would not work 100% of the time.

100%PC

REALLY GREAT GAME! Makes you question what makes us human.

80%PC

Strong

75%PC

SOMA (2015) - Review (75/100)

SOMA is a psychological horror game that dives deep into existential dread and the nature of consciousness. While it delivers a memorable and thought-provoking experience, a few shortcomings prevent it from being a masterpiece.

Pros:

Atmospheric Storytelling:
The narrative is the star of the show, exploring heavy themes like identity, artificial intelligence, and what it means to be human. It’s haunting in all the right ways.

Immersive Worldbuilding:
The underwater setting of PATHOS-II is eerie and well-crafted, combining isolation and dread in a way that sticks with you long after playing.

Sound Design:
The audio work ambient noises, voice acting, and unsettling creature sounds creates a genuinely unnerving atmosphere.

Cons:

Underwhelming Gameplay:
The gameplay often boils down to hiding from monsters and solving basic puzzles, which feels repetitive and lacks the tension of true survival horror.

Clunky Mechanics:
Interactions with the environment and movement can feel stiff, pulling you out of the immersion.

Limited Replayability:
Once you've experienced the narrative, there’s little reason to return since the gameplay doesn’t offer much depth.

Overall, SOMA is more of a philosophical journey than a traditional horror game. Its existential questions and atmospheric world make it worth experiencing, but the lack of engaging gameplay holds it back from greatness. For those who prioritize story and themes over mechanics, SOMA is a solid, albeit flawed, choice.

Final Verdict: 75/100

100%PC

Um jogo absurdo de bom, nossa, toda a ambientação de terror e o clima constante que vai dar merda, vários momentos dava vontade de não sair do lugar pelo cagaço que dava. Isso só sobre a ambientação, a história é fenomenal, amo um debate filosófico, questionar algo que pode ser visto como básico que é simplesmente existir, até que ponto sou eu mesmo, o que pode fazer com que eu não seja mais. Acho que sempre que eu pensar em jogar uma moeda, vou lembrar desse jogo.

70%PC

Feel kind of bad giving it just a seven for the gameplay, but the story was phenomenal.

80%PC

Enviromental aspects are phenomenal, writing is superb, monsters are scary, existential crisis 8/10

70%PC

I'm a bit late with Soma, but it's still a very interesting walking simulator about a digital transhumanism gone wrong in an underwater research complex.
Loved the setting, the idea and voice acting.
Hated the stealth gameplay and sometimes lack of clear objective or journal.

80%PC

+ Thought provoking story, albeit a bit predictable towards the end.
+ Really nails the lonely experience and the extreme environment being the bottom of the ocean.
+ Environmental storytelling done right.
+ Good balance of butt clenching stealth sections and a bit less, but still tense exploration sections.
+ The lack of HUD and gameplay elements really add to the immersiveness.

- More thriller than horror IMO (game was advertised as a horror game).

80%PlayStation 4

82%

85%PC

Story was not very great but still thought provoking enough....First scary game I am playing so in terms of scares:Just spectacular👌

100%PC

One of the greatest game I have ever played in my life! Not an exaggeration!! I'm not even a big fan of horror games!!! With a phenomenal story and scary atmosphere that will keep you on your toes for 90% of the game. This game should be made into a movie just cause of how amazing the story is. The game mechanics are simple but made interesting by the setting and variations in how you accomplish tasks. I thought I was going to be frustrated by the lack of objective markers but then, after realizing that I have a brain and can think, it was actually a nice experience. No HUD makes the game incredibly immersive.

PROS:
- Incredible story
- Makes you actually use your brain when playing
- Super immersive because of no HUD

CONS:
-

3000/10

95%PC

SOMA confronts players with complicated questions of humanity, industrialization, and artificial intelligence through effective environmental storytelling: who are we? What makes a human, well, human? It's a lonely experience - overwhelmingly so at times - but the game works to lighten that burden in various ways. While the whole game's excellent, the final 5-10 minutes of SOMA are jaw-dropping. I picked up this game on sale (~$4), but I would've gladly paid $60 for the experience I was given. Importantly, though, if you're thassalaphobic like me, the entirety of the game takes place underwater (varying between ocean floor walking and pressurized bases).

Unfortunately, however, the gameplay didn't always feel great to me. Specifically, the lack of at least a journal of some kind is a massive detriment. If you don't play the entire game in one sitting, only the first loading screen reminds you of what you're currently doing in-game. This made completing quests, especially ones where multiple items are required to be found, arduous and frustrating. To offset this, the level design is relatively linear which makes not having a map/minimap less of a problem. The rest of the gameplay is walking, solving simple puzzles, and stealth. Like Dark Descent, there's no way to fight the monsters so stealth is a necessity. I typically avoid stealth-based games where I can, but I didn't find this gameplay overwhelming. The puzzles feel a bit too simple, but that's a nitpick.

PROS
Brilliant, hard-hitting story with one of the best endings I've experienced in a game.
Scary environments and monsters
Well-implemented environmental storytelling offers all the story context players need without overwhelming us with relentless exposition.
Short and concise - my complete playthrough took about 11.5 hrs.

CONS
No HUD immerses the player, but lacking a quest journal and map is a massive obstacle in terms of accessibility.

90%PC

SOMA

--- [Player Base] ---
☑ Casual players
☐ Hardcore players

--- [Is it for mature players?] ---
☐ Everyone
☑ Mature (has some dark themes and strong language)

--- [Story] ---
☐ Doesn't have it
☐ Still better than Twilight
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Fantastic

--- [Graphics] ---
☐ Really bad
☐ Bad
☐ OK
☐ Good
☑ Beautiful (for its format)
☐ Masterpiece

--- [Difficulty] ---
☐ Easy Peasy
☑ Medium
☐ Hard
☐ Dark Souls

--- [Timelength] ---
☐ Really short ( 0 - 2 hours)
☐ Short ( 2 - 8 hours)
☐ Few hours ( 8 - 12 hours)
☑ Long ( 12+ hours)
☐ Endless

--- [PC specs] ---
☐ Toaster
☐ Average
☑ Solid Medium
☐ High end
☐ Unoptimized

--- ---
☑ Full price
☐ Wait for sale
☐ Don't do it
☐ Free

--- [Bugs] ---
☐ Game itself is a bug
☐ Lot of bugs
☐ Few Bugs
☑ Nothing

Story
Soma takes place in an underwater research facility known as PATHOS-II. While the station itself is now in a state of disrepair, the player quickly establishes that PATHOS-II was a group of stations scattered around the North Atlantic ocean originally functioning as a "space gun", or more precisely, a mass driver, an installation designed to send objects into space without the hassle of building expensive rockets. Unexpectedly, the crew of PATHOS-II became the last people to exist on Earth after a comet impact caused a major extinction event. There, the last humans survive on a day-to-day basis, attempting to fight the negative effects of their collective isolation. During this period, the machines in PATHOS-II begin to develop human characteristics and a consciousness.

Review
This game is just wow, from start to finish I really enjoyed this story, it's got horror, slight humour, a brillent story and the scenery is beautiful (in a creepy kinda way). I feel as if they could have done more with the story but i'm satisfied with what I paid for, perhaps a DLC in the future?

Saving the tiny robot was so cute! 9.5/10

90%Xbox Series X/S

One of the best stories of any game I've ever played, amazing setting & themes, very different compared to lots of horror games I've played which is what I think makes it an amazing game. Recommend this game for anyone who likes a sci-fi/apocalyptic scenery, as well as those who don't particularly like in your face horror games with endless jump scares. Didn't expect much going into it, but at the end of it I was glad that I found the time to play this game, it went down as one of my favourite horror games of all time.

95%PlayStation 4

A spooky story with many questions on what a soul is, how a person is defined, and what it means to be human and alive. Thrown into a new world that has to be pieced together, this is a fun mid length game that will put you on edge while questioning what the correct moral path is.

100%PC

Mind bending and horrific in many ways

Good
- Monsters have unique movements. Some use noises, some teleport, some randomly move very fast, some you can't look at, etc.
- Game uses glitchy screen to warn you a monster is close by. Very tense feeling.
- I found myself going out of my way to look for info to learn more about the story and characters
- Very engaging plot
- Realizing you're inside a robot by looking in the mirror
- Having two copies of your mind when you duplicate is a scary thought
- Tricking others inside a simulation to give you info was interesting
- Don't know if I should have been trusting Catherine or not throughout the journey. Made things mysterious.
- Having structure gel taking over life forms is horrific
- The atmosphere was incredibly scary
- The sounds and ambient music was very well done
- Static words popping up on screen randomly freaked me out
- The game giving you the choice of euthanasia was challenged your philosophical thoughts

Bad
- The main character could have sounded more urgent at times. Like in the beginning, he had very little reaction to his girlfriend passing away in the car crash. He also had little reaction to waking up in a dark run down facility, straight from his doctor's office.
- There was a couple times when I was trapped with a monster in a dead end, and the monster simply won't leave, forcing me to have to take damage or reset to escape.

80%PC

It is a short yet slow game, some of the puzzles were too challenging so I cheated by watching the walkthrough on YouTube. This game is based on the metaphysics of personal identity such as Derek Parfit's hypothetical "teletransporter". For those unfamiliar with these concepts the game story specially the ending might be shocking, I have known these theories for more than a decade so for me the game was just good but not among by favorites.

95%PC

It's an amazing psychological horror game, the story is well written and keeps you coming for more. I'm generally not a horror games fan, but this one changed my perspective. It also touches a philosophical side as it makes you wonder about our existence and what makes us human. It deserves more attention, it's a criminally unnoticed game.

100%PC

Even after all this years I still think it is amaizing.