Monday, October 14, 2013

WHAT IS SOMA?



 

 

 

 

 

THE "BODY", THE END OF A NERVE CELL,...


A few days ago I stumbled over a shared post on g+ showing footage of a game in development called SOMA. The video was breathtaking, to say the least, and I started to search for more information about that game (http://www.somagame.com); It is currently developed by The Chinese Room under Frictional Games and due 2015 on PC and PS4. According to the internet Frictional Games has earned quite some credits over the last years with two major franchises Penumbra and Amnesia. The last Penumbra (Requiem) was released in 2008 and the most recent Amnesia (A Machine for Pigs) was released just this year! Unfortunately I haven't played a single Frictional Games title so far, but rest assure that will change! I thought I heard of the titles already and yes, after searching through one of my countless lists I actually found a note reminding me of playing them. - Apparently the titles came up a lot during a time when I was browsing through a ton of "Top whatever scary games"-videos on YouTube...


All the games Frictional Games had their hands on were PC-only so far, but SOMA will also be released for PS4. I think it's safe to say that Amnesia (above) and Penumbra (further down) were not necessarily mainstream but definitely had a certain community behind their back. After about five titles featuring and therefore expanding their own Frictional Engine, I think going for PS4 was a very smart movie. I am absolutely sure we will hear a lot more about them or rather The Chinese Room the sooner we come to the release of the PS4 version.



PSYCHOLOGY, SIMPLICITY, HELPLESSNESS AND QUESTIONS


So what is SOMA? - Besides the fact that it has some rather famous predecessors. What makes the game special and why the connection to the older games?

Well, in short I think the game could be the new cover girl for horror videogames. Forget about classical Survival-Horror games defined by Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, and possibly even earlier games... What we see in SOMA, as well as in the earlier games by Frictional, is a first person view. Yet, they are no shooters like for example FEAR. The games seem a lot more about exploration and interaction with the environment. - Which I personally think is way more scary then having a gun and being ready to shoot at everything that moves. All the games so far can undoubtedly be described as highly atmospheric and dark, even psychological in nature. And this is something I like a lot! Where is the horror in any recent Resident Evil game? Right, there is none. My suggestion to fix Resident Evil: Less is more! What was the last game that really psychologically messed with your head? That made you feel frightened? A game that you simply had to turn off at some point, because it was simply too much? I think SOMA could be that game, should they manage to bring fear into the center while staying as simpe as possible yet providing the player with more and more unanswered questions along the way. Please don't try to explain everything and keep the player helpless. Nothing destroys a good spook quicker than an overpowered hero!


 

"WE ARE ALL CHIMERAS, THEORIZED AND FABRICATED HYBRIDS OF MACHINE AND ORGANISM; IN SHORT; WE ARE CYBORGS." (from Donna Haraway's famous A Cyborg Manifesto)


Another - I find to be the most interesting - face about SOMA is obviously the big role of technology and the postmodern. Sometimes I wonder how we can accept the exponential rise of technology without being the least bit afraid or at even concerned about where we are going with that. From what we can see so far this game strongly emphasizes the human merging with the robot and vice versa. It seems to break out of the standard zombie and ghost themes always associated with horror and places the cyborg topic into the spotlight. And THAT is something that makes me probably the happiest person in the world. There are far to few games - even movies - with robots out there that give you the real creeps. We need more robots! We need to make our children instinctively afraid of robots. If you see a robot, shoot it! Seriously, they can be so extremely frightening... just look below and see where we already are!


Do you ever want to get chased by a thing like that because you posted something somebody didn't like


I suggest we all watch SOMA very, very closely and in the meantime probably check out Amnesia or Penumbra.

Play more! Have a good spook!



PS: I just have to show you this!!


This footage from Penumbra is probably the funniest thing I have seen in a while. You should probably don't watch it, if you're planning on playing the game yourself soon...

Now that's what I call some serious spooks!

Also don't forget to check out the page from SOMA (http://www.somagame.com) for more interesting video clips.

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