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[SOMA] Out now on PC/PS4!
Ceno
pizza timeRegistered User regular
pizza timeRegistered User regular
Next Frictional game is being revealed here, slowly but surely.
http://www.somagame.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWHVkMIP1b8
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/04/15/frictional-39-s-chilling-soma-heads-to-beta.aspx?utm_content=buffer72a26&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Gird your loins.
http://www.somagame.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWHVkMIP1b8The radio has gone silent on PATHOS-2. As isolation bears down on the staff of the remote research facility, strange things are happening.
Machines are taking on human traits and alien constructions have started to interfere with routine. The world around them is turning into a nightmare.
The only way out is to do something unimaginable.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/04/15/frictional-39-s-chilling-soma-heads-to-beta.aspx?utm_content=buffer72a26&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Gird your loins.
Ceno on
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Steam: MightyPotatoKing
The first 45 minutes of the game are disarmingly incident-free. But it really ratchets up. And the story is really good so far.
Looking forward to a pants shitting marathon.
More specifically...
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
Did you get Black Plague as well? Penumbra is worth getting through in order to play Black Plague, one of my all time favorites.
As far as Pigmachines go, I played this through completion today. I'll spoiler my thoughts and double spoiler spoilers.
Enemy spoiler
I think removing lamp oil, sanity, and inventory was a mistake. The lamp oil from Descent made it feel like light was a resource, as opposed to an enemy indicator. And sanity was great, as it kept you from constantly keeping pegs on baddies. The manbearpigs here felt practically harmless by comparison, since all I had to do once one spotted me was run a bit, usually to a door or staircase, and I'd be good.
The total lack of puzzles was really disappointing for me, and I think that was my biggest issue with the game. Shit, the journals even comment (multiple times) about how repetitive the roadblocks are. I don't know if they were going for some sort of self awareness, but I wasn't feeling it. There's even a point in the mid to late game where
As far as the story goes, really either didn't feel it or didn't get it. Big ole spoilers:
Anyway, long story short, I think this game would've been better served not having the Amnesia connection. I went in expecting something akin to Dark Descent - which I thought was incredible - and ended up disappointed. As far as pluses go, the sound design and music are amazing for sure. The graphics were good, but I really wasn't a fan of the motion blur and pervasive blue tint that seemed to pop up constantly.
* oh and thanks for making the thread @Ceno; I wanted to in order to talk about it, but was too lazy to do so in the end.
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
I will still play it at some point but the initial reviews aren't stellar.
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
I know what you're getting at yet I know why they got rid of things like Sanity and Health. Yatzhee, damn his soul, was right about sanity. Hiding in the dark shouldnt reduce my player to a two year old.
Not having an inventory also means that a broader range of skill levels can enjoy the story and scare factor without having to worry about permanently fucking themselves save wise, which is the worst "consequense" a player has to stomach.
I was considering a military fundraiser in which we make our supervisors play with an audience in the spirit of so many charity streams. The lack of inventory and permanently fucking yourself was one of my biggest factors in this.
I remember trying to do a runner in Descent at low sanity, face planting, and being eaten. Loved it.
I should add that when I play horror games, I play them for the story and atmosphere. Something about the good horror game stories are amazing to me. Silent Hill 1 and 2, Fatal Frame, Amnesia, etc. But the threat of having to start the game over was always a source of frustration. I started New Games of all of those titles over and over before I completed them. So when the Chinese Room took over and got rid of inventory, I went "hallelujah."
ATDD LPs were big hit, I imagine the new game will attract a lot of youtube attention to LPers.
If you're gonna do it, you should do it soon though. Best to strike while the iron's hot.
Now I still don't want to die so I'm keeping my light put away much of the time, but now I can't see where the fuck I'm going so I have to pick between either exposing myself or running in circles.
Not really loving the game at the moment.
I did a brainstorming session, and though the younger, hipper, Call of Duty players were all for it, we decided against it for a number of reasons.
1. Logistical nightmare. If we were to do it, it would just be a "fun Halloween night," not a fundraiser. I was dreaming big, in which we rent out the whole damn movie theater for a day, have the players in a room playing, swapping out based on donation jars with names on it, and people with microphones communicating with audience members with suggestions, and make money simply by asking for donations and possibly selling popcorn. This would be a technical and logistical nightmare. I can't just put my personal computer in the movie theater: they treat every outside computer and USB device like a Chinese Virus Factory. How would I get a webcam going? How would I get the player's audio from my Razer headset to the movie's speakers? If my computer is not permitted to use the internet, how can I get onto Steam? We would just have to go for a Halloween fun night instead.
2. The military community, in particular, the Air Force is particularly conservative, and not in the religious sense. The Dark Descent had parts in there I won't mention that would be "too much." I don't mean to be politically incorrect but perception is everything. Even if we lock down an area and forbid anyone under 18 from viewing (and I wouldn't have it any other way, mind you) all it takes is that one person to say "this is too much" and pull the plug.
3. Game vs movie. I've been playing through the game so I could guide the volunteer players, and to evaluate the content. I know how to advice people on game content. It would be a delicate balancing act of giving the player and audience control without them getting lost. On one end of the spectrum, getting lost equals boredom, and on the other, I could end up spoiling the fun. Games are longer than movies too, and my area has a curfew.
So yeah, this would not be easy to pull off. But it would make an amazing Halloween party.
The sound still works, which is good. I have been playing the game in the dark with headphones. After I turned it off last night I swore I could still hear sounds from the game. It got so bad that I whipped off the headphones and tuned on the light...
Coyotes howling is already a creepy sound. Add to that a firetruck siren in the distance and a mind fresh off of Amnesia and the end of the world is just over the horizon.
...not feeling AMFP so far. The first was much better.
Wait what does this mean
Do you mean MFP was made by a different team?
mountainsofmadnessmountainsofmadnessmoutainsofmadness
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
It was made by The Chinese Room (who made Dear Esther) with direction from Frictional.
...man don't say that shit you will get my hopes up way too rad
fixed for fthagn
That and...
That , and for some reason, the main character in this game bothered me more than Daniel. Sure, it turned out that Daniel was/became a horrible person, but I dunno, I thought his backstory about how he sorta slowly came into it was nifty.
Mandus, it turns out, was just a psycho and kinda dumb from the start. "THE WORLD IS EVIL. Soooo.... I WILL KILL EVERYONE. It's the perfect plan! Also free pork! ...OH WAIT. PEOPLE DIE WHEN KILLED? I DID NOT FORSEE THIS!!!. "
* I should note- that despite my fear of playing it, I did buy the first Amnesia. And played some of it. ... just...not all of it. Despite knowing what was going to happen, I was still too wimpy *laugh*
Also, a brief wiki glimpse confirmed that the voice over the phone is indeed him. I mean, there's the message at the start suggesting a voice or presence in his head, and he just starts getting random calls that are also in his own voice. GEE GOLLY I WONDER WHO THAT COULD BE
Normally I avoid spoilers, but not when they're so glaring obvious. :P
I'm not feeling particularly tempted to push on, at least not from the area I'm currently in.
While I think the game is an improvement in environmental design and I like Mandus so far, the game itself is not especially compelling, compared to TDD.
Part of me wants to replay it, as I can't help but think I must have missed out on some essential clues to understanding the story, but between the slow movement speed and the constant motion blur and slowdown whenever there's dialogue occurring, I don't think I'll be assed to slog through it again. This game felt very long for a short game, if that makes sense.
Honestly the only grievances I have right now are purely mechanical. I think the puzzles are oversimplified because they got rid of the inventory, and I think some of the atmospheric tension is mitigated because they got rid of managing your light source. But I'm still having a great time. It won't be as memorable for me as the first game, but, let's face it, few things will.
You'll probably be fine; I encountered two bits that I'd consider "jumpy," and one of them was pretty marginal (a surprising noise, no imagery). I'd say it's a far more disquieting experience than outright fear-inducing, but that's just me.
Also, at least personally, the let down isn't so much about it being less "scary" than Descent, since that's pretty subjective. I'm bummed they got rid of the game elements, essentially making progress = walking forward and clicking on things, as opposed to solving puzzles and managing resources.
I think some people will embrace this style, and like the game more for it, I'm just not in that camp.
Just go play Dead Space 3. That was basically At The Mountains Of Madness.
Regarding A Machine For Pigs. I kind of hate that the some of the new mechanics, but so far it is still quite scary. Just not the same "terror is around every corner" feeling that the first game had.
Story was very vivid and disturbing, but a few aspects of it (the ending being one) needed more explicit explanation.
Far, far less scary than Dark Descent. The monsters are scary exactly one time (the first time you encounter them) and then you just run past them, since there is no consequence to looking at them. They are slow and easy to avoid.
The puzzles were oversimplified since they got rid of the inventory and I miss the resource management.
Overall, it is a good, atmospheric, tense game, but a disappointment as a follow-up to the first game, which was unrelenting and oppressive in a way that this game simply isn't. I liked it quite a bit overall, but I'd still recommend the first game to anyone new to the series.