Official Poll Regarding SOMA's Monsters

[Brakespear]

Actually, I'll change my conclusions where the Akers scenario is concerned, having played a bit more... but I'll leave my original complaint there because it was my "first impression".

The problem with Akers, that I think others experience too, just stems from the implementation.

Until this point in the game, all monster encounters are neatly divided by chapter; repeated encounters of the same monster/type of monster are expected within that chapter and environment. The Helper robot at the beginning? You know he's hunting you, so when he (or another helper) arrives later, it makes sense.

Same with the "don't look at them" guys. You know there's more than one. You know you're still in their territory; there are lots and lots of scripted appearances and audio cues to let you know that you're not free of them yet.

With the introduction of both of these monster types, there are clear rules; with the Helper, you kinda guess (since it's your first monster) that conventional stealth rules apply, and the enemy will respond to light and sound. With the second monster, Catherine actually *tells* you the rules - warning you not to look at it.

With the Proxies, the game actually implies there is only one, initially; when you descend the stairs to the first proxy's area, Catherine mentions finding a warning about "the proxy" responding to sound. THE proxy. At least that's how I heard it.

Given the collapsed state of the stairs, and the fact that you have to climb to escape that area, it's also implied that THE proxy is left behind in the depths, and there are no subsequent audio or visual cues to imply that it escaped.

So when you finally arrive at the Akers area, you view it as a new chapter, with new rules. And as you explore, you wait for something to make those rules clear. But instead, for the first time, you're forced to learn from your mistakes; for many people (myself included) the broken window to Brandon's office is the first thing you encounter. You smash it, because the game has taught you that cracked windows can be smashed, and that smashable windows lead to game progression. Akers shows up, looking decidedly different to the previous Proxy, and you cower in terror; hiding, because you don't realise he can't see you.

The problem with this is the problem with all horror games; because the player hasn't figured it out yet, they'll probably die. And you can only kill them once; once the player has died, their fear of death diminishes. Without that fear of death, failure creates frustration.

Once the player actually knows the rules of this scenario (that Akers jumps back into the ducts after a while, and that the player must be quiet), it works very well. Personally, I've never felt so tense opening a desk drawer and hearing a pen roll around inside. So I think all it really needed was for the player to find an audio log or some sort of cue to let them know that they're dealing with *another* proxy.