The Ultimate SOMA Discussion Thread

[Lazoriss]

The gameplay trailer is utterly gorgeous. I kept getting a certain feeling from the first room regarding the graphics. I kept wanting to call it soft, or even having an almost grainy texture? It took me awhile to realize that it was from the fact that you can actually see clouds of dust moving in the light (and said dust can slightly obscure the background), and it's so subtle and well done, especially compared to the dust clouds from TDD. Between that and the voice actor, it felt reminiscent of the indie game Fibrillation.

The design and use of color is astounding. You transition from a run down orange toned lab to an alien looking blue hallway. I really like the use of the layered plating and vein like tubing. It makes me feel like the guy is in something alive, or akin to the nest of giant alien insects.

GLOWY ROBOT CREATURES MAKING COOL NOISES.
No, but really. I used to obsess over the Combine cyborg creatures from HL2. My favorite was the Hunter, as I loved its design, intelligence and the awesome sounds it would make. the thought of being pursued or even hunted by these things (and without weapons) sounds terrifying. Can you imagine being tracked by a pack of these things, and them attempting to flank or herd you into a trap? Also they can apparently crawl up fucking walls, so they could theoretically come at you from anywhere. .-.

The theme is consciousness, so I guess there would be a nice large gray area between where a machine becomes "human". (and vice-versa) Oh boy oh man. Not the most original theme when you look at it broadly, but there's so many ways to approach this and I can't wait to see Frictional's take and twist on the subject. I really liked where it was going based on Adam-bot (Mockingbird). Adam-bot essentially WAS Adam since he shared all his memories (and apparently his snarky personality lol). But it's almost like deep down Adam-bot knew he wasn't the real thing, or suspected there was something wrong. He got really upset when Reed pestered him on the fact he wasn't actually standing, and couldn't stand at all.

And on that subject, A+ on going all out with the trailers, Fricitonal team. I can't believe you actually built these "item" things and made little movies with them. They look so well crafted, too. ;___;