Official Poll Regarding SOMA's Monsters

[Mina Darsh]

Haven't read all the replies, there are so many, so going to respond perhaps with what has already been said.

Anyhow, the monsters were a refreshing change from Amnesia The Dark Descent. The thing that took the scary and uncertain part away in TDD was that the monsters rarely ever stayed and had music ques playing which kind of betrayed if they were around and when they despawned. So really, it was just hide, wait, and continue.

SOMA though, they stayed, and they also did way more the monsters. Dear lord did it make the game tougher and scarier, but not in an annoying way. It's actually a brilliant combination I think that you make a game that is so scary that one might not play it any more because they got too scared of it, but yet the story is so compelling it just pushes you to go on because you crave to know more. This is by the way why I never finished Outlast because something about the story just didn't grab my attention and it was still, for me, very scary. So yeah, I quit that one.

So a good story is so extremely vital for a game that is so tense.

Anyway, the monsters, first they appeared fairly tame, they just patrol, they react to objects thrown though it was hard to use that tactic without them somehow still noticing you. Then came Discoball... The teleporting ability gave a huge: "Oh crap!" Moment, that got me excited and freaked out at the same time.

The next surprise was the Angler Fish which was indeed mean, but I didn't feel cheated on, it's what Angler Fish do more or less. You search for lights, Angler Fish knows this, uses its light to lure you and nom! Luckily it didn't kill me and only happened once.

Then came the Robo Girl... I was so confused at first, wondering why it was only yelling and causing some sort of shockwave when an object was thrown but not investigating. I even managed to throw an object against her but still no movement! This sudden change in what one is used to with encounters brought such a level of uncertainty that it created a huge amount of psygological fear, it was insane... (And that girl was messed up... Also the irregular breathing, huffing and what not, she was scary by just standing there!)

The last interesting part was the Infected Deep Sea Diver, now he didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but it was the area he was in and the way he came in... You're just entering a facility and suddenly you hear alarms blaring and an automated voice mentioning the airlock is used. Since you're pretty much the last sane being left you already think: "Oh crap, that can't be good..." And this heavy tentacle face Deep Sea Diver comes out and you're in some pretty tight corners, make one wrong decision and you can't sneak around it anymore since there is simply no alternative route, that part was difficult!

So yeah, that is my two cents on this, I really think the encounters were a lot scarier, awesome job!