Official Poll Regarding SOMA's Monsters

[VirtuallyJesse]

The sections in which I experienced annoyance were in areas that also included story elements. It felt frustrating wanting to find/read notes or interact with a computer while attempting to hide from a monster at the same time. The Tau monster was the peak of my frustration, and the only time I got angry with the game, due to the reason mentioned above.

From a player perspective it felt rewarding to explore and discover notes. Then certain monster sections happen and prevent you from freely doing so - a hindering feeling as a player for sure. However, aside from the Tau encounter I found it easy enough to explore while hiding at the same time. There definitely is a fine line between too much freedom (otherwise - it's not horror!) & frustration. (go away already! I want to see whats over there!!)

It wasn't until later, after watching other individuals play SOMA, that I realized monsters had certain attributes; ex. can't look at the monster, this monster is blind, etc. Perhaps these could have been conveyed to the player a bit more strongly.

The last thing I want to comment on is that you can really feel the age of the hide mechanics. For example - while in Alien: Isolation, you can hide in lockers or fluidly crawl under desks. In SOMA, the best you can do is hide behind a wall & crouch. It feels very old, and while it may have worked in Amnesia: TDD, it simply doesn't hold up too well anymore.

To sum an opinion, I believe SOMA's monster sequences, while not the best in the world, were enjoyable, and more interesting than annoying.

[o Ventus]

I rather like the actual design of the creatures (the WAU zombie in the pressure suit that is encountered in Tau is my favorite), but mostly they were more an inconvenience and annoying for gameplay. It's like they would wander around u too they reached your general area, and then just never left. I would hide in a corner or behind some cover and wait for the creature to pass so I could continue, only to see the monster standing idly near where it passed, and after a few moments it would turn around and walk by me again. The Proxies were especially bad with this. They would walk by my hiding spot and just sort of stand there, and turn around and walk again when I go to move, forcing me to sit back some more. My first time playing the game, I quite literally spent close to 10 minutes just sitting in a corner waiting for the monster to leave because it was just walking back and forth.

The patrol AI can be improved for the creatures that just roam around like the Proxies or the WAU-robot in Upsilon. The more unique enemies like the Jiangshi and the weeping WAU-woman (could she be a WAU-reanimated Jessica Davis, from Transmission 6/7?) were much better executed and much more terrifying. Also like what was said above, additional hiding mechanics would have helped tremendously, like being to hide under tables and desks in Alien Isolation.

[prada44]

very scary/a bit annoying: as above sometimes I wanted to explore and read notes and such and a monster was clunking around making it frustrating a bit, and I think the longer he was around the less scary he was for me. At the same time I really like the idea of wandering monsters that try to find you.

[Potato]

I wish this could be a little more in-depth (ha) or like a survey, since I certainly felt differently about most of the monsters. Here's my thought on all the monsters:

Spoiler below!

Constructs (Upsilon Infected): Good starter enemy, fairly simple but every time one appeared I got super tense.
Constructs (Underwater Worker): Much more interesting than scary, wish more of the enemies spoke like these guys. Interesting and cool quotes.
Jiangshi: Unsettling at first, but due to the structure and patrol pattern of the second encounter of the CURIE, they became more of an annoyance. Intense chase though.
Proxies: Terrifying, the worst things in the entire game. Particularly the lumpy variants, their design is a lot more unsettling than Akers. Wish the two variants could be distinguished from each other aside from music, like sounds. They almost overstayed their welcome though, maintenance has almost way too many.
Omicron Robo-lobster girl: Very tense and unique enemy, but was essentially a non-threat when you figured out her issue.
Abyss Enemies: Spooky, the Angler Fish was cool and I somehow fell for it, but wasn't persistent enough, it didn't even feel like an actual enemy.
Cthulu-face (Tau)- Probably next after the Proxies, really unsettling and unpredictable, although its single appearance felt almost like an afterthought to a completely enemyless Tau. Its extremely acute perception almost made in frustrating at times, but I really liked his cat-and-mouse style.
Leviathan- Ehh, at this point it felt this game had put full force on story and this chase felt rather weak.

[deviro]

I voted "A bit scary, but mostly annoying."

SPOILERS FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON MONSTER BEHAVIOR IN THIS GAME AND HAVEN'T PLAYED IT YET!!!

So I think the encounters kind a got interesting from time to time, but the one that was most interesting to me broke in a spectacular way.

In the Theta labs the monster was pretty scary. I still have no idea how it behaves, does it go for sound, sight, movement, protagonist breathing or something? So I got to the recording that's in the medical room with surgery equipment. As I was listening to it, the monster came in the room as if to check what the sound was. I was next to the recorder and turned my back to the monster constantly so it doesn't detect me. So I was like "Sound! It attracts to sound! I'm gonna trap it!" So I tried making noise in various rooms, but I think it despawns so it's really hard to say if it even heard the glasses I tossed around.

We skip a lot of time me getting killed few times when I was in light and I think it heard me at one point.

But the one that broke it for me was this: I was in the dark corridors. Just trying to sneak by and stuff and he heard me, I started running from him and then he hit me once. So I was like "F this, let him finish me, I don't want to play this level 'hurt'." And I stood there waiting for the second finisher blow, but it didn't come. He just forgot about me and started treadling around again. That really broke it for me.

Also I didn't really like the ones you had to not look at. Seems annoying.

But overall it's an amazing game. That ending still comes to my mind occasionally. Great stuff and can't wait to see what kind of "super secret" stuff you guys are working on!

[Hypercube]

If only I didn't watch the stupid live stream of the game before it was released when I pre-ordered. I didn't spoil the game, but it just happened to be at the monster called the "proxy". I was looking forward to that monster the most, and now it's not as scary. But nonetheless I thought the monsters were great. The one at tau was just... oh my god, that thing is so hard to get past, or at least for me at first. I saw it in the creatures trailer, and knew nothing about it. It was a great experience. But the only thing I have to say besides the monster is the level desing. I certainly expected it to be different. Not too different, but mostly at Theta.

[Umbra Domini]

I'm actually unsure how to answer this. All the monsters just felt really diverse, and were each handled differently. Even the two different proxies were approached very differently.

The monsters ranged from seriously bone-chilling, leaving me cowering in a corner like the fast proxy, to pretty easy to get past by just crouching and walking behind them like the initial robot monster, to scary but somewhat annoying to get past like ctaulu (the tentacle face thing at tau. And the fear factor does go down a bit once you learn their patterns, especially on multiple playthroughs.

But overall The monsters were very scary, especially on first encounter, when you aren;t sure how to handle the situation yet. They were interesting to learn about as far as habits, special attributes (like blindness or aware of whether or not you are looking at them), and patterns.

But they can get pretty annoying after several trial-and-error attempts when trying to figure out how best to get around them.

But I don;t think it's a bad thing. I really did enjoy having to learn their patterns and abilities, even if it did get frustrating sometimes when they would get me after I tried my best.

[Sevtai]

I, as many have, feel the need to expand on my answer - Very Scary, but also a bit annoying.

Again, like with many others, I would answer very differently for each (main) monster, which I would like to expand (Only briefly I'm not here to write an essay (this turned out to be a lie)) below; spoilers abound, but yeah, if you are here you should really have finished the game

--

Monster 1 - Walker Robot
This guy was brill, it was a good, nicely paced introduction to the enemies in the game. The levels were great on their own and didn't rely on the monster to be great - this is key. I enjoyed exploring the level at my own pace and especially appreciate the 'trigger' to lure the monster out for the final encounter. It allowed the lore junky in me to get his fix, and then in my own time, let the excitement happen. He does not overstay his welcome.

Monster 2 - Disco Ball Head
Again, this guy was brill. You took the training wheels straight off. Short introduction to say 'the enemy has changed now' then a serious of jumps and reminders 'the enemy is still here, you will have to deal with this guy' and then a puzzle level to get around it. Paced brill. This monster was a challenge too, the monster on the bridge especially. Mechanically he was great too, the 'don't look' mechanic while it seems to be standard worked beautifully in the context. Again, he does not overstay his welcome and ends on a nice thriller chase scene.

Monster 3 - Server Room Shambler
This guy during his first encounter works. The server room is littered with junk, kicking the junk lures the monster. It's dark enough so you learn about his blindness with the torch, and short enough that the puzzle is interesting but not overdrawn. Not as great as the previous two, but it works.

Monster 4 - Akers
Akers is an important lore point. He is a little bit of the glue that holds everything together. Without him, something would certainly be missing. The level he is in is interesting and does not rely on the monster - much like the first. However, his area is full of lore, information, and story. Akers is thrust upon you in such a way that he obscures this information. It can be difficult to search, read and listen to logs and documents when you have to hide in a corner facing the wall hoping he doesn't get you and interrupt the recording you are listening too. His level works great. Akers is important and as a creature, and slightly more powerfull shambler, works great. However, the way he is introduced is not great.

I feel that, if Akers appeared after you picked up the security chip, he walked past the security room glass, made some noise and was generally creepy blocking your way back, this level would be miles better. Lore junky gets to read, explore and get to grips with the level first, then either intentionally or accidently, can progress, trigger the monster with the acquisition of the chip. Careful players get to explore. But the average player still has the chance to be ambushed.

Monster 5 - Maintenance Tunnel Shamblers
This level was lame, it was a maze puzzle. It was a repeat enemy, and as far as I am aware there was no lore or exploration, just a dodge the monster-maze puzzle that went on a little too long, and recycled an enemy we had already seen. Perhaps this level would have been better with a new creature? perhaps this level would have been better if it was shorter? This was the most annoying part for me.

Monster 6 - Scary Screamy Omicron Lady
Goooooood, this was right back on track. Personally I feel I completed this level in the perfect order. Middle level first, bottom level, top level. At first I thought 'Nice break after the stupid maze, little puzzle, no enemies here'. The flashing monster at the central column was making things tense, but I felt safe. Then just as the level was wrapping up, there she is, a wild card! The level was good without her, the level was AMAZING with her. Tough enemy, similar to disco ball, but different enough to stump players. And after you have dealt with her, another tense chase! Even better than before! Good level, good enemy!

Monster 7 - Tau Suit
This guy was downhill again. In the same sense of Akers. The level was full of lore, and story. But I was forced to deal with this, IMHO very very OP monster. It can see, it can hear, it is fast, and it always seems to find you. I had to rush this entire level, just so I did not constantly die. And as such, I figure I have missed out on important lore and story.

I realise this guy is a sort of 'boss' for the final level, blocking the gate to the final stretch. But come on? Level could have been great, OP monster, IMHO, ruined it.

--

I missed a few monsters, as I said, these are the main encounters that I feel affect gameplay. So overall, very scary, I loved most of the monsters. But enough of them got in the way of story and lore collection that they spoiled it, and just came off as annoying.

Not to say I dislike the game. I LOVED the game. It was glorious in its entirety!

[zebheone]

You guys did an amazing job with sound and storytelling! Monsters are great, maybe they could be more interesting but they surely scare. What sucks for me is the ROUTER REBOOTING SWITCH, it took me 30 min to figure it out. Good job guys you're doing great!

[Romulator]

I'm in Omicron, likely to continue playing the game again sometime sooner or later, but for now, I believe the monster design/behaviours are superb, however I did get annoyed by the Proxy in Theta when solving the Elevator puzzle.

I believe that particular monster became more of a nuisance for me as it just followed me, even thought it should have no knowledge of where I am. The scripting of it to start walking near me every time I tried to fix the elevator was only fearing the first time - tense, but not fearful. I believe having that monster come to you when you CAN fix the elevator, then the monster should come running.

I voted for a bit scary and interesting to encounter. I have not seen any footage between Omicron and the moment you send off the ARK through the tunnel, but from what I have heard, I should be expecting a very difficult and very intense phase of events in The Abyss and Tau.