Frictional Games understands a thing or two about creating terrifying environments. After all, the game developer gave us two of the scariest PC games of all time: Amnesia and Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Now, the developer wants us to step into the isolated world of their new science fiction horror title, SOMA, a game that seems just as terrifying as the company's previous two titles.
Frictional just released a new trailer showing off the environments of SOMA, along with a spooky voiceover that speaks about a different time and place, when things felt more normal.
In SOMA, players make their way through a setting where machines think they are people. There's no outside contact with the world and the food supply is dwindling. In SOMA, players must ask themselves if they can survive the cold, stark isolation of underwater facility PATHOS-II.
The developer also released a new blog, answering several key questions about the game, including an explanation about how the game compares with their Amnesia titles. Frictional states that, although SOMA uses different scare tactics, it's just as scary, if not more so, than their previous games.
"In Amnesia, the focus was on having a 'haunted house'-style ride where creepy supernatural things could pop up any point," writes Frictional on its blog. "Most of the scares were all about inducing primal 'afraid of the dark'-like responses. SOMA, on the other hand, derives much of its horror from the subject matter. The real terror will not just come from hard-wired gut reactions, but from thinking about your situation and the events that unfold from it."
SOMA also features puzzles, similar to Frictional's other games, but these puzzles work a little differently, designed to "flow along with the narrative." Some of the game's puzzles also come with moral decisions that have consequences.
Frictional also stressed that much of SOMA's appeal comes from its storytelling.
"SOMA is easily the most story-heavy game we have made so far," the developer writes. "But unlike our other titles, a major part of that story comes from simply playing the game."
SOMA comes out for PC on September 22.
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