One of horror gaming's best stories

Hey all! This week we've been loving exploring horror games (especially cute indie experiences like Convenience Store and Closing Shift), so I also snagged SOMA when I saw it on sale. I'm not entirely sure what to expect; I haven't played or seen it before, but I understand it's a sci-fi survival horror from the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

??I'm always on the hunt for unsettling and creepy games, so this sounds like a perfect way to spend Friday evening with you! Let's see how it holds up. See you there!

Drop by Destructoid’s Twitch channel every Friday night to hang out.

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Focus on the story, not the stealth

Last year, Frictional Games thoughtfully added a Safe Mode to its underwater sci-fi horror game SOMA on PC and Xbox One. The idea was to l?et players take in the story (which is the highlight of the whole experience, by far) without worrying about dying at the hands of pesky monsters.

?"You don't need stealth in order to complete the game," the team said at the time. "Monsters might sound and act more threatening if they spot you, so there is still an incentive to being careful, but it's no longer mandatory to keep hidden." Achievements even work with Safe Mod enabled.

If you liked the sound of this stuff but you own SOMA on PlayStation 4, you're in luck.

You are always safe!

SOMA has now been updated with Safe Mode on PS4. Get yours at the Playstation Store: //t.co/3UwRAitWo9 pic.twitter.com/D4iLjL6Sl3

— Frictional Games (@frictionalgames) February 19, 2018

Now we can all feel (relatively) safe together.

Frictional Games [Twitter]

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Next up, VR? (I wish!)

I'd say SOMA is plenty unnerving as is, but maybe you'd like to ratchet up the immersion and tension. Maybe you also happen to own one of those fancy eye-tracking devices. If so, heads up! Frict?ional Games has updated its existential underwater horror adventure to support Tobii eye t??racking.

This video highlights some of the obvious and far more subtle examples of what SOMA looks like with the feature enabled. I'd imagine that once you get used to the way the camera reacts to your gaze, it's a little easier to naturally "sink into" the game and get proper scared. Then there's the monster??s. They, uh, they don't like being looked at. Trying not to stare might prove extra tricky?? here.

Whether you're remotely into this stuff or not, there's bonus news: Frictional is throwing a Steam sale on SOMA ($10.19), Amnesia: The Dark Descent ($3.99), Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs ($3.99) Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition ($1.99), and Penumbra Overture ($1.99)

Tobii eye tracking in SOMA! [Steam]

The post SOMA seems like a good fit for eye tracking appeared first on Destructoid.

I still think about the ending

We're pretty fond of Frictional Games' SOMA around here. It had confusing marketing that led to people thinking it'd be more like Amnesia: The Dark Descent with pop-out scares and tense chases, but its somber philosophical narrative has been rolling around in my gray matter for a year now. It seems we're not the only ones who were fond of it, as Frictional has posted a post-mortem a year after release.

Despite SOMA not being "a safe bet" or an "easy sell" and Frictional's worries about "backlash based on faulty expectations," it has sold over 450,000 units since last September. That means that the developer has gone past breaking even and has turned a profit, which it was unsure of due to SOMA costing "well over 10 times what Amnesia" did. The blog post is fairly candid about what gamers expected from the sci-fi horror game. Of particular note is how the team realized it was "never gonna be the scare-fest that Amnesia was" and worried about marketing its then-current project. Instead of spoiling what made SOMA unique, it instead decided to make sure the PR campaign communicated to gamers that this was from the creators of Amnesia.?? This led to that marketing confusion I mentioned above.

Due to SOMA's success, Frictional is now a two-project studio with on?e project starting production at the end o??f this year and another mid-way through R&D. What would you like to see from it?

SOMA - One Year Later [Frictional Games]

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Well, a few of them!

I know, I know. The first month of 2016 is halfway done and I'm still writing about 2015. Well it was a damn good year for games, okay? Back off, Mom.

Instead of talking about my top picks from last year, I'm going to tell you about my favorite moments from last year, in no particular order. I'm sure I'm forgetting something that I loved, but thi?s list is fairly representative of sequences that amazed or surprised me in some f??ashion.

I'm going to be spoiling (in order) Bloodborne, SOMA, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Undertale, all in varying degrees. ?If you haven't played those titles, you have been ??warned!

Bloodborne's Bagmen

Hot diggety, there are so many moments I could choose in Bloodborne. I wrote this awkwardly-titled piece about how From Software so effectively used misdirection throughout the game's marketing (give it a read, that's one of my favorites!), but one particular enemy encounter immediately comes to mind. The first time you meet the Bagmen/Kidnappers, they're most ??likely going ?to kill you in just two hits. That's terrifying enough already, but instead of the regular loading screen taking you back to the last checkpoint, you're greet with a cutscene.

At this moment, you watch through your? Hunter's eyes as he or she is dragged into an entirely new area, the Hypogean Gaol, where you're even more lost and confused than previous environments. It doesn't help that there are enemies in this area that can slit your throat, probably killing you instantly. 

When dying over and over has become routine, changing the rules and subverting your deathly expectations is a smart way to discomfit the player. Well done, From Softwar?e.

SOMA's second survey

For some reason or another, I kept putting off SOMA. Whi??le I had enjoyed Frictional Games' previous work, the first few hours of its new underwater horror game put me off. I'm glad I came back and finished it a couple weeks ago, though, because the themes of transhumanism and body horror are probably permanently hard-wired into my brain now.

Playing as a man who wakes up in an aquatic base long after the world should have ended, you soon realize there's no point in trying to save humanity in its current state. Instead of attempting to rescue the few remaining vestiges of mankind, you turn to the ARK. This device allows peo??ple's consciousnesses to to live on in a simulated utopia by way of brain scans, feeling for all intents and purposes like real humans. 

After learning about the ARK, you take a survey that asks you questions, such as "Do you think th??is new existence will be worth living?" and  "How would describe your current mental condition?" Since you've recently found out that you're an imprint in a robotic suit, these questions are uncomfortable, but thought-provoking. You find new hope in the idea that you will, in a way, be able to regain your body and live in this new paradise.

When launching the satellite, you try to transmit your consciousness to the scan on the ARK. However, you lose the coin flip, and remain in the body in an empty base, with no one to talk to and no reason to live. Even though you ?just "saved" humanity, there's a lump in your throat because you didn't get to save yourself. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it, you monster? The credits roll.

But it gets worse. After the credits, you awaken in the serenely beautiful simulation of the ARK as the brain scan of your duplicated consciousness. On your way through an idyllic forest, a computer monitor nonsensically juts out of the soil. You can take the same exact survey as before, but knowing that you left part of yourself down to rot underwater on Earth, it's amazing just how much your answers will most likely change. Usually, games are more interested in altering the questions of the game, so watching Frictional Games morph your answers was a delightful surprise.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Snowball Fight

From an outsider's perspective, Geralt of Rivia sounds like a try-hard Dungeons & Dragons character made by an obnoxious friend: he has rippling muscles, wields two swords, is a mutant, has long, flowing white hair, and a magical penis that can't make babies or contract sexually-transmitted infections. Playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with expectations of him being that simple is a mistake, though. Sometimes he has an ann??oyed half-grin plastered on his face; he's not above getting drunk, or tryi??ng on women's clothes, and he has a paternal, caring streak that makes him want to protect Ciri.

Ciri's constantly imperiled, but can handle herself. As her father figure, you can keep defending her and trying to shelter the girl from the evils of the world, or you can accept ??that she's going ??to face danger head-on just like you've taught her. In a poignant moment, when she's struggling to learn how to use her abilities, Geralt can choose to either give her yet another lesson, or take her mind off things with a surprise snowball fight. Better yet, this is a playable moment, rather than a cutscene, and you can either beat Ciri or let her win.

Sure, Geralt seems like an amalgam of clichés at times, but throughout The Witcher 3 you get to see him from all sorts of perspectives. This tender m??oment was a welcome respite from the? monster hunting and Gwent playing (Gwent is awesome, shut your mouth).

Undertale's Photoshop Flowey

So, like SOMA, I only played Undertale once this New Year started. I was apprehensive because some things were spoiled for me and people who love the game fucking love it. It's hard not to go in with inflated expectations in a situation like this, but somehow Toby Fox's little creation completely won me over. Just like Bloodborne, Undertale is filled with moments that could go on this list. But the final boss of the Neutral Ro??ute edges out everything else out for me.

I've always enjoyed games that hide horror elements under a false veneer, like Eversion. So when you think you're about to get a somewhat upbeat ending and a small Flower ends up being a terrifying Photoshopped monster that can destroy in seconds, I was sold. Photoshop Flowey looks especially disturbing considering the rest of the game is simple pixel art. Sure, the music is wonderful throughout, and Undertale plays around with RPG mechanics in fun ways, but this boss (and the way he to??ys with you and your save file) will stay with me the longest.

So that's my little lis??t! H??ere's to a memorable 2016!

The post Zack Furniss’ favorite moments of 2015 appeared first on Destructoid.

Spooky

SOMA was released on PC last week, and as it turns out, it seems to be pretty good. Now you can experience the prequel by way of a live-action mi?ni-series, sanctioned by developer Frictional Games.

If you dig this inaugural 'sode you can tune in daily until October 5 on the very same channel. I really need to check this one out at s??ome point. As an aside, it's refreshing to see this full game released in favor of doing episodic content in a free video format.

The post This live-action SOMA series precedes the game appeared first on Destructoid.

Sci-fi excellence

What makes us human? Is it our physical body, our intellect, our spirit -- or all of the above? These questions permeate an un??derwater world where everything’s gone mad. The machines have lost it, taking over all that was once run by mankind -- including the very nature of being human.

Wrestling with this existential crisis is one thing, navigating through a sea of dangerous machinery and monsters while doing it is another entirely. Frictional Games, the studio who brought us Amnesia: The Dark Descent, delivers this to you in SOMA --&nbs?p;a game which takes these environmental elements and rolls them into one perfect yet unsettling experience that questio??ns what it means to be human.

SOMA (PC [reviewed], PS4)
Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games
Release Date: September 22, 2015
MSRP: $29.99

In SOMA you play as Simon Jarrett, an unlikely fellow tra?pped inside a deep underwater facility named PATHOS-II. The machines are strangely talking like people, monsters wander the corridors aimlessly as if looking for something or someone, and most of the systems are completely shut down. The complex is clearly in disarray, and it’s up to you to make it through alive and discover what caused the collapse of the facility.

There is little guiding Simon in his exploration through PATHOS-II save for Catherine, a scientist you find via a comms link. She is virtually the only guide you have in the game, explaining what you need to make it through to the next area. However, most of SOMA rests ??on your ability to parse through notes and other aspects of the environment to discover what might need to be done next.  

The environment is highly interactive with lots of care in the details -- practically everything can be examined, from sketches and magazine articles to ancillary objects, all of which give more flavor to the atmosphere and in some cases provide hints for ho??w to move forward in the game. Simple controls also make it easy to focus on the story and interactivity of the world, allowing you to hone in on your ability to discover and learn bits of what happened to the facility.

The general flow walking through the facility is very natural, and despite the story and gameplay being fairly linear, it never actually feels forced in this way. There’s no journal, written objectives, or anything of that kind -- exploration (and sometimes Catherine’s guidance) grants you more insight into what you need to do next. Maps are onl??y provided in some larger?? areas, and are fixed in one place, so relying on memory is key -- especially when hiding and running from monsters.

SOMA has no combat, but this doesn’t mean that it lacks action. The game finds clever ways to make your brain work, from solving interesting puzzles to having you navigate maze-like enviro??nments filled with monsters -- or sometimes both at the same time to keep you on your toes. Puzzles err on the side of being a bit easy, but are integrated seamlessly within the plot and environment (via old computers, mechanics, and other elements), so nothing seems out of place.

Monsters are carefully placed in certain areas and are typically one-offs -- i.e., you’re only dealing with one at a time. If you run into one (or if one runs into you), Simon will instantly pass out and wake up in the same location, sans monster, but with an impairment that renders your screen dizzy and altered. There are several “healing” points throughout the levels that can remedy your dizziness so you’re not shambling around for too long. However, if you&rsquo??;re still dizzy and don’t avoid the monster safely the second time, it’s game over and you’re back to the beginning of the area.

The mon??ster designs are unique and frightening, ranging from human-like robots to creepy underwater disco-ball-headed humanoids and twisted abominations, each having their own patterned behaviors and rules. For example, some monsters are blind so sneaking around is possible, but for others, looking straight at them will cause an instant death. Thankfully, there is  a way to detect them -- if any monster is in c?lose proximity to Simon (even through walls), your screen starts to distort and turn to static, and will grow worse as they get closer.

Save for one particularly nightmarish portion where you are trapped in an extremely dark maze full of monsters chasing you about, SOMA has a good balance between exploration, puzzles, and these monster bits. I was however a bit disappointed that there were only a few monster types in the game, and most of them only make one appearance. I liked that they kept things new but would have preferred to see some re-a?ppearances down the line, especially because the mo?nsters were so creative in their mannerisms and design.

It's delightful they didn’t overuse the whole “run away from the monster” shtick to boost t??ension at every given turn. Sometimes just being in a desolate, dark environment surrounded by water and metallic-sounding creaks is enough to cause fear and tension in itself. The atmosphere does plenty good on its own cre?ating jump scares from utilizing lighting, sounds, and other ambient elements. The man vs. machinery theme is also extremely unsettling -- often times creating disturbing images of human bodies being leeched.

SOMA is executed extremely well across the board from the plot, to the ease of gameplay, all t?he way up to the voice acting. I felt immersed and anxious the entire ride, and although the story isn’t 100% tied up or concrete by the end, it leaves players some room to interpret what may have happened and what’s to come -- and what is right or wrong. It pushes you to think about the nature of being human, and at a few points forces you to make tough decisions based on your morals and what you believe to be right. The beauty, however, is that nothing is right. No matter how you proceed, there’s always a piece of you left wondering if you chose correctly.

SOMA gets everything right about the the survival horror genre. It’s like someone created the perfect video game mixtape -- a little bit of abandoned underwater atmosphere from BioShock, detailed environments a la Gone Home, and (of course) the frenzied monster mechanics from Amnesia. Even ??if you dislike non-combat-oriented games, I dare you to give it a try. 

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: SOMA appeared first on Destructoid.

Frictional compares the two

In June, I told myself to stay away from watching and subsequently covering any more trailers for SOMA. That was going we??ll -- until today. Curiosity got the better of me, but at least this "Environments" trailer is abstract enough to not feel spoilery. Won't be much longer now until the September 22 release for PC and PlayStation 4. Will I crack again?

While we're on the subject, Frictional Games has a new blog post up describing how SOMA compares and contrasts with its prior game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, in? terms of scares, puzzles, and storytelling. I found that first point especially interesting. The sci-fi horror title is said to be "just as scary, if not more so, but in a different fashion."

Elaborating, the studio painted Amnesia as more of a "'haunted house'-style ride where creepy supernatural things could pop up [at] any point," whereas SOMA "derives much of its horror from the subject matter." The?? latter "peaks pretty late," not midway t?hrough, so we can expect a longer ramp-up this time around. I'm dreading it already.

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Releasing September 22 for PC and PS4

Even though it doesn't seem that long ago, it's been five years since a group of indie developers struck it big with the release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The game became a hit with players looking for a scare, and it soon became a popular pastime to ??watch other people freak out in real time on livestreams. You could say it kicked off the whole indie horror push we've seen in recent years, and many still regard it as the ultimate 'NOPE!' game. But instead of working on the sequel, Frictional Games decided to strike out onto something new.

SOMA has been in development for about five years, and while it's been shown off since 2013, this year will finally see its release. As Frictional readies for launch in September, the developers were on hand at Sony's E3 station. During my hands-on time, I got to see ??what they have in mind for th??eir latest foray into survival horror.

In an underwater research station, you play as an engineer, Simon, who must uncover the mysteries behind the disappearances and deaths of the crew. After finding himself alone in an unknown part of the station, he discovers that things have taken a turn for the worse as machines begin inhabiting human characteristics. Some robots have even gone rogue after merging with the biology of the deep, and will hunt down anything they find. Using his own resourcefulness a??nd whatever gadgets he can find, Simon will have to evade these horrors to reach safety.

Following the school of design found in Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the player will not have any weapons at their disposal to take on whatever creatures they en?counter. And gadgets and other support tools to help evade the creatures will only do just ??;that. The name of the game is evasion, and hiding behind crates or other furniture scattered around is usually your best bet. Much like studio's previous title, this can make encounters incredibly nerve-wracking. Though my session only had one real encounter with one of the deep-sea abominations, I got pretty tense during it. That sure made solving the puzzle to escape more challenging.

The environment is an interesting setting as well?. The underwater research facility is dank and in disrepair, and with the horrors of the deep seeping into the facility, it fee??ls like an industrialized take on the Lovecraftian aesthetic. While venturing through the halls of the station, you'll come across the bodies of workers that still possess clues and other secrets. As each member has in internal black-box installed, you can experience their last moments in audio-log form. It's a clever take on the mechanic, and it does a lot to flesh out the story as well.

Though I only had a brief session with SOMA, I found the developers made something that felt like a more natural evolution of Amnesia -- a continuation of the same hide-and-seek-style horror that many fans loved. And in such a rich setting, su??rprises are in store. Without saying too much, there's a lot more going on with the character's journey and his surroundings than you might think.

The post Frictional Games’ SOMA brings true horror to PS4 appeared first on Destructoid.

(Yeah, right)

This is the point at which I'm starting to feel like I've seen too much of SOMA, Frictional Games' underwater sci-fi horror title for PC and PlayStation 4. I'd like to avoid any additional footage that comes in between now and launch on, shit, September 22? That's goin??g to be tough.

The new video is less straight footage and more ??of ??a snappy trailer, but it raises further questions.

The post I’m avoiding all SOMA trailers after this appeared first on Destructoid.

Releasing this September for PC and PS4

A series of live-action videos and an alternate-reality game have led to this: 12 minutes of uncut footage from Frictional's next first-person horror title, SOMA. It's coming to PC and PS4 at long last on September 22, 2015. Bad things are brewing on the underwater research fa?cility PATHOS-2.

One minute in, I am horrified. Those robots with human personalities who don't realize they've become machines are deeply unsettling. According to the developer, this sequence takes place around an hour into SOMA, and the protagonist is, for once, not an amnes??iac.

"There are lots more things to explore in this level than what's shown in the video. For instance, you can avoid the robot attack completely by acting ??differently." Good, because that shit's scary!

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Time to pack up and go home

"There's something wrong, isn't there?"

Yes, Harry. Something is deeply wrong.

I'm staying far away from the alternate-reality game for SOMA. Not because I??'m not interested in what Fric??tional Games is cooking up for its underwater horror title, but because brighter minds are on the case, putting the pieces together. I'll stick with watching the live-action videos, thanks.

There are some unsettling implications?? in this one, that's for sure.

If you missed it, the prior video shows a wom??an sobbing until she sees some whales, uh, hugging.

The post Mighty strange stuff is afoot in this live-acti?on SOMA video appeared first on Destructoid.

Those whales are biding their time...

I've never understood ARGs. Hidden in a bit of code is a link to a server that an art designer for the game’s mother’s dog once owned. Once you’ve cracked that server in all 17 dimensions you’ll finally ?get 3 seconds of a heavily distorted trailer. I just don’t get it.

Nevertheless, people have managed to uncover this pretty rad teaser trailer for Frictional Games’ upcoming undersea horror game SOMA. Featuring a lady crying in a creepy sea base and whales, it’s certainly a pretty trailer, if?? a bit unsubstantial.

It goes a bit further than that, though. According to Reddit, people who have cracked the ARG are winning keys for the game when it releases. It also gives a comprehensive history of the SOMA ARG for those who want to know more.

The post The SOMA ARG’s spilled a new trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

It's just you and me now, Omnitool

The next spooky game from the team behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent is officially in beta. No, you can't play it yet. Neither can I. But around 40 people are testing a "pretty much" content-complete build of SOMA righ?t now, which puts us one step clo?ser to the full release.

When is that happening, again? When it's done, I'd imagine. In a blog post, Frictional said that "In its current state, all of ?the game's big problems have been solved, so what's left is to make sure that what's there is as good as it possibly can be. Adding effects, improving the art, ensuring stability, making it more intuitive and so on. That's what just about all of our remaining work is about. That and fixing all those annoying bugs that are sure to crop up."

While we wait for the impending release date announcement, here's a fresh screenshot. The full post has a piece of concept art and an image of SOMA's cool if unsettling main menu, too.

SOMA is now in BETA [Frictional Games]

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When you gaze long into the abyss, Ed Harris gazes back

When I see the name SOMA, all capitalized as Amnesia developer Frictional is wont to stylize, I think of my dentist. Because that's its name. And it's not a scary thought. I never had frightening associations with dentistry, even when it was around the corner from where I l??ived in a dingy office above a fruit stand (before it relocated to the nicer SOMA area).

But I have little explanation or forethought for that anecdote. SOMA's underwater origin -- it was previously assumed to be set in an abandoned space station -- was also, "decided [on a] ??whim during a meet-up," between Frictional's co-founders.

It was a good whim. The ocean is a terrifying, unexplored place, particularly in games. It's not all Ecco the Dolphin down there. There are goblin sharks, damn it. And James Cameron putting around in his deep sea submersible. And the creepy, bioluminescent things that doomed SOMA's world like belief in laughable Randian philos??o??phy doomed Andrew Ryan's.

SOMA (PC [previewed], PS4)
Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games
Release: 2015

SOMA tries to build tension, true to Frictional's strength in the survival-horror sphere. I started in a weird, sprawling series of pipes or vents of some kind. It was a little like being lost as a kid in a Mc?Donald's PlayPlace. A blend of sensory deprivation and sensory overload (loud ass colors) coupled with twists and turns could get you proper lost when your birthday cake was still marked with individual candles. 

Except this was darker and every step I made was loud and obnoxious, which was terrifying. Sound design is so important to horror and with A Machine for Pigs' sound designer in tow, SOMA has some good sounds. Dro??pped into this dark world without context -- sitting, in real life, in a dark room illuminated only by a television -- each clumsy step felt like I was ringing a din??ner bell for potential monsters to gobble me up.

So I had already psyched myself out. I fumbled my way in the dark over what appeared to be -- but couldn't be (?) -- encroaching roots (tentacles?) that erupted from the ground and forced themselves into computer co??nsoles. I'd later learn that I was in some sort of underwater facility rather than deep space. I don't know if that makes the tendrils less or more terrifying.

Testament to the sound design, and some played upo??n Pavlovian traini?ng, every time I pushed a loud, scary button, I was prepared for the first. Instead, I was just treated to aggressive buzzing and failing mechanics like I was trying to start a Ford Taurus.

After some questionable interaction with possibly benevolent people and more broken machinery, I ended up out in the open ocean itself, doomed to hoof it to my next location. The build I played didn't have any aesthetic indicator I was trudging around in a deep sea suit. The team apparently tried to overlay a helmet in the foreground, but it didn't work quite right, so they're retooling. SOMA's not out until 2015, anyway.

But I definitely think that will be the way to go for any underwater portions. One of my favorite things about Metro is how it uses the firs?t-person perspective to emphasize point of view rather than act as a camera on wheels. Putting on your gas mask grounded it. Seeing cr??acks in a damaged mask was cool.

Walking the sea floor was relaxing, but ominous. There was still that tension, even though I still hadn't encountered anything that tried to kill me. There was even some levity when I spent a couple minutes follow??ing a scuttling crab. 

I trudged my way into another abandoned underwater station, this one opened like a sieve and fully flooded, leaving bits of algae or some suc?h water plant pollen clouding up the place while I touched weird things and hallucinated a bit.

By the end of my time with SOMA, I was treated to its monsters and more traditional, stealth-based gameplay. Running, walking, and crawling emit different volumes of sound. There is a nifty lean function for peering around corners. Also for inadvertently frightening yourself as you position yourself just right and begin your slow lean only to get a face full of scary light up? monster. They look a bit like old dive suits with creepy, lit up faces, and I look forward to cowering in fear of them more thoroughly next year.

The post SOMA is underwater horror with flashy monsters & average crabs appeared first on Destructoid.

'Theta'

It's been a while since we've heard of SOMA (for PC and PS4), but Sony has posted an update on the game on their blog, and a new trailer. From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, it's set to drop in 2015, and it's looking?? pr?etty intriguing so far.

The developers have noted that the're a week away from an alpha of the game, and about half of it is playable. They expect SOMA to clock in at approximately eight hours worth of playtime. For more info on development, check out the full blog post.

SOMA Update, New Trailer: Crafting Survival Ho?rror on PS4 [PlayStation Blog]

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More first-person horror from Frictional Games

Amnesia creator Frictional Games knows horror, I think we can all agree. There have been some intriguing videos about the team's next project, SOMA, to help set the sci-fi mood. Now we have the m??other of all teaser trailers to make the wait for 2015 absolutely painful.

What has me most excited about SOMA is that it's a different kind of horror -- one that I'm super interested to see Frictional tackle. This is coming to PC and PlayStation 4 and will feature no combat o?r cutscenes. Love to hear that confirmed so early on, although, it only seems early to us; the game's been in development for three years ??now.

Best of all, what's shown here isn't going to ruin anything. The footage comes from a custom-made level "meant to show off the general feel and tone of the game," not an exact segment of SOMA that we'll get to experience ourselves. For that matte??r, the character showcased isn't even the protagonist. Frictional knows what's up. This is how you promote your game.

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