Long-time readers of this website know I’m rarely impressed with so-called walking simulators, or at least those not called The Stanley Parable or Observer, but it’s not because I hate the concept of a walking sim – I just don’t like games in which you are not a direct participant of the story. Substance and player input is needed in order to make the adventure worth my time, and this is why I found games like Gone Home, Everbody’s Gone to the Rapture and Edith Finch to be mediocre at best, overrated at worst. People have always told me to take a look at Frictional Games’ SOMA if I wanted to play one of the best and most impactful narrative-driven adventure games out there. Given how SOMA is now 10 years old, I decided to do just that.

That was one hell of an experience… but I had qualms with it. I can safely state that SOMA was one of the most interesting walking simulator experiences I’ve ever played, but there are caveats – some of them feeling borderline hypocritical considering my stance with the genre as a whole. But let’s explain this in detail, and don’t worry, I am not going to spoil things regarding the plot, which is basically what drives the game forward. If you know, you know. If you don’t know… I think you should play the game, so go out and experience it for yourself.

In SOMA, you play as Simon Jarrett, a seemingly common dude, who had suffered a car accident before the events of the game, and, as a result, has to deal with brain hemorrhages and migraines. At the beginning of the game, Simon goes to a clinic to undergo a brain scan, using a prototype machine. Apparently, he blacks out during the process, and, as a result, he mysteriously wakes up 100 years later inside a derelict power plant located many miles under the sea. That’s not even a plot twist per se – it happens a few minutes after the game begins.

The main objectives in SOMA are to get out of the station alive, whilst trying to understand what the hell led you to this timeshift. In the meantime, you will also try to figure out what is going on in the station per se, as it’s not exactly in the best and most enticing of states. It’s leaking, it’s deserted (aside from a few robots and enemies), it’s full of a bizarre goop, and, well… you’re in a freaking station under the sea, one that’s not called Rapture. You really want to figure out what the hell is actually going on.

SOMA calls itself a horror game, especially since it was created by the same people behind the Amnesia series, but I actually think it shines the brightest as a walking simulator. Whenever there’s some actual semblance of gameplay thrown into the mix, I don’t think the game performs well enough. Besides walking and talking to a handful of NPCs, as well as exploring rooms in order to look for items or story-related triggers, there is the occasional enemy encounter. In true Frictional Games fashion, you can’t do anything against them. You need to avoid them at all costs. This is probably SOMA‘s worst aspect, aside from a few endgame story-related sections I am not going to mention in this spoiler-free review.

Not being able to attack a monster isn’t an issue. Observer didn’t let me do this either, and I didn’t mind those rare occasions. The issue in SOMA is that most chase sequences are tied to poorly-designed areas, and msot of them feature a monster with a special condition. For instance, one of them will only hurt you if you look directly into its gaze. My solution? I literally moonwalked to the damn endgoal. It looked and felt absolutely ridiculous, but it was a solution. It just took me out of the experience for a while, demolishing any semblance of immersion. As weird as this may sound, I wish SOMA had even less active gameplay, because what really drove the game forward, and what really made me like it as much as I did was its story.

Again, not going to talk about it in detail, but if you’ve ever heard anyone praising the hell out of SOMA, I’m 99.99% sure it was due to its story: its setting, characters, pacing, progression, everything is top-notch. As ridiculous as its premise might sound, SOMA is actually incredibly well-written, being one of those games that makes you think once its gut punch of a finale is over. A bit absurd, but also a bit philosophical, it tackles subjects such as free will, rationality, the purpose of existence, what makes us alive, and so on. You really need to play it in order to experience its many subjects.

I wanted to keep this retro rewind brief as SOMA is something better experienced when you know very little about it. It might not be the best walking simulator I’ve ever played, but I was floored by its amazing story and premise. Jump into it with an open mind and little to no knowledge about. After a good eight hours, the story will be over, but that’s when you’re going to start philosophizing about its topics and themes. It might not be a brilliant game per se, but I also don’t think it would have been as effective as it was in any other medium. Give it a go, it’s totally worth your time, even after a decade.