Patrick Klepek3/24/16 11:05am316EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkSix months after the release of SOMA, developer Frictional Games has revealed its changing up its future plans in a big way by developing two games at once. It was five years between Amnesia and SOMA. They revealed one of the games may downplay horror, but things seems in flux right now.
SOMA Is Scarier When The Monsters Aren’t AroundChris Suellentrop10/02/15 6:30pm6212EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkThis picture of a mouse might be the scariest thing I encountered in all of SOMA. Now that I’m not playing the game, I can see that it is not, in fact, scary. Out of context, you might even find the picture funny. Yet while I was immersed in the game, feeling like I was Simon Jarrett lost in the wreckage of the …
Video Games Should Have Fewer AchievementsChris Suellentrop10/02/15 10:00am20328EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkSOMA is a standout game, and one of the many ways it distinguishes itself is through its restrained use of achievements. There are 10 on Steam (or 10 trophies on PlayStation), and each is nothing more than a progress marker. They come infrequently and unexpectedly. I wasn’t sure when one would pop up or why. They…
SOMA Players Crack Hidden Code, Unlock The Game That Could Have BeenPatrick Klepek9/25/15 2:07pm7827EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkSOMA players have discovered—and solved—something weird. If you shove a plastic toy into the toilet and flush, a set of numbers appear on the screen. If you find enough of these numbers and use them as the password for a file called _supersecrets.rar in SOMA’s installation directory, you’ll find something special.
SOMA: The Kotaku ReviewPatrick Klepek9/22/15 3:00pm12338EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkWhen the credits rolled on SOMA, my head fell into my hands. I felt relief that the harrowing journey was over, and was reeling at what my character had sacrificed along the way. SOMA is not just a horror game, it’s a nightmarish commentary on the possible future of humanity.
Amnesia, One Of The Best Horror Games Ever, Is Now Free On SteamPatricia Hernandez9/15/15 2:31pm8734EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkIf somehow you’ve missed one of the scariest games of all time, now is your chance. Nothing beats free, after all.
Kirk Hamilton5/23/14 5:00pm293EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkAmnesia: A Machine For Pigs Could've Been Much Harder. In a lengthy and fascinating post-mortem, designer Peter Howell goes over the game's design process, noting many areas where developers The Chinese Room differed from series creators Frictional Games. It's a great read, check it out.
There Are Things Worse Than Death In Video GamesYannick LeJacq5/07/14 7:30pm484EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkThere's a fine line any artist walks when trying to titillate and terrify at the same time. But making video games scary is especially tricky. Repetitive behavior—even when that behavior is running and hiding from flesh-eating monsters—doesn't mesh all that well with the spontaneity required to make someone jump out…
The Deep Sea Is Terrifying, And This Game Proves ItPatricia Hernandez4/04/14 1:30pm11118EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkMy hands are sweating. As I walk inside narrow metal hallways, I notice that I'm hearing things that, frankly, I'm not even sure are actually there. Hollow screeches. Faraway wails. It reminds me of seeing a shadow in the corner of your eyes, a darkness your sight never catches up with but that you're still convinced…
Anyone Else Disappointed That SOMA Takes Place Underwater?John Struan4/03/14 11:48pm101EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkThe latest teaser trailer for SOMA was released today and suggests that the games takes place in an underwater facility falling to ruin. Watch the trailer and see high-res screenshots below:
Mike Fahey3/05/14 9:40am425EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink”It’s not my fault people keep killing themselves.” The latest environment trailer for Frictional Games’ upcoming space horror game SOMA adds voices to excellent effect. I’d be happy just wandering these halls and listening to people talk. Knowing Frictional, there’ll probably be things try to kill me too. Always with…
Crap, We're Going to Have to Go Down That Tunnel, Aren't We?Evan Narcisse1/22/14 11:00am587EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkClumps of probably-sentient, probably-murderous super-fungus. A vent that looks to have been violently wrenched open. A space suit with some kind of tentacles growing out of its head-place. And a dead body off in the distance. Yup, that's where you're supposed to go.
It's Like Amnesia And Aliens Had A Hideous BabyMike Fahey12/12/13 11:40am1319EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink Come wander the dark, flickering hallways of Upsilon, the first environment video from Soma, the sci-fi horror game from the makers of Amnesia.
The Next Game From The Creators Of Amnesia Looks Disturbing As HellJason Schreier10/11/13 10:00am1608EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink Soma, the next game from the folks behind Amnesia will be out in 2015 for PC and PlayStation 4, and it's a doozy—a sci-fi horror game starring a psychotic computer that sounds like an angrier GLaD0S. Here's the first bit of gameplay footage.
Amnesia Makers Tease Hard Sci-Fi Game Featuring A Freaky ComputerKirk Hamilton10/01/13 2:00pm1646EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink How freaky is the freaky computer? Well… watch this video all the way to the end. It's around a six or seven out of ten on the freakiness scale, I'd say.
I'm Getting Nervous Just Watching This A Machine For Pigs Halloween TrailerTina Amini10/31/12 10:54amEditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkIn the Halloween trailer above released today by Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs developers Frictional Games, you'll see the protagonist's panting, nervous crawls through the indirect sequel to The Dark Descent. Oh, and our own Kirk Hamilton will be happy to see that you can lean around corners to scope out dangers. Of…
Horror Is Not MainstreamKirk Hamilton7/21/12 12:00am2132EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkWith each new year, it feels like I'm watching another horror series becomes less horrific. Resident Evil, Alien, and most recently, Dead Space. What started out as pure, hardcore horror becomes a fun, popcorn-munching good time.
A Terrifying First Look at the Sequel to the Scariest PC Game EverMike Fahey6/15/12 8:30am184EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink In case you don't want to watch the first teaser trailer for Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, let me summarize it for you: Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, oh god what is that? What the hell is that?!
Two Ways to Make Horror Games Better? More Build-Up, Less CombatEvan Narcisse4/26/12 3:30pm217EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalink If you ask Frictional Games' developers, horror games haven't evolved much since the genre's late 1990s/early 2000s heyday where Silent Hill and Fatal Frame showed off just how scary a video game experience could be. Sure, titles like Dead Space and Frictional's own Amnesia capture new glory for the horror category…
Amnesia Developer Eyeing Consoles While Working On New, Slightly Less Terrifying ProjectsKirk Hamilton9/09/11 9:30pm158EditPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkYou guys all played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, right? That whole game "happened" before I came onboard at Kotaku, but I hope that everyone here had a chance to play it and talk about it to the extent that it deserved. Because seriously: scary, rad game.