It’s effective for video games to be quick once they ship a decent, impactful expertise. Somerville is a cinematic puzzle recreation much like classics like Out of this World and Coronary heart of Darkness. It’s nearer to the size of the previous, nevertheless, clocking in at about three hours in size. Whereas a lot of the sport is each visually and mechanically robust, it has some points that preserve it from being all the things I’d hoped. However the largest subject is the best way it narratively drops the ball over the past part, which had me strolling away a bit upset.
Somerville doesn’t have a single line of dialogue — your entire narrative is conveyed by way of context alone. The primary character is watching TV at evening in his household house. He will get as much as feed the canine however will get distracted by lights flashing outdoors. He and his spouse go see what the fuss is, solely to witness an alien invasion straight out of Conflict of the Worlds. Objects come crashing down out of the sky, so the 2, toddler and canine in tow, rush into the basement to cover within the crawlspace. However a capsule breaks by way of the ceiling with a person reaching his arm out.
The protagonist clasps his hand, just for {an electrical} surge to drop him like a bag of potatoes. Later, his arm seemingly resuscitates him utilizing the identical vitality the person transferred to him, solely to search out his spouse and baby are gone and he’s trapped within the basement. He grabs a close-by lamp and discovers that he can use the vitality in his arm to have an effect on mild and use it to hold mentioned vitality. He goals it on the particles blocking his path and goes up into the world, which is now principally in ruins, to search out his household. It’s a shocking opening to the sport.
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Onward sure
The plot strikes ahead properly by way of most of Somerville‘s runtime, though there are sections that go on longer than want be. However the actual downside is the ultimate part. As a substitute of wrapping issues up with a coherent conclusion, the sport as a substitute descends into Neon Genesis Evangelion territory. I get the gist of what occurs, however I don’t like these sorts of endings. It simply appears like an extended stretch of dreamy nonsense that vaguely alludes to what’s truly taking place. Maybe I’ll really feel otherwise if somebody’s in a position to pin down precisely what’s occurring, however I used to be very reminded by the tip of the final episode of the unique Evangelion sequence, and that’s by no means a very good factor.
However talking of significantly good issues, Somerville has some really intelligent elements on show. The sport means that you can transfer round in 3D proven by numerous vantage factors. You’ll predominately be channeling the protagonist’s vitality powers to make use of mild to alter the unusual matter the aliens introduced with them. He simply has blue vitality at first, however later will get pink vitality. Blue vitality mainly melts the alien matter, whereas pink vitality solidifies something melted, permitting it to be climbed upon.
You’ll typically be utilizing these skills in tandem with physics puzzles that present an honest quantity of selection. There are additionally sections the place it’s important to run from aliens, that are tense and thrilling. The aliens can use a purple mild that kills you, however you possibly can conceal behind objects or in moveable bathrooms or tents to flee your demise. The sport’s “puzzles” are extra cinematic than the rest, much like Limbo or Inside. You received’t get caught typically as they’re not all that video-gamey, nevertheless it wouldn’t be truthful to name Somerville a strolling simulator both.
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Higher run
That is all properly and good, however the presentation has its points. The most important one is that it may merely be very troublesome to see what you’re doing, because the digital camera is commonly so distant that the main points may be arduous to make out. Once I bought caught for a couple of minutes, it was normally as a result of I simply couldn’t see one thing. There’s a piece late within the recreation the place you’re working from aliens. I died a number of instances just because I merely didn’t know the place my character was. That and, should you don’t do that sequence almost completely, the aliens catch and kill you. It jogged my memory of Coronary heart of Darkness, a recreation that’s as charming as it’s infuriating.
There are a number of sections just like the aforementioned. One other had me underwater and utilizing a flare to soften alien matter to result in water that permits the protagonist to swim upward. However melting this matter lets unfastened boulders that kill him. It takes trial and error to get previous these, as I wanted to swim down and to the left. The checkpoint takes you again to the very starting, so this was significantly aggravating.
Countless skies
Somerville is attractive, with a distinctly creative aesthetic. The whole lot is straightforward however well-designed, plus what we see sparks the creativeness. That is a kind of video games the place I discovered myself taking a number of photos simply because it so typically appears to be like like a murals. Too unhealthy the optimization appears to be considerably terrible. The sport typically ran below 60 fps for me at 1440p with an RTX 3090. There’s no method it’s this demanding, even when a number of the sequences can get fairly busy and intense. The sport is cinematic sufficient that this didn’t even hassle me that a lot, nevertheless it’s curious all the identical.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
I believe Somerville is a principally charming expertise, however just some hours in I used to be wading by way of the sport’s lackluster, obscure conclusion. Ultimately, I used to be left wanting one thing extra conclusive. Attending to the credit additionally took some guesswork, which was odd contemplating how logical a lot of the gameplay right here is. I bought two totally different endings, however there seem like extra, though I definitely don’t understand how to take action or if any of them make for a greater conclusion than what I’ve witnessed. Between this disappointing flip, how typically the sport may be aggravating, and the surprisingly poor efficiency, the sport doesn’t dwell as much as its potential. It’s definitely price taking part in and has some really memorable components and an outstanding presentation, nevertheless it may have been breathtaking.
