SOMA

SOMA
The Official SOMA Logo
Developers	Frictional Games
Publisher	Frictional Games
Engine	H.P Lovecraft Engine 3
Released	September 22, 2015
Composer	Mikko Tarmia
Genre	Survival Horror
Distribution	Digital

SOMA is a game developed by Frictional Games. It was released on September 22, 2015.

Description

The radio has gone silent on PATHOS-II. As isolation bears down on the staff of the remote research facility, strange things are happening.

Machines are taking on human traits and alien constructions have started to interfere with routine. The world around them is turning into a nightmare.

The only way out is to do something unimaginable.

Plot

The main protagonist is Simon Jarrett, who prior to the events of the game, was in a fatal car crash that killed his friend and passenger Ashley Hall, and left Simon with severe brain damage. Because of lingering effects from the crash, Simon agrees to an experimental treatment involving a brain scan.

The game starts after a nightmare of the crash. Simon wakes up in his apartment and remembers he has to take some Tracer Fluid before getting the scan. After finding and drinking the fluid, he departs for the lab. He discovers an office closed for remodeling, with no one at the front desk. After figuring out the combination for the back door, he finds haphazardly set up equipment and David Munshi, who reassures Simon that the scan will feel about as uncomfortable as "having your photo taken."

At the moment of the scan, there is a bright flash, and Simon suddenly wakes up on PATHOS-2, with no idea how he got there or what is going on. Simon manages to assemble an Omnitool and contact a woman named Catherine Chun, who tells him to come to Site Lambda and see her.

It quickly becomes apparent that PATHOS-2 is an underwater facility in serious disarray. The walls are slowly being consumed by a black organic substance. There are no signs of still living humans, though Simon does encounter some robots who think they are human, as well as other robots hostile to him.

Upon making it to Lambda, Simon realizes that Catherine is not human, but a "scan" of human consciousness placed into a robot's body. She then reveals that Simon himself is also not human, but a Cortex Chip implanted in a dead woman's body, Imogen Reed, wearing a diving suit, and that the "original" Simon has been dead for a hundred years. When Simon got his brain scanned by Munshi, a copy of his consciousness was saved to the computer. This allowed Munshi to narrow down a treatment plan for his neurological condition. But Simon's brain scan, being one of the first, became widely distributed among other medical professionals and students for learning and experimentation. It was one of these copies that became mysteriously activated on PATHOS-2.

It is also revealed that the surface of the Earth was recently struck by a comet, devastating the planet and killing all life on the surface. PATHOS-2 was the only place where humans survived the comet's impact. But the facility was heavily damaged and the crew realized they only had months to live themselves.

Seconds before Simon reaches Catherine, her robotic form is heavily injured by one of the monstrous creatures, and she asks Simon to transfer her into his Omnitool. She then enlists his help in finishing her life's work: The launching of the ARK, a simulated reality for a collection of human brain scans. Launched into orbit by PATHOS-2's Omega Space Gun and powered by solar panels, it would safeguard humanity's last remnants for thousands of years. Catherine's "original" self scanned many PATHOS-2 crewmembers into the ARK. But the project was permanently suspended when, despite her best efforts, much of the crew killed themselves after being scanned to ensure the only true copy of themselves left was on the ARK itself.

Catherine then attempted to take the ARK down to the Space Gun, but something happened and the launch never occurred. The ARK currently resides in site Site Tau, one of a few PATHOS-2 facilities at the bottom of a deep chasm called the Abyss.

Together, Simon and Catherine struggle through the ruined facilities of PATHOS-2, with tense underwater hikes between each site, and numerous hostile creatures attempting to stop them from proceeding. Simon gradually realizes the black organic growth that has consumed the facility is PATHOS-2's artificial intelligence, the WAU. It was docile until the comet hit, at which point it began harnessing vast amounts of "Structure Gel" and expanding into every part of PATHOS-2, assimilating humans both dead and alive. It forcefully keeps live humans from dying, but for dead humans, it uploads their consciousness into machines, where they don't realize what has happened and think they're still human.

Recently, it has begun fusing flesh and metal together, creating hideous and insane creatures that roam PATHOS-2. It is revealed that Simon himself was created and awoken by the WAU. Ultimately, the WAU perceives that the best way to save humanity is to create shells for human consciousness to live, regardless of the potential consequences.

Catherine's original plan was to commandeer a deep sea submarine, the DUNBAT, to lead them down to The Abyss. However the plan fails when they realize the WAU has taken over the sub and implanted a human scan into it. The sub wakes up as it's powered on and, confused and terrified, thrashes free of its dock and disappears into the depths.

Catherine then suggests that they take an elevator down to the Abyss, but in order to survive the crushing depths, they need to find Simon a tougher suit. They are able to locate a Power Suit with the headless body of Ralleigh Herber inside, and Catherine proposes they scan Simon's consciousness into a new Cortex Chip to be placed with the body repeating the process that originated the current Simon. With no other clear path forward, Simon reluctantly agrees. They find another brain scan device and successfully "teleport" Simon's consciousness into the new Powered Suit. However, Simon is enraged to find his old body still alive and unconscious in the scanning chair. Catherine explains there is no way to move a scan from one body to another, you can only copy it. Simon is then given the choice of whether to kill his old self or leave him to wake up in a few hours.

While riding the climber elevator down into The Abyss, they are ambushed by a former PATHOS-2 member, Johan Ross. Ross is excited that they've made it this far and promises to make "preparations" before hurling himself down into the Abyss.

Simon then struggles through inky black water, fast-flowing currents and vicious sea creatures before finally making it to site Tau. Inside, after he makes his way to a survivor while avoiding one of WAU's Proxies, he finds the ARK being guarded by the last living human on the planet called Sarah Lindwall. She is barely alive on a life support system and grants Simon permission to take the ARK, but also requests that he disconnect her life support and kill her. The player can choose whether or not to end her life before proceeding.

While following the ARK to the site Site Phi, Simon's journey is hijacked by Ross, who leads him to a secret facility, site Site Alpha where the "heart" of WAU is kept. Ross reveals that Simon's suit contains specially modified structure gel that can kill the WAU. Ross insists that the creatures the WAU is creating are not truly human and it's better to end the experiments. The player has the choice of whether to kill the WAU or not. No matter what the player chooses, a massive slug-like deep sea creature under control of WAU attacks Ross from beneath, presumably killing him. It starts to chase Simon but he manages to escape and complete the short journey to site Phi. Having finally made it, he moves towards the Space Gun.

However, while loading the ARK into the Space Gun, Simon discovers the body of Catherine Chun, who was killed in a disagreement about whether to launch the ARK or safeguard it at PATHOS-2. Simon finishes loading the Space Gun, he and Catherine simultaneously trigger the countdown and start scanning themselves into the ARK.

However, after a bright flash, Simon is stunned to wake up in the same launch chair, with the ARK long gone into space. Catherine also awakes, still trapped in the Omnitool. As Simon screams at Catherine for an explanation, she again insists that you can't move consciousness, only copy it, and that this time they both "lost the coin toss". In the middle of their argument, Catherine's critical systems fail, leaving Simon stranded with a broken Omnitool at the bottom of the sea alone, leaving his fate unclear, while the emergency alarm slowly fades off into the credit screen.

In a post credits scene, the Simon copied to the ARK wakes up in an idyllic landscape, completely unaware of his other version left behind on PATHOS-2. He takes a survey which asks if he would prefer to live an artificial existence in the ARK or accept death. No matter the player's choice, Simon is reunited with Catherine in front of a futuristic island city. Meanwhile, it is shown that the ARK successfully makes it into space as it leaves behind a devastated Earth, ending the game.

Depth

Main Article: Depth

Depth, originally codenamed Project Apophis (also referred to as SOMA: Depth) is a live action film prequel to SOMA.

Trivia

• The word σῶμα (soma) means body in Greek.
• The plot may have been influenced by the work of the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick., quoted in the intro, resembling short stories like Impostor (1953) and Explorers We (1959) or novels like We Can Build You (1972). Dick's stories typically focus on the fragile nature of what is "real" and the construction of personal identity.
• It's notorious that the theme "suicide" is recurring in the game while previous game Amnesia, also developed by Frictional Games, brought the subject of "torture".

Gallery

Main Article: SOMA/Gallery

External links

• Official website