Or Should You Wait for a Price Cut?
Frictional Games released SOMA, a survival horror video game for $29.99, which is $10 more expensive than their previous releases (Penumbra: Overture, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, etc.). Some fans are wondering if that $10 inflation is warranted. Let's find out in a spoiler-free evaluation!
Experience
Frictional Games are the king of survival horror video games. The psychological aspect of SOMA is a unique experience most horror fans will really appreciate.
The puzzles, exploration and stealth in SOMA more than makes up for the lack of combat.
The main story in SOMA takes approximately 8.5 hours to complete, with the extras adding 2.5 hours of gameplay.
As a comparison, the main story in Amnesia: The Dark Descent takes approximately 8 hours to complete, with the extras adding 1 hour of gameplay.
If you found that Amnesia: The Dark Descent's 8 hour campaign wasn't worth $19.99, you might want to wait until SOMA goes on sale.
Fans looking for a horror game with stunning graphics will be disappointed, because SOMA looks quite outdated; for example, BioShock that was released in 2007 (over 8 years ago) looks superior to SOMA.
Replay Value
Horror games in general doesn't have much replay value, but future fan mods will extend the replay value of SOMA.
Since the modding community released over 430 mods for Amnesia: The Dark Descent on ModDB, I'm expecting SOMA to receive even more mod support because it's the first Frictional Games title that's compatible with the Steam Workshop, that can install mods in one-click.
If you didn't feel satisfied paying $19.99 for Amnesia: The Dark Descent close to launch, but you felt that future mods made up for the lack of value, you might want to wait until SOMA goes on sale, which is usually when a bunch of mods are released.
Trailer
Questions
If you still can't make up your mind about paying $29.99 for SOMA, here's a few questions that could help you out:
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Do you enjoy playing intelligent video games that mess with your head?
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Do you want to fully support Frictional Games so that they could develop even more complex horror titles?
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Do you regularly pay full price to watch mediocre horror movies in theaters?
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Do you regularly pay full price to purchase mediocre horror movies on home video?
The more questions you answered "yes" to, the more you'll find SOMA is worth $29.99.
Image credit: Frictional Games