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Frictional Wants ‘SOMA’ To “Chill You To Your Core”
Frictional Games, the makers of the terrifying Amnesia series, revealed their next horror game last week. It’s called SOMA, and it looks absolutely terrifying. A blend of sci-fi and horror, SOMA looks and plays like a Frictional game, but there’s something sinister about it that the developer hasn’t yet unveiled.
Frictional’s creative director Thomas Grip recently took to the PlayStation blog to chat about the upcoming game. See what he had to say about it after the jump.
The game’s been in development for three years now and it’s not due to release on PC and the PlayStation 4 until 2015, so the developer is obviously taking their time with it.
“SOMA is meant to chill you to your core, and confront you with questions about your very existence.” Grip wrote.
On the surface, SOMA is a first person horror game driven by a terrifying narrative. But it goes much deeper than that.
“The subject that SOMA will discuss is consciousness. Personally, I find it the most profound questions that it is possible to ask. ‘How can the feeling of subjective experience arise from a chunk of flesh?’ Exploring this further takes us to questions such as ‘Can machines be conscious?’ and ‘Do we have free will?’ It quickly gets very disturbing, and is ideal for a futuristic horror setting. It is the kind of sci-fi that we want to make.”
Grip explained that Frictional’s previous efforts, which includes the Amnesia and Penumbra franchises, were built around a core mechanic, with the setting and themes being by-products. The gameplay came first and the story second.
With SOMA, the theme, story and setting take center stage. Frictional’s goal is “for SOMA to not just be another carnival ride of cheap scares. It is meant to chill you to your core, and confront you with questions about your very existence.”
I can’t wait.
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Are you watching? Ishana Night Shyamalan has clearly been paying attention to her father, M. Night Shyamalan. Not only is she following in his footsteps as a filmmaker, but she’s also embracing a similar mystique surrounding her work.
The new trailer for her feature directorial debut, The Watchers, gives viewers a taste of what’s in store. AreYouWatching.com has launched with even more clues.
Visit the site to join the mysterious creatures that lurk in the Irish forest as you observe a shelter. From the time the sun sets at 7:30 PM until it rises at 5:55 AM, four strangers — played by Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, and Olwen Fouere — can be seen trapped inside.
You’ll find several interactive items. Click on the gramophone to set the mood with some spooky music. Tap on the birdcage to hear an ominous message from the parrot inside: “I’m going out, try not to die.” Press on the TV to watch clips from a fake reality show called Lair of Love. And if you tap on the window during the daytime … they’ll tap back.
There are also Easter eggs hidden at specific times. We’ve discovered three: a disorienting shot of Fanning’s character’s car at 5:52 PM, a closer view of the captives at 11:11 PM, and a glimpse of monitors at 12:46 AM. Let us know if you find any more in the comments…
The Watchers opens in theaters on June 14 via New Line Cinema. Ishana Night Shyamalan writes and directs, based on the 2022 novel of the same name by A.M. Shine. M. Night Shyamalan produces.
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