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Another Befuddling Live-Action ‘SOMA’ Teaser
Frictional Games has released another cryptic live-action video to get us all riled up for SOMA, their upcoming sci-fi horror game in which a man wakes up in the Matrix, only it’s not the Matrix because it’s an underwater lab and their are evil machines ruled by brain machines that used to be people? I think I now know what a stroke feels like.
Because Frictional wills it so, conspiracy theories have already started forming around this undeniably delicious nugget of news. Some say it’s hinting at a film adaptation, while others claim we can’t possibly know the truth yet because this is only part of the story. There’s also at least one guy who claims to be “too goddamn tired to follow all this crap.” If you think that last guy is an old fogey, watch some 90’s hacker movies, then go here and start rummaging through the ARG.
Back when SOMA was first announced — many years and forevers ago — its nebulous 2015 release window felt like a lifetime away. Now, here we are, halfway through 2015 and the game still doesn’t have a release date. Come on, Frictional! Don’t you want to give some downtrodden horror fans who are still mourning the loss of Silent Hills a bit of good news?
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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