Amnesia developer Frictional Games is hard at work at SOMA, their next horror game. It's still a ways away from release on PC and Playstation 4 but they have just released a video that shows off the environments of the game. SOMA is set in deep dark space and just this tiny look at a location called Upsilon makes it appear terrifying and bleak already.
In a blog that revealed the video Frictional's developers talk about the five foundational design pillars of the game. These are their five hard rules that everything in the game must follow, because "For SOMA our intention is to craft an experience where players become deeply connected and affected by the game's world and themes." The pillars include treating everything as story, taking the world seriously and trusting the player to make rational decisions. Check their blog for the full list right here.
Fans of Amnesia know that Frictional knows how to utilize an environment to its fullest potential- the atmosphere in that game was positively crippling, and it was due to a wonderful mix of scary visuals and immersive sound design. It was also terrifying to have nothing to defend yourself, to have to stick to the darkness in order to hide away from the monsters that could just tear you to pieces. Space is generally the perfect location to push loneliness and isolation on a player so SOMA should have no problem in its goal of trying to scare the pants off of us.
Now, the sad part. You're going to be waiting quite a while for the game, since it won't debut until 2015. Until then may I suggest you get acquainted with the Amnesia series - both Frictional Games' original and the followup Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs by Dear Esther developer The Chinese Room's are incredible games and some of the scariest you're likely to ever play.
Keep an eye on SOMA's official page for more info and don't forget that The Chinese Room is working on its own PS4/PC horror game as well - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. It's a good time to be a horror fan with a next-gen console.
