Somerville is a side-scroller adventure game, i.e. one in which you almost always see the character from the side, but in this game it goes beyond that. Looking at the game visually, it's very reminiscent of PlayDead's Inside, and there's a reason for that.
This game, which was originally exclusive to Xbox, was developed by Jumpship, which was co-founded by Dino Patti, who also co-founded PlayDead. So the similarity in this game goes beyond mere inspiration, but in my opinion, the game goes further in some ways.
An alien invasion
The premise of the story is not at all original, and has already been seen several times in almost every known entertainment medium. Just this year, we analyzed the game Planet of LanaThe story is basically the same as in this game, but the difference in quality for me is gigantic.
In this game, we first follow a family on their way to their home, which is located far away from the big cities. The family is made up of a husband and wife, their baby son and a dog, and oddly enough, the first character we control is the baby. When you control him, you see some unusual colored lights coming from the windows and openings of the house.
In search of his family
There comes a point when we take control of the father and find ourselves in the middle of an alien invasion, from which we must flee. At a certain point, the father is separated from his family, leaving only the dog, and then we begin the game's mission: to reunite with our family.
A story that is simple and not at all original, but which gives us some moments that are breathtaking. But I can tell you that, after a while, it becomes original and starts to travel a lot, in a good way, and becomes quite surprising, which is a positive point. But don't worry, the game is short, taking around two hours to complete, so the twists and turns won't take long.
Impeccable direction
If you've played Inside or Limbo, you'll know that the art direction is excellent, using simplicity very effectively. Somerville is very similar visually, but it goes beyond simplicity for me, being a very good evolution. Compared to Planet of Lana, for example, it's another level of art direction.
The start of the game is breathtaking, with a jaw-dropping cinematic invasion scene. And although the game isn't frenetic, with action at this level from start to finish, the art direction never loses its quality. And these quieter moments also help to make the action scenes even more impactful.
That's cinema
The most adrenaline-pumping moments in the game are incredible, and this isn't just because of all the action that takes place in it, the framerates we see on screen make the scenes much more powerful. As I said earlier, the game is a side-scroller, but in many moments the perspective changes completely.
From the very start of the game, where you control the baby, you have the freedom to walk around the house. The game's settings are generally limited, but you can move more than just back and forth, and in the process, the framerate of the screen changes in creative and sometimes unexpected ways.
In addition, the camera is not fixed, and at times it follows our character in visually beautiful ways, including in the action scenes. The action scenes are special because, in addition to the great framing, a lot happens on screen at the same time, which makes everything more interesting.
Beautiful visuals and sound
The first scene in the game already impressed me, not because of its visuals, but because of the sound, with a boom bass effect in very high resolution that already gave me an impactful first impression. But then came the scene of the car heading home, which initially disappointed me a little with the amount of anti-aliasing, even in quality mode.
But after a few scenes, I realized that the anti-aliasing wasn't a simple resolution problem but an artistic choice in the game, which had this element amplified by the long-distance view. Visually, it's very reminiscent of what we saw in Inside, only less cartoonish and a little less obscure.
In Somerville we have a variety of settings, from forest scenes to mines and more urban environments, all with an admirable level of detail. We can traverse both land and water environments, which always convey a sense of tension and suspense.
Very convincing lighting
The backdrops have very well-done lighting effects, both the lights from the lamps and the lights coming from the aliens. And the shadow effects react very well and realistically to these lights. The lights are even used recurrently in the gameplay, and again very beautifully.
The game's graphics are more realistic than in Inside, but they're still cartoonish, but full of effects that make the scenes more believable. We don't have super-detailed graphics, but the amount of detail we see in scenes is considerable. The action scenes, which I've mentioned a few times here, are obviously very well directed and the lighting effects are very well handled.
As for the sound, it maintains the impact I had at the start of the game, with very good, high-resolution sound effects. They contribute a lot to creating the atmosphere of the game, acting in very good synchronicity with the visuals. At times I think they overdo it with the sound effects, but it doesn't make the sound any less impressive.
Simple gameplay
Apart from walking, there's very little we can do, which isn't unusual in this type of game, but it's more than we can do in many others, including PlayDead games. In the game you can walk, of course, but you can also swim, interact with objects and climb higher levels, but there is no jump button.
However, the game has more gameplay elements, which are some powers that we acquire throughout the game. These are the powers that use lights, which I talked about earlier in the review. The settings have some alien elements that react to the lights in conjunction with the powers.
By using powers together with lights, we can solidify and make liquid these elements, and this serves as the basis for many of the game's puzzles. There's no shortage of puzzles in games of this genre, and Somerville is no different, but all of them are very creative and not at all repetitive.
And in the end, was it worth it?
Well, having finished the game, there isn't one point that I see as negative. This game excited me when it was announced, but I've only just had the chance to try it out on the new generation PlayStation console, and it was a very pleasant experience.
It's a very cinematic game, with a simple story that is nonetheless emotional and impactful, as well as exploding heads as it progresses. Both the visuals and the sound are very competent, and the same can be said of the gameplay. It's a game worth your time and will be available on Xbox and PC on August 31st.
See also:
Baldur's Gate 3 - How long is the game?
Baldur's Gate 3 - How to play with friends?
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