Plot & Themes
Key Points:
- The Earth's surface has been destroyed by an asteroid strike, leaving underwater scientists to fend for themselves;
- The protagonist's name is Simon Jarrett, and his mission is to investigate PATHOS-II;
- The game explores the themes of consciousness, identity and the self, free will, subjective experience and artificial intelligence;
- Enemy characters are embodiments of the game's core themes;
- One type of enemies encountered in SOMA is referred to as "the Jiangshi";
- The story of SOMA aims to have a high level of coherency and believability;
- Backstory is revealed through documents and notes, as well as recordings from the "CCRV-7 Blackbox" implant.
Plot Overview
You play as Simon Jarrett, a man who is tasked with investigating the underwater PATHOS-II research facility and its surrounding seabed and structures. The facility has been in a state of "radio silence" prior to your arrival; the isolation of this remote facility has begun to bear down on its staff; machines are taking on human traits; alien constructions have begun to interfere with routine. Existence in PATHOS-II has become a nightmare.
Prior to SOMA's release, Simon's surname was first revealed during the ARG (alternate reality game) which took place in May 2015 at somagame.com. A screenshot showing how his name was discovered can be seen below.
Prior to SOMA's release, Simon's surname was first revealed during the ARG (alternate reality game) which took place in May 2015 at somagame.com. A screenshot showing how his name was discovered can be seen below.
Unlike in previous games developed by Frictional, the protagonist in SOMA is not an amnesiac without a sense of identity; Simon knows who he is, and has an established backstory. The only thing he is unsure of is the nature of the situation he currently finds himself in.
The meaning of the game's title, as described in an interview with Thomas Grip in September 2015, meets the common dictionary definition of the word:
The meaning of the game's title, as described in an interview with Thomas Grip in September 2015, meets the common dictionary definition of the word:
- The entire body of an organism, exclusive of the germ cells.
- The axial part of a body, including the head, neck, trunk, and tail.
- The body of a person as contrasted with the mind or psyche. [1]
Themes
The core themes of SOMA can be summarised as follows:
In blog posts and interviews, Thomas Grip has expanded upon his vision for SOMA's story and how best to tell it. In his first blog post for PlayStation in October 2013, he explains the premise of SOMA:
The core themes of SOMA can be summarised as follows:
- Consciousness [2]
- Identity and the self [3]
- Free will [4]
- Subjective experience [5]
- Artificial intelligence [6]
In blog posts and interviews, Thomas Grip has expanded upon his vision for SOMA's story and how best to tell it. In his first blog post for PlayStation in October 2013, he explains the premise of SOMA:
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. [7]
The conveyance of the story was of particular interest to Frictional, given how resistant they are to using cut-scenes or otherwise telling the player what's going on, rather than have them discover it for themselves. [8] One of the ways in which the themes of the game reveal themselves is through the use of creatures and enemies. Each creature in the game is an embodiment of a particular theme, or a facet thereof. [9]
Storytelling
Much of the game's story will be discovered in the environment as the player progresses and explores. One example of this is the CCRV-7 Blackbox, a device implanted into the staff and machinery of PATHOS-II which monitors and records their vitals. The implant also records the latest 10-20 seconds of a person's life in audio form; this can be "played back" to reveal what happened during their final moments. Going further still to ensure the believability of these recordings, some of them are rather undramatic, such as someone saying "Oh, I forgot to...", for instance.
Using these implants to impart snippets of backstory makes for a more convincing and coherent alternative to the standard audio logs trope, which is prominent in games of this kind; audio logs are often superfluous and found in places which don't necessarily make sense, or contain unrealistically helpful information for the player to progress further. [10]
An in-game leaflet explaining the technology of the CCRV-7 Blackbox implant can be seen below; similar notes and documents will be encountered in the game.
Much of the game's story will be discovered in the environment as the player progresses and explores. One example of this is the CCRV-7 Blackbox, a device implanted into the staff and machinery of PATHOS-II which monitors and records their vitals. The implant also records the latest 10-20 seconds of a person's life in audio form; this can be "played back" to reveal what happened during their final moments. Going further still to ensure the believability of these recordings, some of them are rather undramatic, such as someone saying "Oh, I forgot to...", for instance.
Using these implants to impart snippets of backstory makes for a more convincing and coherent alternative to the standard audio logs trope, which is prominent in games of this kind; audio logs are often superfluous and found in places which don't necessarily make sense, or contain unrealistically helpful information for the player to progress further. [10]
An in-game leaflet explaining the technology of the CCRV-7 Blackbox implant can be seen below; similar notes and documents will be encountered in the game.
Inspirations & Influences
SOMA, its themes, and the manner in which they are explored, were inspired by several well-known sci-fi, horror and weird fiction authors, including Philip K. Dick, China Miéville, Greg Egan, H.P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. [11] [12] Something these authors all share is their ability to "start with strange ideas and then take them as far as possible", which is exactly what Frictional did with SOMA. [13]
Indicators of the core themes of SOMA (i.e. consciousness and identity) can be found in the writings and talks given by Thomas Grip, the game's primary creative driver. For instance, in a talk given at the GDC in 2012 entitled "The Self, Presence and Storytelling", he discusses various aspects of the current scientific understanding of human identity, as it relates to both a sense of personhood and the way in which our brains create highly malleable mental models of our body. He talks about the "rubber hand illusion", which demonstrates the plasticity of our self-perception by making our brains "feel" sensation in inanimate objects which have no physical connection to our bodies. In the same talk, he also describes how our identity, far from being a stable construct, is instead a conglomeration of assumptions and beliefs which are susceptible to interference. [14]
SOMA, its themes, and the manner in which they are explored, were inspired by several well-known sci-fi, horror and weird fiction authors, including Philip K. Dick, China Miéville, Greg Egan, H.P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein. [11] [12] Something these authors all share is their ability to "start with strange ideas and then take them as far as possible", which is exactly what Frictional did with SOMA. [13]
Indicators of the core themes of SOMA (i.e. consciousness and identity) can be found in the writings and talks given by Thomas Grip, the game's primary creative driver. For instance, in a talk given at the GDC in 2012 entitled "The Self, Presence and Storytelling", he discusses various aspects of the current scientific understanding of human identity, as it relates to both a sense of personhood and the way in which our brains create highly malleable mental models of our body. He talks about the "rubber hand illusion", which demonstrates the plasticity of our self-perception by making our brains "feel" sensation in inanimate objects which have no physical connection to our bodies. In the same talk, he also describes how our identity, far from being a stable construct, is instead a conglomeration of assumptions and beliefs which are susceptible to interference. [14]
References:
[1] The meaning of the word "soma" is described in the opening paragraph of this interview.
[2] Thomas Grip: "The subject that SOMA will discuss is consciousness."
[3] Thomas Grip: "The player is put through journey that will give rise to all these deep philosophical questions about the self, free will and so forth simply by playing."
[4] Thomas Grip: "Do we have free will?"
[5] Thomas Grip: "How can the feeling of subjective experience arise from a chunk of flesh?"
[6] Thomas Grip: "Can machines be conscious?"
[7] Source of quoted text.
[8] See the section entitled "5) Thematics emerge through play".
[9] Thomas Grip: "Part of this comes through the game's monsters. You will encounter a number of strange creatures, each an embodiment of an aspect of our themes. In order to survive the journey, you need to understand how they work and in the process take on extremely unsettling subjects."
[10] Thomas Grip: "Yeah. When you have audio logs in a game – we've done this in Amnesia, too – there's a worst-case example of adding diary entries where it just makes no sense at all. [...] In, like, BioShock you can find the personal thoughts of some character, and you have no idea why they would be sitting there recording it. Why is any of that here? So we're trying to make sure that all the audio logs and notes that you find really feel like they belong in the world."
[11] Thomas Grip: "The three major inspirations are Philip K Dick, China Mieville and Greg Egan. [...] There will also be a bunch of Lovecraft sprinkled on top."
[12] Thomas Grip: "Great sci-fi authors like Asimov, Dick and Heinlein all do this."
[13] Source of quoted text.
[14] This talk at the GDC covers the topics mentioned.
[1] The meaning of the word "soma" is described in the opening paragraph of this interview.
[2] Thomas Grip: "The subject that SOMA will discuss is consciousness."
[3] Thomas Grip: "The player is put through journey that will give rise to all these deep philosophical questions about the self, free will and so forth simply by playing."
[4] Thomas Grip: "Do we have free will?"
[5] Thomas Grip: "How can the feeling of subjective experience arise from a chunk of flesh?"
[6] Thomas Grip: "Can machines be conscious?"
[7] Source of quoted text.
[8] See the section entitled "5) Thematics emerge through play".
[9] Thomas Grip: "Part of this comes through the game's monsters. You will encounter a number of strange creatures, each an embodiment of an aspect of our themes. In order to survive the journey, you need to understand how they work and in the process take on extremely unsettling subjects."
[10] Thomas Grip: "Yeah. When you have audio logs in a game – we've done this in Amnesia, too – there's a worst-case example of adding diary entries where it just makes no sense at all. [...] In, like, BioShock you can find the personal thoughts of some character, and you have no idea why they would be sitting there recording it. Why is any of that here? So we're trying to make sure that all the audio logs and notes that you find really feel like they belong in the world."
[11] Thomas Grip: "The three major inspirations are Philip K Dick, China Mieville and Greg Egan. [...] There will also be a bunch of Lovecraft sprinkled on top."
[12] Thomas Grip: "Great sci-fi authors like Asimov, Dick and Heinlein all do this."
[13] Source of quoted text.
[14] This talk at the GDC covers the topics mentioned.