Rate top gamesThis game had a lot going for it, acting all around, a compelling and interesting mystery and it looks great. However, boring gameplay and some stumbles in pacing really hold it back. The game is short but the walking speed will make it a slog to get through. The story and mystery you unfold are very good though but things start to fall apart at the end though and you are left with not only a lacking ending but also numerous unanswered questions. Some of these are done on purpose to leave things to the imagination of the players but some I feel should've been answered at some point. For the price on sale I don't think it's too bad but as a full priced game I can't recommend it for what you get.
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The game is positioned as a walking simulator, but in fact it is a 3D movie.
The most important thing in such games is the plot, and it is not bad in general, and in some places even cool: the intrigue is kept until the end. I was very pleased with the absence of mysticism, which is now in trend in this genre. The narration follows the right rhythm, and this rhythm changes from chapter to chapter - great respect to director James Tinsdale. The storyline makes sense. The characters are lively and non-cartoonish. The atmosphere is deep and viscous. The graphic style of levels is conistent, the narrative through the environment - deserves only praise. The graphics is a sight to behold, even by UE5 standards
The horror in the game is also cool: no scrimmers, no body mutilation - in short, no pops, but it is really scary. The events are linear, but the levels are not a straight line, and allow a minimum freedom and therefore linearity is not the main disadvantage.
It would seem - here is a new leader of the genre, ready to eclipse Firewatch, The Wanishing of Ethan Carter and all the others, what could possibly go wrong?
The authors missed literally two things.
Firstly, in a walk simulator it should be pleasant to walk. But here the characters walk in a staggered manner without the possibility to run. I think, the developers wanted players not to run through the story in two hours. But not at such a cost! It was so annoying that instead of exploring the levels, I was busy calculating the shortest possible travel route. Another important part of walking simulators is the ability to admire your surroundings. But here the character in the frame gets in the way, and there is no camera or "zoom" button.
Second, a huge problem concerns the responsiveness of the controls. When the player presses a button, the character model performs the action as naturally and unhurriedly as possible - the creators achieved that the video sequence on the screen does not contain game conventions. Characters walk, turn and open doors as cinematically as possible. But when the player presses a button, and the effect happens only after half a second, the effect of presence is lost. Completely. Responsiveness is extremely important, and even a 1/30 sec. delay is a lot, and with lag like this....
Because of these two points, Fort Solis doesn't feel like a game running on your computer. There's no feel of immersion, no feel of influence on what's going on, it more like watching a video. This could have been remedied by plot forks a-la Detroit: Become Human, but there are none either.
I could make another complaint about the QTE, but there are very few scenes with them, and they didn't manage to annoy.
In short, for the sake of direction and plot I recommend it, but think of it as a movie and keep your expectations down.