Now that I’ve seen the credits, I understand why Jumpship has been so cryptic about explaining what Somerville is really about for years. This cinematic sci-fi survival adventure builds on its own mystery from the start of the game, dangerously playing on what you know or think you can at every turn. The way they advertised it coupled with that secrecy made people think it would share a lot with the classic Playdead. limbo e Inside, as a kind of spiritual successor. But while it’s true that art and angles can be reminiscent of the second, the first thing you should know is that this isn’t a cinematic puzzle and platformer. And no matter how big the executive producer’s name seems Dino Pattithis is mainly the director’s idea Chris OlsenFinally turned into a video game.
Now that you’ve made that clarification, which is important because you shouldn’t expect so many box-moving or physics-based puzzles, let’s talk about what you actually do. This is the story of a man searching for his family in a rural area after launching some kind of alien invasion. It is shown on a very personal scale that I remember war of the Worldswith a touch of Another world j flashback, there I am Typically it’s all about getting out of each section and moving on, handling the scenery elements in different ways. And to avoid spoilers, as this man makes contact with the aliens, he gains the power to transform a cubic matter that covers a large part of the set as long as there is a light source nearby. Both visually and mechanically, this power is the main idea that Somerville brings to the table, and it’s almost always as gimmicky as it is odd, even if it’s not the first time we’ve seen anything like it.
While you could say that Somerville uses language similar to the indie classics mentioned above, it doesn’t seem like it scores quite the same note for grammar. In other words, his execution isn’t that great, leading to many situations that take you completely out of his great environment. Already from your first steps in the adventure (literally when you walk with the child of the family in the narrative tutorial and later when they give you control of the protagonist) you notice that the character’s movement through the different locations is not going around to give you a pleasant walk. It is clumsy, sometimes inept, and very annoying when snagged on a plain rock or cable lying on the ground. He walks slow, then fast, then quite randomly slow again, making the occasional chase a torturous process in the worst sense.
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Sometimes the solution is as simple as taking an exit to cross the stage, but the camera is so far away or the elements around it make it so confusing that you don’t see it or act blindly. And I really get what they were trying to convey here, but it just doesn’t feel natural or intuitive at all. And while the puzzle design borders on brilliance in a few alien-related cases that I won’t list here, it’s just too easy to get bogged down in seemingly basic challenges because something doesn’t quite trigger when it hits, itself if you know what to do. do.
Unfortunately, the game’s technical finish contributes to this feeling of clumsiness and agony. There wasn’t a track I didn’t do screen tear on Xbox Series X, which shouldn’t happen given the graphics load. It also crashed a few times or had trouble loading, which is a shame considering this is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone interested in art or cinema for that reason alone: some of its shots are unforgettable, with immersive perspectives, sequential follow-ups or certainly artistic choices. I was holding down the screenshot button way more times than usual and was absolutely blown away when towards the end the game decides to turn into a psychedelic comic book homage.
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So with Somerville I was fascinated by its strange world, then confused and annoyed when everything seemed too vague or far away. It feels like it could have done a lot better with a little more quality control and polish by being clearer about what it’s asking of the player, but its highlights don’t quite make up for that almost constant sense of strain. Suffice it to say that aside from the best four- or five-themed puzzles, the best parts of the game have you just wandering around, which says a lot about Jumpship’s strengths and weaknesses. It also thrives on a narrative level, but some may be overwhelmed by how it handles the human drama and twists towards the final acts, even as it ends very decently and honors its genre with an ending that’s open to interpretation.
With all of this, despite its most obvious flaws, I could have intrigued you, and that’s how I felt throughout my six-hour game. I’d recommend checking out Somerville if you can (it’s just landed on Xbox Game Pass, for example) as it tries out some cool things and showcases the studio’s obvious talent, which has me already looking forward to what they plan to do next.
