A 2.5D narrative adventure game from indie developer Jumpship, Somerville draws inspiration from Limbo, Inside, and Little Nightmares, co-founder of Playdead Dino Patti. As a father to a little boy, Somerville takes on silent storytelling with gorgeous environments and touching family scenes. An alien invasion separates you from your family, so you head out to find shelter and reuniting them.
The journey back to your family will involve exploring beautiful environments — forests, scrapyards, shops, etc. — and solving simple puzzles to get around. Because there are no clues or prompts, and your vision is hindered by low lighting and the fixed camera, you wander around dark and dingy areas spamming X to figure out what items are interactive. In order to use the interactive objects, you must precisely position yourself, which is incredibly frustrating.
The puzzles are enjoyable straight-forward, however, involving pushing and pulling mine carts to climb, starting generators to power lights, and using movable cover to avoid insta-death laser beams. It was a short but sweet five-to-six-hour experience all told, even after we were introduced to a few light-manipulating powers.
Its terrible controls, awful performance, and lack of exposition somewhat dull Somerville’s standout features, gorgeous environments, and atmospheric, silent storytelling. You frequently run into invisible barriers because you’re restricted to walking pace and the path forward is unclear. The frame rate drops greatly when loading new areas, and you have no connection to the family you’re playing due to the lack of names and backstory. If you’re looking for a short, touching title to tide you over until the next big release, this may be worth a look, but with all its issues, it’s best left alone in the dark.
Pros:
- A gorgeous setting.
- Keeping it silent.
- The atmosphere.
- Puzzles you’ll enjoy.
Cons:
- Too dark.
- Poor controls.
- Performance issues.
- Prompts & hints needed.
- There is no story.
This game gets a 5 out of 10.
