Somerville is an exciting and innovative sci-fi platformer set in a post-apocalyptic terrain, with many features that make for an enthralling experience for the player. The alien invasion story is one that many players and movie-goers alike may know well, with classic movies like War of the Worlds leading the way. However, Somerville is a cinematic-driven game that takes the traditional story into new directions and immerses players in the action, with some innovative and unusual design features to experience and beautiful visuals.
There are many enjoyable things about playing Somerville but equally, the game is not without its flaws. Some features may reduce the impact of the overall experience, but others are relatively minor niggles that could be improved upon in potential future fixes. Here are some of the things we love (and don't love) about the game. This article contains some spoilers.
9 Love: Family Scenes
There are some heartwarming and endearing family scenes in Chapters 1 and 2 of Somerville, as we get a snippet of peaceful family life in the game's opening scenes before chaos ensues. Players even play as the kid before taking on the role of presumably the father, the game's main protagonist.
It's great that players directly experience the destruction of the family's home rather than just watching a cutscene. This involvement can make players feel more part of the events and increase the anguish some players might feel about finding their loved ones as they embark on their journey.
8 Don't: Some Awkward Puzzles
Somerville is bursting with puzzles, and players must complete one after another to progress, with many being challenging and capable of leaving players scratching their heads. Although most puzzles are varied and innovative, such as getting players to their ability to harness light in unusual ways, performing puzzle actions can often feel awkward, and some puzzles don't always work as intended.
In Chapter 4, players must drag a bucket out of the water to attract and lure the strange orbs into position to clear a blocked path. This can take several attempts to get right, as players must spin the wishing-well wheel fast enough and get the bucket in the right place to make it work.
7 Love: Exciting Chase Scenes
The chase scenes in Somerville are made all the more exciting by the audio usually being so eerily quiet, as they provide a stark and adrenaline-inducing contrast and a sharp change of pace. The tension initially builds from the first time players see that something stalks them in the distance on leaving the farm surroundings in chapter 3.
That first purple light chase scene through the woods is unexpected, and players are also likely surprised by the exciting red light slope chase in Chapter 5 after players comically clear a pathway with a replica U.F.O. The protagonist can't run fast, and this can feel clunky. However, when pursued by unknown forces, this adds to the tension of whether the player will escape in the adrenaline-pumping chase scenes.
6 Don't: Clunky Movement Speed
One of the main gripes of the game is the clunky feeling of the controls, as getting the dad to do simple things like stand in front of an object or run can feel awkward, rather than the smooth and fluid experience most players come to expect. Changing from walking to running or trying to interact with an object can often leave the player feeling like they are fighting with the controls, and if smoothed could make for a much more enjoyable player experience.
Equally, running through the strange, pixillated blue water can sometimes result in players slowing in speed to almost getting stuck. Fortunately, if things go disastrously wrong, players can restart from the last checkpoint.
5 Love: Clever And Unique Light Puzzles
There are many clever and unique puzzles in Somerville that get players thinking out of the box, and many take place during the challenging Chapter 6 sequence of the game. Here, players find a box of flares and discover they can solidify glowing water surfaces into a black and red cracked material that's often climbable.
It's a satisfying moment to turn a slippery waterfall solid and climb up it, making for some interesting and unusual puzzles for players to overcome to escape the mines. Sometimes these types of puzzles don't always work as well as they could, but for the most part, they add some variety and interest.
4 Don't: No Oxygen Bar For Swimming
Not all games with water levels or areas feature an oxygen bar when swimming. However, in some cases, this could be beneficial for Somerville, particularly as the camera viewpoint is often far away from the protagonist. In the depths of the caverns in Chapter 6, players have to move obstacles underwater and combined with some tricky camera angles, it's difficult to assess how much time players have underwater before the character dies apart from some breathing audio.
On the other hand, no oxygen bar adds to the realism, but on the flip side, it can make the experience a real test for players stuck on where to go.
3 Love: Immersive Cinematic Gameplay & Frequent Checkpoints
The gameplay in Somerville saves automatically when players reach various checkpoints and rarely takes them out of the game world action. This helps to create an immersive and fluid cinematic-platformer gaming experience that keeps the players in the story as if the unfolding events are happening to them, like when players grab the unknown hand in the opening scenes.
Frequent, largely unmarked checkpoints during gameplay are also handy as they let players dip in and out of the game and save the player's progress without taking them out of the story, so players can easily hop in where they last ended their play session.
2 Don't: Tricky Camera Angles
For the most part, the camera angles work well and allow players some freedom to explore and navigate the environment. However, at times, some tricky camera angles can make it difficult for players to see what they are doing and could benefit from being clearer or less restrictive.
The birds-eye camera angle in some swimming moments of chapter 6, where players can only move left, right, or down, makes the viewpoint feel a bit awkward. In darker areas of levels, some camera angles can also make navigating the world feel trickier, like the darker foregrounds with a tricky overhead camera in Chapter 5.
1 Love: The Aliens
Although little is known about the alien invaders that destroy the landscape and upheave the life of the game's family, the glimpses players get are enough to know they are a threat, adding tension and enjoyment. The stalking red searchlights that signal immediate danger, and mini-jump scares through the street and shop levels add some surprises. The aliens create many memorable moments, like when players must turn one to stone to sneak past.
That said, it would be good to know more about the aliens and their motivations for invasion. There are undeniable gaps in parts of the game's narrative where more expansion could benefit the player's understanding of the main story, especially with the game's multiple endings.
Somerville is available to play on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.