Tacoma

 PC
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 159 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 159
  2. Mixed: 56 out of 159
  3. Negative: 33 out of 159

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  1. dandalis
    Feb 5, 2018
    6
    Only reason Tacoma got it hooks into me was the space station setting, otherwise i wouldnt had bothered with it after already knowing Fullbright's touch in Gone Home.

    And creating a believable, well crafted and detailed space station frankly is only really good thing the game does because story, characters didnt really do anything for me. Most fun i had was just exploring the bits and    Only reason Tacoma got it hooks into me was the space station setting, otherwise i wouldnt had bothered with it after already knowing Fullbright's touch in Gone Home.

    And creating a believable, well crafted and detailed space station frankly is only really good thing the game does because story, characters didnt really do anything for me. Most fun i had was just exploring the bits and crannies of the station's modules, looking out into vaquum of space and seeing how the station spins around to create the artificial gravity. Gone Home style story telling is present where you learn about the world, people, events, character backstories via reading letters, texts from augmented reality screens, book excerpts and other crap, i kinda liked that in Gone Home, but here it felt been there, done that, felt more, like like padding, but i guess its just the genre's trope at this point in time.

    I was pretty impressed how good looking the game actually is, its not really cutting edge, but assets, textures and environments are packed with detail you usualy dont see that often in Unity engine based game and it runs very smooth. What wasnt so good were awfully long loading times, 3 minutes to start/continue the game from main menu, 2 minutes atleast to exit a level and another 2 to enter the next one, its annoying as hell, these might actually be the longest loading times i have ever seen if my long term memory is not failing me.

    Lastly i have to talk about this because it kinda pissed me off. Tacoma is pushing hamfisted politics, often right in your face and down the throat. There's strong pandering for LGBT, i mean 3/6 characters in the game are homosexuals and you get exposed to their their ways thru the story delivering tools like letters, photos and even the character avatars from the game's cool but ultimatly gimmicky play/rewind AR sequences you like it or not. Same about pandering for feminism and multi culturism. There's cerntainly ways to convey such things in gaming, but Fullbright either wants to agresisvely deploy their beliefs via the games they make or simply doesnt know the right way how to do it. Gone Home did it actually much better.    … Expand
  2. Kosdais
    Feb 3, 2018
    7
    Nice, short game (only about 3 hours). The only reason why to replay this game is for achievements. Would only recommend it in sale or from a bundle (was recently on humble bundle monthly).
  3. michaelb1928
    Sep 14, 2020
    6
    Enjoyed Gone Home for what it was but this didnt really hook me as much. The story falls flat and just isnt the most interesting. I liked the idea of seeing how each character reacted to certain situations but this could have been really good with some creativity in terms of certain characters betraying others in a different room and only you the player knowing about it etc. Overall aEnjoyed Gone Home for what it was but this didnt really hook me as much. The story falls flat and just isnt the most interesting. I liked the idea of seeing how each character reacted to certain situations but this could have been really good with some creativity in terms of certain characters betraying others in a different room and only you the player knowing about it etc. Overall a fairly forgettable experience… Expand
  4. Anita_SeiLa
    Jun 19, 2022
    7
    In this game ur Amy, an investigator or some kind of detective, who needs to find out what happened in the space station TACOMA.
    PROS:
    I liked the way they tell u the narrative. It is like little 3D recorded videos, that u can fastforward or delay, in each room where u get to follow each of the caracters, since they can be in diferent places talking about diferent things (important or    In this game ur Amy, an investigator or some kind of detective, who needs to find out what happened in the space station TACOMA.
    PROS:
    I liked the way they tell u the narrative. It is like little 3D recorded videos, that u can fastforward or delay, in each room where u get to follow each of the caracters, since they can be in diferent places talking about diferent things (important or not for the narrative) (idk if I explained right, but anyway). Besides I love the story, it catched me in a way that I couldn't stop until I finiched it, I loved playing it.
    CONS:
    The thing is, I think they missed a great chance of putting some nice puzzles and turning this game into a puzzle game. Ur investigating, u want to find out what happened, the game gives u that great feeling of wanting to search in every place, everything and every little detail and some puzzles would help increase the hours playing (since it is just 3 hours) and make it much more enjoyable and fun cause u literally just watch and read a little, so u can easily "play it in youtube".
    CONCLUSION:
    I would recomend to buy it in a promotion, it is definetly not worth the full price, but, as I said, I had a lot of fun playing it and for the price I bought I guess it was worth the experience. Despite it, I wouldn't judge anyone for just watching it on youtube.    … Expand
  5. TitaniumDragon
    Feb 5, 2018
    6
    Tacoma is a walking simulator set on a space station. You play as Amy Ferrier, an independent contractor for the Venturis Corporation, one of many corporations operating in the year 2088. Your job is to retrieve the AI off of the evacuated space station Tacoma. While the company reminds you that everything you see on board is confidential, it takes a *long* time for those data transfers toTacoma is a walking simulator set on a space station. You play as Amy Ferrier, an independent contractor for the Venturis Corporation, one of many corporations operating in the year 2088. Your job is to retrieve the AI off of the evacuated space station Tacoma. While the company reminds you that everything you see on board is confidential, it takes a *long* time for those data transfers to complete, so you might as well look around…

    Made by the creators of Gone Home, this is not really a game. Rather, it is a linear story, told via the exploration of the space station, watching segments of the story unfold via the station’s 3D recording apparatus. You can move around and watch the scenes from several different perspectives, listening to various characters as they try to resolve the crisis on the space station, while their oxygen supply runs low, all the while getting guidance from ODIN, the space station’s AI.

    The biggest flaw with Gone Home was its ending – the ending of that game was pretty jarring with the overall themes of the rest of the piece. Tacoma, conversely, works a lot better – you get to see all of the pieces of the plot falling together, and it becomes increasingly obvious as you keep making your way through the plot what is REALLY going on.

    However, I still have to say they didn’t quite stick the landing. As a drama, this story does a lot better job of unfolding. However, it has one fairly critical flaw – while the characters throughout the story have a sense of agency, it feels like one of the crucial payoffs doesn’t have a lot of buildup to it. While the area where it comes up gives us some background on it, this is very late in the game, after the point at which it was plot critical, which is kind of annoying – while everything else was foreshadowed very well, that part wasn’t, and as a result, it diminishes the sense of agency there.

    Still, I have to say that on the whole, the story DID work. The voice acting was on-point, the environments weren’t so big as to be tedious to explore while being large enough to give you some stuff to look at and feel like you were unravelling the plot, and I was overall content with the experience – at the very least, I was never really bored while playing, though the lack of a sprint button felt like a somewhat odd choice.

    This is not a walking simulator that knocks it out of the park. But unlike many such experiences, it did at least feel decent to experience. While some people might decry it as being short – which it is, the game took me only in the realm of three and a half hours to 100% – it really didn’t want to be any longer than it was. The story was over by the end of it, and it would not have benefitted from being longer, and would have likely been boring to sit through.

    Overall, this is something that you’re likely to be interested in if you like cyberpunk-type stories, about a future society dominated by uncaring megacorporations and AIs, albeit a much more subdued version thereof – rather than being overtly dystopian, the world feels much more rounded around the edges, and it is clear that the megacorps are far from omnipotent, rather being very much subject to the laws of society, albeit laws that they try to circumvent to their own advantage.

    If you’re looking for an actual GAME, though, I’d say to avoid this; this is not a game in a very meaningful sense, despite a couple of very simple “puzzles” to unlock a few doors. This is a walking simulator heavily focused on story, and if you aren’t interested in wandering around inside a story that is unfolding around you without much interaction from you, this is not the product for you.

    Note also that this IS very short; keep in mind that this is an experience under four hours long. I was fine with that - I got it as part of a bundle - but I can understand that some people might be put off by the $20 price tag, given it is more akin to going to watch a movie in a theater than it is to a game that you are likely to play over and over again.    … Expand
  6. lhdoroschuk
    Dec 26, 2017
    7
    Tacoma had a rich environment, with tons of good atmosphere and character development. However, I would have preferred a longer narrative with a slower build-up, as I felt that I didn't have enough time to truly form a relationship with the characters. If this were a 5-6 hour game, I think it would have been more rewarding, personally.

    However, this was a good game, worth playing. Price    Tacoma had a rich environment, with tons of good atmosphere and character development. However, I would have preferred a longer narrative with a slower build-up, as I felt that I didn't have enough time to truly form a relationship with the characters. If this were a 5-6 hour game, I think it would have been more rewarding, personally.

    However, this was a good game, worth playing. Price tags are hard to discuss with games these days, especially since everything on Steam seems to be perpetually on sale, but if you consider this was about the price and length of a movie, then I don't think you'll be disappointed.

    If you're a fan of the walking simulator genre, this is a good buy. The ending had me smiling as well.

    7/10    … Expand
  7. us9975531
    Aug 2, 2017
    6
    Tacoma has the same flaws of Gone Home (the game is very short and the player can only passively observe a story that played out before you ever arrived), but none of Tacoma's characters have a story as interesting or emotionally resonant as the sister's story from Gone Home. The fact that a space station ends up being less interesting than an empty 90s suburban house feels like aTacoma has the same flaws of Gone Home (the game is very short and the player can only passively observe a story that played out before you ever arrived), but none of Tacoma's characters have a story as interesting or emotionally resonant as the sister's story from Gone Home. The fact that a space station ends up being less interesting than an empty 90s suburban house feels like a tremendous failure of the developer's imagination.… Expand
  8. Sjalka
    Aug 2, 2017
    5
    Very relaxing, nice visuals, good music .... but not a game in the traditional sense.

    That this is not a game is quite aparent from the very start. It is a "kind of" novel unfolding progressively as you progress the very limited environment. A space station (just like a family home) is a limited space by nature - so i never really felt like really exploring freely - but rather trying to    Very relaxing, nice visuals, good music .... but not a game in the traditional sense.

    That this is not a game is quite aparent from the very start. It is a "kind of" novel unfolding progressively as you progress the very limited environment. A space station (just like a family home) is a limited space by nature - so i never really felt like really exploring freely - but rather trying to "fondle" every single object that i was allowed to manipulate .. a bit like older point and click adventures.

    Now here is my problem with the game. Like Gone Home - this game is based on a natural environment - and extremely HIGH detail (not as in shaders or normal mapping or such - but in terms of content) ... I want furniture to be accessible - and not just empty - but filled with "stuff" - anything else would feel staged and sterile.

    And sterile is about the core of the problem. The game feels empty - and not lived in at all to me. I can see the recordings of the previous inhabitants ... but they felts empty... . Maybe it was just me, but i never got the feeling of an actual living being. Gone Home did it better - but had to focus on fewer characters of course ... and a much more relatable story. But even small games like Orwell or even Papers Please manage to stir up the imagination about "what kind of person we are dealing with" better than Tacoma.

    Conclusion:

    Is that a bad game? no .... well aside from rather being a novel than a game anyway (and i actually do enjoy such games) ... does it stand out in any way? .. sadly no. It is completely average. Neither the visuals, nor the story or storytelling is outstanding.

    I find it hard to pin point it - maybe it is the novelty or the more familiar setting. I had a lot of fun going through the countless cupboards and drawers of Gone Home - but felt almost annoyed clicking on stuff in Tacoma.
    It somehow misses the mark - maybe because there are so many "abandoned space station" settings around - while there were actually not too many "abandoned suburban home" settings around (at least none without ghosts or zombies ... )    … Expand
  9. Klewer
    Mar 5, 2021
    7
    Really enjoyed the story and setting. Not much to do gameplay wise, as people have said its kind of a walking simulator. However I still enjoyed the characters, relationships and story. Quite short and left me wanting more.
  10. badgerryan19
    Aug 6, 2017
    6
    Microsft's space walking simulator? The characters were some what interesting, but didn't really care for them in the long run. Also asking $20 for a game you can beat in under 2 Hrs is a stretch. Not the best walking simulator but not the worse.
  11. naufri27
    Oct 24, 2020
    6
    Otra forma de contar una historia que, si no fuera de bajo presupuesto, se le podría haber sacado mucho más partido. Aún así, es agradable cómo algunos estudios pequeños se las ingenian para ofrecernos experiencias diferentes.
  12. gab_izidio
    Feb 4, 2021
    7
    Tacoma - 7.5 / 10 - {recommend}
    The game is [good, but limited].
    The story is great, and the ambiance of the ship in space too, but the game is very limited, making you read several texts, and have to keep an eye on the scenes just to see when the characters will open the screen for you to read more texts to discover the events that caused the accident and where everyone is, and at the    Tacoma - 7.5 / 10 - {recommend}
    The game is [good, but limited].

    The story is great, and the ambiance of the ship in space too, but the game is very limited, making you read several texts, and have to keep an eye on the scenes just to see when the characters will open the screen for you to read more texts to discover the events that caused the accident and where everyone is, and at the end of everything is not really worth it, because it's a normal ending, without a tremendous shock on the viewer, in this game you he watches more than anything, except he's short. What saves is the beautiful environment created on the space station, and makes you want to explore everything.    … Expand
  13. Mandulum
    Jul 14, 2018
    7
    Haiku Review: Search a space station / Discover what happened there / Where did they all go
    Favorite Thing: It's a walking simulator (in space) so thankfully uncovering the story was enjoyable. It's just short enough to not overstay its welcome.
    Least Favorite Thing: The game is not really much other than walking and listening. It could have used a little more puzzling. Date    Haiku Review: Search a space station / Discover what happened there / Where did they all go
    Favorite Thing: It's a walking simulator (in space) so thankfully uncovering the story was enjoyable. It's just short enough to not overstay its welcome.
    Least Favorite Thing: The game is not really much other than walking and listening. It could have used a little more puzzling.

    Date Completed: 2018-07-12
    Playtime: ~ 2h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: If you're a fan of walking simulators or scifi then go for it.    … Expand
  14. Underpants158
    Sep 20, 2018
    6
    I think it's an alright narrative experience. So you go around watching recorded events in AR on a spacetation: think pokemon Go but the people are little more than outlines in a solid color. Your main character doesn't talk save for a few lines at the very beginning and very end. It becomes clear why, for story purposes, the developers had to do this. If they had changed that part ofI think it's an alright narrative experience. So you go around watching recorded events in AR on a spacetation: think pokemon Go but the people are little more than outlines in a solid color. Your main character doesn't talk save for a few lines at the very beginning and very end. It becomes clear why, for story purposes, the developers had to do this. If they had changed that part of story then the main character could have commented on things and I think the game would have been much better for it. However as the game is there were about 2 moments that choked me up a bit. The end didn't really shock me and I think it falls flat. BUT HEY, it's an interesting hour experience.… Expand
  15. WildRoeDeer
    May 8, 2019
    7
    Well made for what it set out to do. Unlike Gone Home, which operated as a mystery of sorts, Tacoma is more so about learning about the characters on the space station for two hours, until the big reveal exposing the big bad corporation. I'd say the world building and characters are more interesting than the plot itself, which is really Tacoma's greatest downside. Although, saying oneWell made for what it set out to do. Unlike Gone Home, which operated as a mystery of sorts, Tacoma is more so about learning about the characters on the space station for two hours, until the big reveal exposing the big bad corporation. I'd say the world building and characters are more interesting than the plot itself, which is really Tacoma's greatest downside. Although, saying one thing is negative because it wasn't as good as the other aspects of the game is pretty good as criticisms go. It's very low stakes and railroad-y by design and I can see a lot of people losing interest very quickly. I will say though that the AR segments are easily the highlight of the game. I can't even begin to imagine how much of a pain in the ass it must have been to script and perform every bit of dialogue so it all lines up as perfectly as possible. As a game mechanic, it makes for a much more engaging experience when you choose which conversations to listen in to. It's very clever and a step above the endless letters and audio logs from Gone Home. Basically, everything Gone Home did well, this game does better, except for the main story holding it all together which, in Tacoma's case, feels almost incidental. It does fit together with the world building, however, so I can't say it's bad, just underwritten perhaps. It's a very easy-going experience but if walking sims are something you enjoy, I can safely recommend Tacoma as 'another one of those'.… Expand
  16. strangebrew123
    Dec 12, 2020
    6
    Decent gameplay with good movement. Fairly basic storyline, though engaging enough. Only paid a fiver, so pleased with this game at that price.

Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
22
#22 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 56
  3. Negative: 1 out of 56
  1. CD-Action
    Oct 30, 2017
    60
    Gone Home developers tackle the issue of corporate hell aboard futuristic space station. Unfortunately their sentimental style does not go along with the brutally down-to-earth (oh, the irony!) subject too well. [10/2017, p.67]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 8, 2017
    90
    A bold, ambitious step forward for the - hnngh - "walking simulator." [Issue#266, p.54]
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  3. Riot Pixels
    Sep 21, 2017
    51
    Walking simulators live or die by the strength of their narrative, and Tacoma gives away its main plot just minutes after you start playing it. It does have other secrets, but they aren’t worth your time.
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