Somerville

 Xbox One
User Score
3.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 19
  3. Negative: 13 out of 19

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  1. HealingToolbox
    Nov 24, 2022
    8
    Half Life, Limbo and Inside are all useful reference point for this oddball gem in the atmosphere-first genre.

    If forced to give it a narrative genre, Id say it's War of the Worlds meets Limbo and Inside--done with no words at all. SOMERVILLE is a first person emotional--not visual--perspective on shattering personal loss and trauma. Little Nightmares uses the same desperate personal    Half Life, Limbo and Inside are all useful reference point for this oddball gem in the atmosphere-first genre.

    If forced to give it a narrative genre, Id say it's War of the Worlds meets Limbo and Inside--done with no words at all. SOMERVILLE is a first person emotional--not visual--perspective on shattering personal loss and trauma. Little Nightmares uses the same desperate personal emotions.

    About 7/8 the way thru, Somerville drops its narrative thread altogether and--depending on your tastes--digresses or progresses to a number of "interesting scenes which didn't fit into the game" a handful of "game outtakes which I found visually and conceptually interesting.

    Somerville makes brilliant use of a mechanic new to me, turning liquid geometry into solid matter; and, back again to liquid matter. About half the puzzles involve this mechanic. I did not get tired of it.

    A GI commenter mentioned Cocoon, new game from Limbo designer. The trailer suggests it is all puzzles. The desperate, possibly cruel, use of shattering personal loss and trauma is gone in Cocoon. SOMERVILLE keeps this emotionality. This engaged so many players when Limbo (2013) first came out.
    If you are tired of superhero games made in Unreal engine which all begin to look the same, try SOMERVILLE. 8/10 if a lot of technical glitches, then lower score for you    … Expand

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Critic score distribution:
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  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 1 out of 1
  1. ZTGD
    Nov 22, 2022
    45
    So yeah… Somerville kind of sucks. The best parts of the game are when it focuses on the alien invasion aspect. The worst parts are everything else. Honestly, skip this game. It actually makes me worried for what Playdead has coming next because they have said they want to do more than just 2D games too and if they play anything like Somerville I’ll probably skip it.
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