Tacoma Image
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 60 Ratings

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  • Summary: Tacoma is a narrative-driven adventure set aboard a high-tech space station in the year 2088. Explore every detail of how the station’s crew lived and worked, finding clues that add up to a gripping story of trust, fear, and resolve in the face of disaster.

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Tacoma - Announcement Trailer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Aug 25, 2017
    91
    I may not entirely love where it winds up, but the journey getting to that point is so pitch-perfect, it'd be wrong of me to say it's anything other than a must-play experience for people who enjoy a good walking simulator.
  2. Though the game only takes a few hours to play through, the multiple layers of story — which each unlock additional meaning in the others once uncovered — make for a groundbreaking narrative system unlike anything else. But more impressive is the emotional impact of the stories themselves, not just the tale of a crisis aboard a space station and the perils of corporate-controlled AI, but the intertwining stories of six people's lives, loves and losses.
  3. Aug 7, 2017
    90
    A diverse narrative-driven space adventure for people wanting actual emotions and relationships in their games; that is Tacoma.
  4. Aug 10, 2017
    79
    Tacoma shines where it counts, and that is with the story it tells and the feeling that each character within it feels real. Including the on-board AI called Odin. As an interactive story, getting to pause, rewind, and check out the movements and activities of different people in a digital recreation of past events works flawlessly. And it’s the sort of mechanic that feels fresh, whilst also being something that could only really exist in this form. Lasting roughly two hours or so, Tacoma also never feels laboured or padded with extraneous content. But, as it also doesn't present a story focusing on one character as the lead there’s a feeling that something is missing. Which, robs the ending of some of its emotional weight.
  5. Aug 16, 2017
    75
    A compelling three hours narrative experience, sustained by an interesting memories playback mechanic and a good sound design, but without excelling in any particular department.
  6. Aug 7, 2017
    75
    If you’ve played games like Gone Home, Dear Esther or Firewatch, Tacoma is instantly recognizable, but it remains distinct by introducing a wildly exotic space setting and a mechanic that keeps the “look and listen gameplay” from ever becoming a bore. It can, at times, devolve into too much of a linear experience, giving way to predictable pacing, but this is forgivable, because when your time is done on the Tacoma lunar station, your heart will be a little fuller for the people you met while you were there.
  7. Aug 9, 2017
    60
    The game’s technical problems on Xbox One are a real shame, especially since the game is console exclusive to Xbox One, but those looking to look past these issues will be treated to an engrossing and surprising story aboard the Tacoma space station.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 16
  2. Negative: 3 out of 16
  1. Aug 3, 2017
    10
    Interesting game an incredible story, great indie, a great bet of Fullbright in a spectacular atmosphere
    if you like firewatch and gone home
    Interesting game an incredible story, great indie, a great bet of Fullbright in a spectacular atmosphere
    if you like firewatch and gone home this is your game
    Expand
  2. Aug 11, 2017
    9
    Great game. It's only 3 hours long but it's a fantastic 3 hours. It's also great for achievment hunters. Most achievments are easy and you getGreat game. It's only 3 hours long but it's a fantastic 3 hours. It's also great for achievment hunters. Most achievments are easy and you get 200 for simply completing the game. Definetly worth €20 Expand
  3. Nov 24, 2019
    9
    The game reminds me of "What Remains of Edith Finch" or "Firewatch", except in outer space. It's a narrative driven, storytelling game whereThe game reminds me of "What Remains of Edith Finch" or "Firewatch", except in outer space. It's a narrative driven, storytelling game where you play as Amy Ferrier, a sub-contractor working for Venturis, who is assigned to the Tacoma space station to investigate why the 6 person crew had to abandon the station.

    You uncover bits of the story through the Tacoma's AR device that allows you to re-create events that happened on the station leading up to the evacuation by super-imposing the player into those events as if they were there with the crew. You travel from one station module to another through the main hub area and uncover more clues and information about the crew and their lives on the station.

    I won't spoil the ending because ultimately, I'm going to recommend you play this game, but the idea of a setting where megacorporations having a major influence on society (such as space travel/habitants and augmented reality) with the mentality of gaining political power, profits and pushing their own personal agenda at all costs, is all too real and insidious when you reach the game's conclusion.

    The voice acting in the game is well done. The performers do an excellent job of coming across as real people with genuine emotions, despite the character models looking like colour-coded, low-polygon creations.

    This is another game that I would love to explore in VR, specifically the hub area where you're floating around in zero gravity.

    Tacoma tells a really great story, despite it's length (you can finish the game in about an hour and a half) and putting it at the forefront was a smart decision that paid off.
    Expand
  4. May 8, 2018
    7
    Tacoma
    Gone to Space?
    Tacoma comes from the same studio that made Gone Home and this is sort of a similar type of game. Its finally on PS4
    Tacoma
    Gone to Space?
    Tacoma comes from the same studio that made Gone Home and this is sort of a similar type of game.
    Its finally on PS4 and with it comes a new mode that allows you to play this roughly 1 hr. and 45-minute game with developer commentary
    I went into this game completely blind not knowing what to expect. having appreciated gone home but not loved it as much as everyone else. I also had the whole set in space thing working against me. but I was surprised how interesting and new this experience ended up being..
    Here you play as a character named Amy, you enter the abandoned Tacoma station to retrieve AI data and figure out exactly what happened to the characters that were living here…
    Thankfully for you there was a surveillance AI called ODIN watching their every move…
    so as you explore the station you’ll be able to recreate important scenes, and as the scenes play out you have to collect important information from different characters, reading conversations and documents…
    this observing and finding the character in the area you need information from while the scene plays out is the entire game..
    what makes this so cool though is that you can freely pause and rewind.
    and characters don’t all stay huddled up in an area…
    they’re separated doing their own thing. and even each other.
    I found it fun to rewind and listen to individual conversations going on at the same time as the important conversation chunk I was supposed to be listening to…
    and this is what makes Tacoma such a unique experience.
    it feels real.
    the station feels as though it was lived in and every character having simultaneous conversations and having their own secrets and love affairs to uncover makes this feel like you’re observing something that really happened, and that you’re sticking your nose in places it doesn’t belong…
    But of course you can’t help yourself…
    I feel however not much was done here gameplay wise.
    This game felt more like a concept than something complete…
    a couple of times you’ll have to rewind to get a code for a locker, but these moments never had much of a payoff…
    and that’s all that’s really done gameplay wise.
    This really is just a game about collecting information
    but that’s what you’re sent there to do.
    IF you’re expecting a cool narrative experience you’re not going to get that here.
    The delivery of the story is great, but the story itself is pretty bland
    Ultimately, I feel like Tacoma more than anything is a neat experience with a cool concept
    you’re not missing much if you skip it, but it feels far from being a waste of time.
    And if you couldn’t tell, yes this was a hard game to write a review for.
    I give Tacoma
    a 6.5/10
    Expand
  5. Oct 4, 2020
    6
    Walking simulator in a sci-fi setting. The story told is okay and you can really let off steam here with datapads, information and searchingWalking simulator in a sci-fi setting. The story told is okay and you can really let off steam here with datapads, information and searching and exploring individual objects.

    I finished the game in about 3 1/2 hours, so I left the game relatively time. The atmosphere is actually quite well captured, but overall the spark did not really want to jump over.

    6/10 datapads.
    Expand
  6. Aug 20, 2023
    5
    An ok game but I'll have to play alot more before I can give my honest on this
  7. Nov 21, 2020
    1
    This is the worst game I've played in many years. I'm giving it 1 star only because it's original in concept, even if the execution isThis is the worst game I've played in many years. I'm giving it 1 star only because it's original in concept, even if the execution is horrid. Tacoma shares similarities with walking simulators as it's entirely interactive. You play the part of an investigator of some kind, and you have the ability to replay augmented reality type recreations of scenes in various environments throughout the space station. By doing so you can unlock the secrets about what really happened and why everyone had to mysteriously evacuate.

    Now this had the potential to be interesting, but the way it plays out watching these people go about their daily lives is like watching paint dry. They have long drawn-out conversations about nothing, and the few surprises never rise about mild predictable drama. It's like eavesdropping on the teacher's lounge for a couple hours. I found myself fast-forwarding through almost all of it.
    Expand

See all 16 User Reviews

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