Re: HumbleChoice: January 2025

On Wed, 8 Jan 2025 13:47:33 -0700, "rms" <rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net>
wrote:

* Fort Solis

>
"To my mind Fort Solis and Still Wakes the Deep share very positive
qualities  Both have excellent graphics, sound, and voice-acting, along with
unique and detailed locations -- a Mars base in FT, and a drilling platform
in SWTD) that provide an atmosphere and sense of immersion that really pull
you in, all in service of a story-based, horror thriller. But how the two
games achieve this couldn't be more different.
>
SWTD is more active and energetic, both in the pacing, the freewheeling
english isle language usage, and the physical puzzle solving,
well-integrated with the first-person perspective, in an exhilarating,
more-or-less never seen before setting -- most players would probably pick
it first. But that is not a knock on Fort Solis, where the devs were going
for a completely different vibe: A moody, oppressive, human drama, in a
highly controlled environment with a closely-knit cast of characters. I very
much wanted to see everything these characters -- and actors -- did, and
explored everywhere to get 100% with all achievements (missed quite a few
with SWTD). In any case, both great games, and both fairly short, ~5 hours
for SWTD and ~11 hours for Fort Solis, and both highly recommended!"
>

I was rather dissatisfied with "Still Wakes". The visuals were
gorgeous but the gameplay and story were so humdrum and predictible as
to take all the joy (or suspense) out of the gameplay.

I wouldn't call an oil rig (or Mars) never-seen setting either, since
both have been frequently featured in numerous other video games.
Although "Still Wakes'" interpretation was undeniably the most
detailed and realistic I've seen in a game.

The first few episodes of "The Rig" (an otherwise awful Amazon-TV
series) reminded me a lot of "Still Wakes". Then the character started
reciting their lines...