When comparing SOMA vs Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Slant community recommends SOMA for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 (PlayStation 4) games?” SOMA is ranked 12th while Batman: Arkham Asylum is ranked 117th. The most important reason people chose SOMA is:
SOMA’s atmosphere is a combination of various things. It can be the feeling of loneliness when you’re exploring a rundown and desolate lab. The feeling of anxiety as you trek along the seafloor and you’re only surrounded by muffled sounds and the bubbling of the water. The feeling of fear as you dive deeper into the ocean and the sun becomes more distant. It’s an extremely immersive atmosphere, which is something that many modern horror games don’t have.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Great atmosphere
SOMA’s atmosphere is a combination of various things. It can be the feeling of loneliness when you’re exploring a rundown and desolate lab. The feeling of anxiety as you trek along the seafloor and you’re only surrounded by muffled sounds and the bubbling of the water. The feeling of fear as you dive deeper into the ocean and the sun becomes more distant. It’s an extremely immersive atmosphere, which is something that many modern horror games don’t have.
Pro A horror game for Sci-Fi enthusiasts
SOMA is set in the future, so it has all that futuristic goodness. Things like robots, AIs, underwater laboratories, diving suits designed to endure immense water pressure, and much more. SOMA is a thoroughly enjoyable Sci-fi experience.
Pro Thought-provoking story
Like many horror stories, it delves deep into uncovering the central mystery of what’s going on. There are many unsettling events and revelations along the way, bringing up philosophical questions about consciousness and identity. It’s the type of story that sticks with you long after you’ve finished it and is worth experiencing at least once.
Pro Freeflow combat pioneer
Arkham Asylum is the first game to bring us freeflow brawler melee combat in its full glory. It invented the combat genre where you fight a multitude of enemies who take turns attacking you, while the player has a basic attack, a parry+counter and a combat roll. Getting multiple hits in on enemies builds up a combo streak that makes batman stronger. This streak is reset by getting hit by an enemy. Other games, like Assassin's Creed, had superficially similar combat systems, but not as optimized as this and they did not feature hit/combo streaks. Arkham Asylum's freeflow combat system is very suitable to be played with controllers.
Pro Fun stealth & gadgets
Remaining stealthy and getting stealth takedowns is important in Arkham Asylum's gameplay. Arkham Asylum gives the player a relatively large number of different gadgets to use for different combat purposes, such as ranged takedowns, cutting ropes, diverting enemies' attention, blasting through doors, traversing longer distances and hacking.
Cons
Con Not for mainstream horror enthusiasts
SOMA focuses heavily on psychological horror by maintaining suspense and creating a very creepy atmosphere. If you’re looking for jump scares, gore, and other thrill-inducing horror aspects you might be sorely disappointed.
Con Very linear level design
While other horror titles have branching paths and open areas you get to explore, SOMA is very linear even in its ocean exploration sections. This feels like a failed opportunity to create an even better game.
Con No HUD (head-up display) or map
You have to memorize the layouts of the underwater facilities, since there is no HUD or overlay map system. Even though there are several computer terminals scattered through the game that provide access to rudimentary maps, there's no way to save them.
Con Dark atmosphere
You won't realize how many shades of black exist until you've played an Arkham game. It's always dark outside, so to people who like daylight and colors in their games, this might get a bit dull after a while.