SOMA EP7: Good Robot!

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Apr 13, 2016

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 23 comments


Link (YouTube)

Contrary to convention, I actually find myself liking SOMA more now that we’re covering it on the show. I think this is a game that benefits from repeated playthroughs to map out all the various character stories, explore the different choices, and listen to dialog with the benefit of second-playthrough foresight.

On the other hand, the gameplay generally wears out its welcome before the first playthough is complete. Pity.

 


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23 thoughts on “SOMA EP7: Good Robot!

  1. Jabrwock says:

    For anyone interested, Steam currently has SOMA on 40% off until Apr 17.

    Maybe someone on the dev team watches SW. :D

    1. nerdpride says:

      I’d almost buy it. Especially if I had a better machine.

      Too bad playing it sounds not fun. I really like the setting and things so far.

      Very sad to hear they didn’t do well financially.

    2. Yummychickenblue says:

      Was SOMA in development at the same time as Good Robot? It came out in September 2015 which means it was probably in production in 2013 so I guess it might be possible.

  2. Warclam says:

    Underwater flies, Shamus? No, no, they’re called swims.

  3. garrrrrrrrrrrettttttttttt says:

    Escape pod had barnacles before it launched. I pedantically point out.

    1. Ranneko says:

      Yeah I was going to point this out too. Gaps between recording sessions allows for these details to be missed. I only realised because I rewatched the last few minutes of ep 6.

  4. Daemian Lucifer says:

    The problem with equipment surviving such pressure is really only if you build it up here and then take it down there.Because down there,youll just use more pressurized air,so the equipment will be squeezed equally from all sides.Though there are limits before the material itself starts to be flattened(the casing,the wires,etc),but I dont thing oceans have such high pressures anyway.The salt in the water would be far more damaging than the pressure.

    Its us flabby humans that are complicated to put in such an environment.Our equipment would be fine.

    1. Hermocrates says:

      Yeah, it’s more the depths of the trenches where pressure starts to become crippling to material structures. For instance, the submersibles that first carried people to the bottom of the Marianas Trench had to be a sphere in order to spread out the pressure evenly, but even still was so thick as to become too heavy to provide its own buoyancy, so they also had to attach a balloon that would hover above it to provide such buoyancy.

    2. 4th Dimension says:

      I would be more worried about salt water getting in where it shouldn’t be (via corrosion) and shorting things out. Also some types of screens are highly pressure sensitive, but I guess we wouldn’t be using those.

      1. Peter H. Coffin says:

        There’s ways around the corrosion issue. Basically, the problem is dissimilar metals in salt water basically form a weak battery, and the electricity flowing through the water makes metal into ions. MOST options that present themselves only work if you can electrically seal off one half of the problem, which means also that it can’t be in the water. So underwater, you’re left with two common solutions: Firstly, you put something nearby that corrodes EVEN FASTER, but you don’t care about, like a lump of zinc. Or alternatively, you can wire up the various parts of your thing electrically and supply your own counterbalancing electric current to neutralize what would happen otherwise. Which is weird to think about: “We have to make sure this generator stays running and attached to the hull and the propeller shaft and the rudder, or else the rudder will get weak and fall off in a storm…”

  5. Redingold says:

    I think the red flashy light on the stun rod indicated that it was out of charge.

    1. Benjamin Hilton says:

      Also for reference it does show Simon dropping the gun when he returns to the terminal.

  6. At least the destruction of the rigid airship will create a habitat for huge manatees.

    1. Sunshine says:

      Boooo!

      Well done.

  7. Somniorum says:

    I can just see Shamus’ funeral – all the people attending, lined up at his casket, one after the other giving him a little nudge and saying “you okay buddy?”

    1. Gruhunchously says:

      His tombstone is monumental in size and has his entire Mass Effect retrospective inscribed on it.

      1. Supah Ewok says:

        Causing a world-wide granite shortage.

        Ozymandias got nothing on that.

        1. Matt Downie says:

          Near them, on the sand,
          Half sunk, a shattered visage
          lies, whose frown,
          And wrinkled lip, and sneer
          of cold command,
          Tell that its sculptor well
          those passions read
          The hand that mocked them
          and the heart that fed:
          And on the pedestal
          these words appear:
          My name is Twenty-Sided,
          geek of geeks
          Look upon my works, Bioware
          and despair

          1. Stu Friedberg says:

            The guys in the next office just stuck their heads in here to find out why I was chortling so hard. Well done, sir!

      2. Trix2000 says:

        No, it just has in big bold letters, “BUT WHAT DO THEY EAT?!”

  8. Sunshine says:

    That episode title sounds really familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Maybe it was a TV show for kids in the ’80s?

    1. Alex says:

      It sounds like a tesla coil to me. Whether it’s a specific tesla coil, I couldn’t say.

  9. NoneCallMeTim says:

    Another thing about the gun: creating a shock like that should radiate out causing damage to Simon.

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