Fort Solis (2023)

I loved every single second of my time with Fort Solis, and as well as piecing together everything and exploring the site, I spent too much time nosing around through my co-workers emails and private effects under the guise of uncovering the story, but it was as much fun finding out snippets of my co-workers lives outside their work. It’s a fantastically weird amalgamation of Total Recall, Sunshine and the walking simulator Death Stranding, but all packaged in a sometimes-claustrophobic, always-atmospheric package.

While it marvelously blows up during the final moments of its descent, Fort Solis is a mostly successful voyage. Puzzling together what happened at the station is an engaging exercise that incentivizes players to inspect every computer and voice recorder in order to shine light on its dark mysteries. Its narrative doesn’t seem to branch much or push forward in any new directions, yet it achieves its modest goals rather well. Fort Solis was misused as a facility by its staff, but Fallen Leaf and Black Drakkar have utilized it well to tell one effective sci-fi thriller.

While Fort Solis might have seemed promising, the odd design choices, such as not being able to spring or run, coupled with QTEs that otherwise ruin the gameplay, sadly sabotages the game. This is a shame as the game features some lovely visuals thanks to Unreal Engine 5, a compelling narrative, and some amazing performances from industry veterans.

if attention had been paid to gameplay and pacing, then things would be much, much better

Fort Solis has severely untapped potential, and while it's great that the developers put more energy into the graphics and voice acting, they could have just carved out more time for a better story or interaction with the items. It can feel like a minor horror game and will force you to keep playing only to find that the story doesn't have much to offer, nor will it give you a reason ever to turn it on again.