Developer: Fallen Leaf
Publsher: Dear Villagers
Platform: PC, PS5
Tested on: PS5
Fort Solis – Review
Narrative-driven games have always been popular, especially because many of these games allow gamers to experience an interactive movie of sorts. The best example of this is probably the games made by Telltale Games, which put choice-driven games on the map again. Said developer even turned popular action-packed series into story-driven affairs, with the most famous example probably being Tales from the Borderlands. Now Fort Solis also puts a hefty focus on its story and its atmosphere by placing the player in a seemingly abandoned mining facility on Mars. For the most part, we were rather enamored by the plot, but sadly not all gameplay and design choices proved to be great.
Story
In Fort Solis, you’ll be playing as Jack, who is partnered up with Jessica, and you find yourself doing repairs on a small rig on Mars. Jessica is trying to complete her repairs before the storms on the surface start picking up. However, during the repairs, Jack receives an emergency signal from a local mining facility, Fort Solis. He assumes the emergency signal isn’t a big deal, but when he gets no response from the facility, he decides to venture out and investigate what is going on. Jessica states she will immediately head out as well as soon as she is done with her repairs. Upon arriving at the facility, it’s clear that something is amiss, as Fort Solis is in lockdown, and Jack must find a way in. When Jack finally finds a way in, the facility seems abandoned, even though a skeleton crew should be present. After Jack also finds traces of blood, it’s clear that something bad went down in the station.
This is probably the highlight of the game, in combination with the general atmosphere provided by the graphics and sound design. Even though the story does take a few predictable turns here and there, there are different endings to explore, and the overall writing is simply quite good. A lot of extra story content can be found by exploring Fort Solis, which does add a bit of length to this fairly short walking simulator.
Graphics
Graphically, Fort Solis looks great for the most part. The interior of Fort Solis is designed with a lot of care, and it’s quite interesting going through all the different corridors and chambers and finding some hidden details. The character models also look neatly designed, and their movements all look realistic. During the few segments of the game where you venture outside, the game feels a bit disorientating, which does wonders for the atmosphere.
Even though the game does look quite good, we found the overall accessibility shamefully bad. The game will let you browse through computers on the station quite often, and the font is so small here that it is almost impossible to read the emails you’re browsing through. This is frequently made worse by your flashlight, which creates a glare on the screen, making it completely impossible to read messages or view security camera footage. The same can be said about the map, as you’ll pretty much have to stand right in front of your TV screen to actually see what’s on there. In the Extras menu, you can also view some of the collected documents, but it’s not very practical to constantly exit the main game simply to read files in the Extras menu. If you have trouble reading text or simply struggle with your vision, this game will be an absolute nightmare at times.
Sound
The sound design is superbly handled. While the game has a very understated soundtrack, the overall atmospheric noises and voice acting set the right atmosphere for this space thriller. You’ll truly have the constant feeling that Fort Solis is abandoned, and the com chatter between Jack and Jessica is what keeps you somewhat sane throughout your investigation. That being said, the dialogue did sometimes miss the mark, as it’s odd to discover a mutilated body to then get a voice line about a movie your character has seen several years in the past.
Gameplay
Fort Solis is pretty much a walking simulator with exploration elements, choices at different points in the game, and a few QTE events. This means that all you’ll be doing is walking around Fort Solis while interacting with objects and going through a short QTE-infused combat section from time to time. The game does have some of the worst QTE segments we have seen in recent years, with prompts showing up very late or not being clear at times (with no options to make them more clear). All in all, the game is an enjoyable bite-sized thriller you can play through, as the game will only take you around four to six hours to beat.
We enjoyed exploring the space station, but we would have liked it if the game had a sprint button. You are currently just slowly walking through the corridors of the seemingly abandoned facility, and you don’t really adjust your speed, even in high-risk situations. The few times that you actually run or sprint in the game are scripted, and thus you’ll have no control over any of the movements. Other than that, the controls aren’t that great either, as everything feels needlessly clunky. Even so, it was quite nice to interact with different objects to get more information on what happened in Fort Solis, and the game does offer a set of different endings. It’s not really clear where you’re actually making choices in the game, however, and we reckon this has more to do with the different QTE segments in the game.
As a whole, the gameplay is very simple here, and there’s not that much depth to it. This is mostly a story-based experience where you’ll just calmly play through, while also having the option to explore a few extra rooms and corridors if you so desire. Even though the game does offer different endings, the slow pacing does make it hard to go through the entire game more than once. Nonetheless, this feels like a great game to finish once, and then pick up once again a few months further down the line.
Conclusion
Fort Solis is a fun bite-sized space thriller where you basically walk through the experience. While the game might not have that many actual gameplay components outside of walking around and interacting with objects, the atmosphere still sets the right mood and the story remains engaging from start to finish. Sadly, the game suffers from poor accessibility, somewhat clunky controls, and scripted slow movement speed. Even so, the game is still worth checking out if you’re a fan of walking simulators with a great story and atmosphere.
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