Sometimes a game comes along that may not have all of the gameplay mechanics of a Legend of Zelda or Baldur’s Gate 3, but it leaves a lasting impression on you. As a fan of games that focus on the story and utilize the actors they have hired to the fullest extent of their abilities, I can wholeheartedly recommend Fort Solis to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Let me start by saying, this game comes in at about four hours to play through, so it is not going to give you a long amount of playtime. Those four hours are filled with a story that unfolds in the most interesting of ways. This game initially came across as a space horror with top tier voice actors attached to the project. You have Troy Baker, Joel from The Last of Us, voicing the character Wyatt; you also have Roger Clark, Arthur from Red Dead Redemption 2, voicing Jack.
Fort Solis lets you control Jack who receives a distress call from Fort Solis while doing some maintenance work on a nearby site. He leaves his coworker, Jessica, to go check on the distress call. When he arrives at Fort Solis the facility is on a full lockdown and seems to have been abandoned. Throughout the game you get the opportunity to uncover what happened at Fort Solis, and with a storm rolling in you must survive until day break.
My main mistake was thinking this would be Dead Space without the combat, the game is not a horror game in that sense. In my opinion it is more of a space thriller or mystery. During my single playthrough of the title, I never felt scared like you would when walking down a corridor as Isaac Clark. You play the majority of the game alone, with no other character in close proximity to you. You do have other characters chatting with you through your headset which eases the tension of being by yourself in a seemingly abandoned mining facility.
The gameplay is very simple, it advertises itself as a walking simulator and that is what it plays like. You walk everywhere, there is no run button within this game. You do have quick time events that you have to complete that do have an effect on the game and how everything plays out. I played on PC, it releases on console later this year, and I used my Xbox controller. I think the response times might need to be altered for the game because I would hit the corresponding button during a QTE and it would not register that I pressed the button. It was a bit annoying but the missing of a button press did not end the game, it would at times just change what happens in the story. The game has a few puzzles that you must solve and some collectible posters that you can find throughout the playthrough of the game.
Now that we have the gameplay portion of the review out of the way, let's get into what carries this game. The story and acting within this title are nothing less than superb. I could not expect anything less from the likes of Troy Baker and Roger Clark. The reactions that the player has to certain situations seem realistic and not forced or over the top. The supporting cast paints a picture of what happened at Fort Solis and how life was during their time on Mars. During the game you have access to computers and chips, which can be placed in your wrist computer. From these you can find emails, audio files, video logs, and camera surveillance. Each of these helps you understand the story and each peels back the layers of what occurred. You have to find access cards to obtain access to different parts of the atrium in Fort Solis.
The game itself looks beautiful, you are placed on Mars during a storm in the titular place, Fort Solis. When outside you see sand being whipped around and the character holds their hands up to protect themselves, even with a helmet on. You feel immersed in this setting, this Fort which is empty, comes to life with the way the story is conveyed through different mediums. This dev team was fairly small, the environment is limited but when playing the game you would never know.
Without any spoilers, I would say that this game is the rare walking simulator that has a story to immerse you completely. What makes this game so spectacular is the acting involved in the game, the atmosphere and the story. You are left asking questions at the end of this game, and while you enjoy the credits rolling you wonder if things would have turned out differently had different choices been made. In the words of the great Ian Malcom, “Just because you could do it, doesn’t mean you should do it.”
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