Fort Solis review — Walk faster please!

“It’s like you watch these movies and try to one up the dumb protagonists who die early”

If one line could summarize Fort Solis, designed by first time developer Fallen Leaf Studios and published by Dear Villagers, that quote pretty much sums it up.

What could possibly go wrong?

From the developer: “Experience the longest night of his life, through the eyes of protagonist Jack Leary when he responds to a routine alarm call at the base of Fort Solis. Upon arrival explore the base at your own pace, gathering clues from its various locations such as Crew Quarters, Labs, Medical Bay, Comms and Logistics and more. As the night grows longer, events escalate, spiral out of control and the mystery suddenly becomes an immediate reality…”

This review is for the PC version of Fort Solis and the game was provided to us for the purposes of this review.

This is the first walking simulator adventure game that I have played and I have to admit, I had previously written the genre off as something I wouldn’t enjoy without ever giving one a try. However, the theme and premise of Fort Solis had me intrigued enough that I jumped on the chance to play and review it. Wow, was I missing out.

The story of Fort Solis is discovered by the player in bits and pieces through email and video logs, audio recordings, and surveillance footage spread across the sprawling Fort Solis complex. The video and audio logs are all wonderfully voice acted and even the seemingly mundane emails hide clues and context for the unfolding situation. The pieces are often discovered out of order with the whole thing only coming together towards the end of the playthrough. Once you finish the game, you can go into the Extras and review all of the story material in chronological order, which is a nice feature if you are still unsure of what happened or just want to review the story again.

Danger: abnormal heart rate detected

I wouldn’t go so far as to call Fort Solis a horror game, but thriller or suspense would be very accurate. As you first enter the base, the emergency lights, dark hallways, and lack of anyone else around immediately sets the tone for what you are about to experience. The lighting and set pieces all feel very intentional and immersive. When the story progresses you begin to notice more sinister details. What was previously a cool, albeit slightly ominous, space base with emergency power takes on an entirely new dimension. The emergency power causing the lights to only turn on when you enter a room is nerve racking and even the way your character opens doors feels designed to make you sweat with the camera panning to block your view of the room as you struggle with the heavy airlock doors.

The voice acting of the main cast is exceptional. You will spend most of the game playing as Jack Leary who is voiced by Roger Clark (of Red Dead Redemption II, among many other roles) with frequent communication back to your partner Jessica, voiced by Julia Appleton (The Last Kingdom, World on Fire, Foundation). The performance from both actors is nothing short of exceptional. Not only did they bring these characters to life, but the emotion and tension that they brought to the story was really immersive. Fort Solis feels like experiencing a movie rather than just playing a game.

The third main character is voiced by the prolific Troy Baker (The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite, Uncharted 4, Batman, Joker, and so much more) and I have to say his performance is the highlight of the game. We are getting into dangerous spoiler territory so I will be vague, but skip the rest of this paragraph if you don’t want to know anything about his character. When you first meet Medical Officer Taylor, Troy does a believable job of portraying a loving husband and father that is struggling with the pressures of his job and frustrations with his co-workers, all while being conflicted about whether or not it’s worth the separation from his family. It was easy to really feel empathy for his situation and viewpoints within the story. As the game progresses and his character becomes more and more obsessed with finding out the truth and deranged in his handling of what he discovers, you can really sense the changes in his voice and way of speaking, the “crazy” if you will, of his addled sense of morality. Troy never misses a beat in his character’s evolution throughout the game.

Move faster please!!!

I played this game with a mouse and keyboard on the PC and the controls were fine, though the developer did recommend using a controller. The third-person perspective movement feels a little clunky at times in the interior rooms of the base. There were a few instances where my movement was blocked by chairs or other objects that visually looked like I should be able to move past. I would have preferred a first-person perspective for a game like this but given the interactions that occur during the game (no spoilers), I understand the need for third-person.

The first arc of the story is pretty much on rails with every door except the path you are meant to follow being locked. Once you get into the second act though, there are more options available to the player. While you are unlikely to get lost or not know what or where you should be going, you do need to do some investigating to discover all of the story pieces as you move around the base. You have access to a map and are able to review all previously discovered logs and information at any time from your wrist computer.

You will play the entire game at a relatively slow walking pace which adds to the overall feel and tension of the game but does break the immersion a bit. There were times I definitely would have been running if it was really me in the game. I suppose you could chalk it up to bulky space suits and safety risks associated with fast movements in a zero atmosphere environment, but I think that all goes out the window when you’re being ….. SPOILERS.

The majority of the game is spent exploring and interacting with computers and scattered audio recordings as you gain access to new locations as story unfolds. There are a handful of button pressing mini games and timed button presses during high intensity events. Outside of those, there aren’t really any other mechanical aspects to the game.

The timed button presses are used to advance the story rather than cutscenes that you simply observe. Your success or failure impacts the narrative and the way the scene progresses, which is great for keeping the player engaged and focused on what is occurring on the screen. My only complaint is that the story is so interesting and well performed that it frequently caught me off guard and unprepared to quickly react. The required button queues are also rather unobtrusive as to not impede your view of the scene but can be easily missed until it’s too late because of that.

Is it the right thing to do?

I won’t spoil the story other than to say that I think it’s really well done. While the plot points are not totally original, they are explored in an interesting way. Experiencing the story as someone responding to the emergency that has already taken place is a fresh perspective over being a character involved in the event as it is taking place. There are actions and discoveries that have clear moral judgements but the game presents an overarching ethical dilemma that is intriguing to think about. If you were part of this team or responding to this situation, would you come to the same conclusions? Would you handle it differently but with the same outcome? I can’t say more without giving everything away but once you play the game there is plenty more discussion and theory crafting to be done for those that want to dive deeper than the surface level. In the end, the game leaves you with a cliffhanger that could be explored with future content or left up to your own imagination. Personally I enjoy when stories don’t feel the need to tie everything up with a nice bow. Using my imagination to explore the possibilities of what could happen next is sometimes more fun and engaging than the original story.

Am I done already?

Fort Solis absolutely nails the suspense thriller atmosphere. The visuals, lighting, and sound design easily pull you into your screen and make it hard to put down. With between three to four hours of play time, it would be very easy to complete the game in one sitting and not even realize you’d been there for four hours already. I would have had no complaints if the game had taken twice as long to unfold but the final play time doesn’t feel rushed or unfinished. The game tells the story it wants to tell and it’s to the developers credit that I want there to be more.

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