Fort Solis (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): August 22, 2023
- Release Date (EU): August 22, 2023
- Publisher: Dear Villagers
- Developer: Fallen Leaf Studios, Black Drakkar Games
- Genres: Adventure, exploration, walking simulator
- Also For: PlayStation 5
Game Features:
After receiving an alarm signal from Fort Solis, a remote mining base on Mars, Jack Leary sets out to investigate, without thinking much of it. He makes his way from his own station as a storm (literal and figurative) approaches while he stays in contact over comms with his colleague Jessica.
Once at the titular base, Jack finds out that it is deserted, with no one to make contact regarding the distress call. Intrigued, our protagonist investigates the base’s interior further where he slowly unravels the missing crew’s fate; one that might await him if he does not survive the night in Fort Solis as the brewing sandstorm restricts his return.
A cinematic trip to the Red Planet
Developer Fallen Leaf Studios labels its debut title as an “immersive cinematic adventure”. While I’m not sure that it’s a recognised genre, it describes the game’s presentation pretty well. With the droning and cinematic soundscape, detailed renders and professional voice acting from the likes of Roger Clark (Red Dead Redemption 2), Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Death Stranding), and Julia Brown (The Last Kingdom, World on Fire), Fort Solis expertly executes the sci-fi thriller atmosphere that it is aiming for.
The immersive aspect is further hammered in by the game’s stunning visuals. Leveraging Unreal Engine 5, Fort Solis’ graphics are among the best I’ve experienced in recent times. During its ~5 hour run time, you’ll get to explore a variety of locations both outside and inside the Martian base. Whether it’s the Crew Quarters or the Medical Bay, the setting is littered with intricate details that bring Fort Solis to life, especially with the quality of the renders. Character models and textures are especially remarkable. I was particularly impressed by the life-like facial expressions that the game recreates.
In addition to the visuals, Fort Solis is also technically noteworthy as it features no camera cuts or load times/screens. This adds a layer of immersion to the experience by not breaking the gameplay or narrative flow (you can still pause at any time if you need to). It shows what upcoming/new-gen games will look like.
And while the setting is a science-fiction one, the story is a grounded one and could be eerily prescient. The focus on the drama between characters who each have individual personalities further makes it relatable.
Overall, Fort Solis’ presentation really stands out and will appeal to fans of narrative-driven games. Fallen Leaf Studios hits the bull’s eye with the cinematic, sci-fi vibes on the Red Planet but let’s see how it fares on the gameplay side of things.
An immersive gameplay approach
Regarding the gameplay, it’s not far from a “walking sim” with a focus on exploration. You control Jack in third person, with interactive environmental elements highlighted with a discreet dot. Interactions vary from browsing emails to listening to audio logs to QTE-like sequences and button combinations somewhat similar to Quantic Dream games. There are also some mini games such as a functional Rubik's cube and figuring out passwords or a correct sequence.
Exploration is highly encouraged as it enables you to piece together the mystery of Fort Solis’ missing crew. You learn what happened from logs, emails and security footage, which are all optional but essential to help you understand the plot. The Multi Tool that Jack is equipped with stores uncovered documents and videos to consult at your leisure.
By exploring and nosing into the crew member’s computers, you can even find items/clues that will help you solve the light puzzles that the game throws at you. For example, you can find a power source which will subsequently let you power a locked door or the code to a safe.
Being devoid of HUD and cutscenes transitions, this “walking sim” gameplay approach adds to the immersive aspect of the game.
Lack of challenge and occasionally unclear
However, such a gameplay can be controversial considering the lack of traditional gameplay challenge it brings and its reliance on some repetitive actions. However, in the case of Quantic Dream games for example, the challenge resides in the actions and decisions you make. But in Fort Solis, your actions don’t carry such weight and the lack of challenge is quite glaring.
In addition, there are no branching aspects which could have made for a more compelling gameplay that could address the unchallenging aspect. Even if you press the wrong button during a QTE, the plot will follow its singular path without breaking the flow of the sequence. For example, during an opening scene, I didn't press A on time when jumping from a rope but Jack held onto a ladder while falling. In this sense, the game is quite forgiving and approachable.
That said, some of the QTE sequences don’t allocate enough time to react to them. In practically all of the fast-paced ones, I either didn’t press the right button or the game didn’t register the correct input. Either way, I found the prompts to be too fast to react to.
When starting off, I was quite disoriented as there are no goal indicators and you are allowed to roam freely in unlocked areas. While this adds to the immersion and encourages exploration, I found the map to be rather hard to read, especially locations that are in smaller and blurry fonts. I’m not sure if the issue resides in the graphical settings, so it might be an isolated case. Another minor bug I encountered was during one of the later chapters of the game where a computer didn't display any images. However, its contents were logged on the Multi Tool which allowed me to view them.
What I also found unclear was the motives of the main antagonist. However, I could loosely piece together the pieces to get a picture based on the video recordings, emails and audio logs I uncovered. This is why exploration is highly recommended for this game. But what you uncover might not be in chronological order, and can muddle the picture that you paint. Thankfully, the main menu has a handy Story section in the menu to give a better picture of the chronological events and piece the story together.
A promising debut for Fallen Leaf Studios
All things considered, Fort Solis is a striking and promising debut for indie developers Fallen Leaf Studios. The presentation is worthy of a AAA title thanks to impressive graphics, excellent voice acting and a mood-setting audio score. However, the unchallenging gameplay and occasional unclear plot/gameplay aspects might not be in its favour. Having a branching narrative with actions that have consequences would deliver a more compelling and impactful experience.
It won’t appeal to everyone as it could be considered as an “interactive movie” or fancy-looking visual novel of sorts, but if you’re into more experimental, cinematic games/”walking sims”, Fort Solis is worth checking out. And for €25 on PC/MAC and €30 on PS5, you could do much worse.
FORT SOLIS - Launch trailer
Verdict
- Stellar presentation
- Focus on exploration that fleshed out the plot
- Visually and technically impressive
- Lack of challenge
- No adequate time to react to some QTEs
- Some story beats can be unclear
