#ALL MONSTERS IN SOMA MODS#

There were also a few occasions where the game would soft-lock and just shut down, which wasnвЂ™t too much of a pain thanks to SOMAвЂ™s generous auto-save feature. It could be because I was playing on an original Xbox One and not a newer Xbox One S or Xbox One X, and I also had the game installed on an external hard drive so that might have been a part of the problem as well, but I frequently encountered brief screen freezes and choppy framerates, especially whenever the game had to load a new area. Sadly, while I found the concept of Safe Mode to be more than palatable, SOMAвЂ™s overall performance on Xbox One wasnвЂ™t exactly flawless. IвЂ™ll admit I would have preferred not having to deal with monsters at all because my fascination with the horror genre is juxtaposed by my being a total scaredy cat, but I understand that FrictionalвЂ™s original vision for SOMA called for the presence of monsters, and Safe Mode definitely serves as a worthy compromise. The game still has a strong blend of moody atmosphere, occasional jump scares (I prefer when jump scares are kept to a minimum), and a chilling narrative which forces the player to question the limits of their own humanity as they seek to escape the gameвЂ™s underwater network of abandoned science facilities. After all, the monsters under your bed may or may not existbut if you keep your feet covered, nothing can grab them. It should also be noted that the presence of more passive monsters in no way hampers SOMAвЂ™s scare factor. To clarify, the monsters arenвЂ™t *completely* passive вЂ“ they are still drawn to light and loud noises and they will attack if provoked too much вЂ“ but they wonвЂ™t relentlessly hunt down the player, which means they can easily be avoided by running away and keeping a safe distance. While Safe Mode doesnвЂ™t quite do that, it does make the monsters more passive, allowing the player to more easily skirt their way around them as they navigate SOMAвЂ™s dark and decrepit environments.

#ALL MONSTERS IN SOMA MODS#

Having now played through SOMAвЂ™s Safe Mode myself, I can honestly say the new mode strikes an excellent balance between retaining SOMAвЂ™s original creepy atmosphere and making the overall experience more casual-friendly.ДЇor those who donвЂ™t know, Frictional was inspired to create and implement Safe Mode after it discovered that one of the most popular fan-created mods for SOMAвЂ™s PC version actually straight up removed all of the gameвЂ™s monsters. According to Frictional, Safe Mode is designed to give players a slightly less intense experience since it turns the gameвЂ™s various monsters from highly aggressive threats into more passive obstacles. While Frictional GamesвЂ™ narrative-driven horror title SOMA was originally released for PC and PlayStation 4 back in 2015, a more recent release on Xbox One last December came with a brand new mode of play: Safe Mode.

All monsters in soma