[4] Soma takes place on an underwater remote research facility containing machinery that exhibit human characteristics such as possessing a personality and consciousness.

Simon Jarrett, a fish-out-of-water protagonist, finds himself there under mysterious circumstances and embarks upon discovering its history, while trying to make sense of his predicament and potential future.

[5][6] Soma's gameplay builds on the conventions established in the previous horror titles of Frictional Games (notably, Amnesia: The Dark Descent) including an emphasis on stealthy evasion of threats, puzzle-solving, and immersion.

[7] Throughout Soma, the player will find a large array of clues,[8] such as notes and audio tapes, which builds atmosphere and provides background to the narrative.

[9] Continuing the trend from previous Frictional Games titles, the player is unable to obtain any weapons, meaning the only option is to attempt to outrun or hide from the monsters.

All operations and maintenance on PATHOS-II are overseen by the Warden Unit (WAU), an artificial general intelligence integrated with all computer systems in the facility.

These humans survived on a day-to-day basis, attempting to fight the negative effects of their collective isolation, as well as other issues that began to pose a threat to their well-being.

During the scan, Simon appears to black out, and regains consciousness on Site Upsilon of PATHOS-II, a seemingly abandoned geothermal power center.

Arriving at Site Lambda, Simon discovers that Catherine is not human, but a brain scan of a PATHOS-II employee downloaded into a robot's storage unit.

The sole means of anything of human origin escaping Earth is the ARK, a digital black box designed by Catherine that houses a simulated world in which the brain scans of many of the PATHOS-II personnel have been preserved.

However, the WAU has preemptively tampered with the DUNBAT, forcing Simon to make his way to the Omicron site to create a new body capable of travelling through the seabed.

While searching for the essential components at Site Omicron, Simon receives mental messages from a WAU-converted (but still sane) artificial intelligence specialist, Johan Ross, who begs him to destroy the WAU.

[15] Achieving a realistic sound to fit the mood required audio director Samuel Justice to utilise what he called "the room size system".

[22] The live action miniseries acts as a prequel to the events of the game, albeit one which is inspired by its plot and characters rather than being strictly canonical to it.

It’s like someone created the perfect video game mixtape -- a little bit of abandoned underwater atmosphere from BioShock, detailed environments a la Gone Home, and (of course) the frenzied monster mechanics from Amnesia.

He commended the sound for convincingly immersing the player in the game, as well as the "eerie" environments, the "simple", "reliable" controls, and the "intriguing" narrative.

He also commended the game for its ability to pull the player through the story by providing rewarding situations, although Hurley did feel "lost" at times, as there are no distinct directions.

While Cooke generally enjoyed the monster encounters and their "unique and frightening" designs, she felt disappointed that there were only a few different types, most of which only made one appearance in the game.

"[34] Hurley wrote that the monsters lacked "threat" and "never really deliver ... they’re little more than dumb ambulatory obstacles", being overcome by the player "looping around behind them, or slipping past while they obediently investigate thrown objects.

He wrote that the enemies' typically passive behavior and discernible forms improved the game's atmosphere and themes while allowing him to fully engage in the narrative, writing: "I’m no longer beset with frustrated paranoia or constantly distracted by my own survival instincts.