Fort Solis

Yet it’s impossible to ignore that titles such as Gone Home made collecting documents and finding keys more intriguing and even thrilling a decade ago, with none of these visual bells and whistles, or voice talent. In contrast, Fort Solis fails to convince it has a story that deserves telling, or that it has the right methods to tell it. All the production values in the world can’t save it from that.

Through fiction, I've traveled to one space station or another more times than I can count across many years and many forms of media. It's a setting I always enjoy--as an opening at least--and from there, stories may or may not keep me invested depending on what they do with that foundation.

Disappointing conclusion aside, the visuals, tone, and the acting are strong enough to satisfy some people. However, the gameplay is rarely fun and occasionally frustrating, even if the mood is tense and the desire to see more is compelling. Fort Solis is a hard game to recommend for a mass audience, but there is a specific subset of gamers who this game will really resonate with.

Fort Solis is all presentation and no substance. It feels like it blew its budget on getting this cast to build up some hype before launch, and then forgot it needs substance to make it worthwhile. With an appalling story, bumpy technical issues, frustrating UI, and a pace so glacial I literally fell asleep at one point, Fort Solis is a waste of everyone’s time. And not even the deliciously grizzled voice of Roger Clark can help that.

Fort Solis starts strong but quickly struggles to circumvent its shortcomings. Despite the strong visual identity and drive towards absolute immersion, this narrative-adventure ultimately suffers due to its glacial movement and finicky controls. There's promise in the concept, but a lack of refinement is palpable in the execution.