The Solus Project

I'd give this a neutral review if it were possible. The TL:DR is that this is a well made, atmospheric game with a real sense of exploration, that is let down and marred by poor story telling and an underestimation of the average players intelligence.
Graphically, this game is not going to be winning any awards in 2024 but it's decent enough to look at. Most importantly in this title, is the lighting, which they nail pretty well. The underground depths are pitch black and the darkness beyond your torch is suitably oppressive. Creepy lighting and emotive flashes during midnight storms, all work well to build tension and set the atmospheric stage. The sound and music also do some heavy lifting here too, really setting the mood of the game at any given time. Equally, the story telling paints a sinister mystery that you want to and feel drawn to unlock and if you are like me and enjoy checking every nook and cranny, you'll be well entertained for an average 30-50hrs. Money well spent.
Unfortunately, the narrative falls down halfway through, as the devs have your character make periodic "logs" of his/her findings. These don't always match your own progress in terms of uncovering the mysteries of this planet. So you find your character not grasping the plot as well as you have and this can be quite jarring. The ending is also notably predictable and I feel that they could have done a better job with the ending in this respect. Ultimately it felt a poor finish to an otherwise well told story. This is largely due to the same aforementioned habit of portraying your character as having only a partial understanding of events on this world, whilst you as the player likely know and understand much more of what is going on. You can see the trap your character is walking into but are powerless to affect the outcome because ultimately, you aren't the driving will in this story, you are just a passenger in the head of the character you are playing. It really robs you of the sense of achievement in uncovering the mysteries of the Solus Project.

Loved this game so much I wanted to get it on console as well, but game is no longer available on PSN.
It's not a perfect game, but for me it got a lot right. Large open areas to explore, despite being an overall linear game. Fantastic weather effects, an interesting survival mechanic that borders on walking simulator, and just overall impressive visuals for an alien planet.
The VR experience is purely optional - you don't have to have VR to be able to play it. I've never had VR, and probably never will. I still loved the game.
The weather effects in particular helped to immerse me in the experience. Like the store page explains - there is full day and night cycling, temperatures, winds, tides, quakes and tornadoes. And the ambient music changes in response to changing weather conditions. When you see a tornado approaching, you really, REALLY want to be running for the caves.
It's good to see the game is still available on PC - I'm not completely sure on the reasons why it got pulled from the PSN store page, but this is just another point in favour of the PC Masterrace.

A very good, and much underrated first person survival explorer. You explore a planet of haunted ruins and unravel it's sinister backstory of alien experimentation and species manipulation.
The survival mechanics are plenty tough on your squishy astronaut hero, which probably frustrated the latest gen of wimpy young gamers. But hopefully there will be more additions to this interesting series that began with 'The Ball', and seems to have plenty more creepy alien lore to unfold.

Absolutely adore this game!! Been a big fan of The Ball since it came out, and was so excited to see a spiritual sequel in The Solus Project! Played quite a few hours of TSP back when it released, but I recently got a VR headset and decided to boot it back up and experience it fresh in VR (got a Woojer vest recently as well, so I wore that while playing). OMG what an experience!! Game plays perfectly on my PC and VR controls worked seamlessly with my headset (Quest 3). Did have to move my game files from my hard drive to my SSD in able for the game to run smoothly, but after this it was smooth sailing. So glad I decided to give it another shot in VR, and especially while wearing the Woojer vest!! Soundtrack and environmental effects sound/feel AMAZING in this game, and effectively raise the tension you experience while trying to survive. Such an amazing atmosphere and environment to explore as well, and everything looks crisp and detailed in VR. You can tell this was a passion project, and it’s been a treat experiencing this game again in a new way. Thank you Teotl Studios - I hope to see more unique projects from you guys soon, and your past projects deserve all the praises!

I generally liked it but the ending is kind of lame considering there was no sequel or dlc follow-up.

In VR - it's incredible.
Graphics for the games age are fantastic.
Slap it on the hardest settings and really get yourself immersed. Engaging story, difficult but rewarding gameplay. Very good survival mechanics, supported by a strong game save structure.

Nice exploring game, not too survival demanding, especially on normal. Cool alien planet graphic and story. Exactly my kind of cake.