Sonar Shock

86%
Game Brain Score Based on 154 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • optimization
Sonar Shock Game Cover
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"Sonar Shock" is a first-person dungeon-crawler with RPG elements, where you explore a Soviet super submarine filled with supernatural infestations. Customize your character and navigate through the submarine's four floors, collecting powerful weapons and uncovering its dark secrets. Interact with the crew, solve side-quests, and discover hidden treasures, all while facing your fears in this survival horror.

  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

86%
Audience ScoreBased on 154 reviews
gameplay19 positive mentions
optimization8 negative mentions
  • Cool art style and atmosphere that effectively captures a retro immersive sim vibe.
  • Rewarding exploration with a variety of secrets and side quests that enhance gameplay.
  • Unique mechanics like manual weapon reloading and a sanity system that adds depth to combat.
  • Terrible performance issues, including significant frame drops and occasional crashes.
  • Clunky controls with no strafing or mouse look, making navigation and combat frustrating.
  • Limited save system that relies on consumable items, which can lead to lost progress.
  • gameplay58 mentions

    The gameplay of "Sonar Shock" is characterized by its retro-inspired mechanics, including clunky controls and unique gun handling that adds tension during combat. Players appreciate the rewarding exploration and resource management, though some find the archaic save system and UI frustrating. Overall, the game offers a satisfying immersive sim experience with a distinct atmosphere, appealing primarily to fans of classic titles like "System Shock."

    • “The best part about the game besides the gameplay is the atmosphere which oozes with 70s-80s Soviet themes and culture, and you'll be sure to find tons of vodka on your journey which has a dual purpose of being currency or a small boost of health.”
    • “Sonar Shock is a great entry in the already rare immersive sim-horror genre, offering a unique setting and gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay: dungeon crawler with guns.”
    • “One of the more unheralded horror games of 2024, but one very much worth playing if you can handle some friction in the form of an archaic control scheme and somewhat awkward gun reloading mechanics.”
    • “If you die and haven’t saved in awhile, it’s back as far as you were as I learned the hard way getting confident and then dying, losing 90 minutes of gameplay in the process.”
    • “This game has a lot of potential but the aggressively retro design (can't look up or down, intrusive UI, saves require consumables, obfuscated mechanics, etc.) is too frustrating for me to engage with beyond the first thirty minutes.”
  • graphics36 mentions

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a unique retro aesthetic that blends pixel art with a distinct Soviet horror theme, creating an immersive atmosphere despite some players finding the visuals reminiscent of low-budget or overly simplistic designs. While the art style effectively contributes to the game's tension and mood, issues with optimization and performance detract from the overall experience. Many reviewers appreciate the charm of the graphics, noting that they enhance the gameplay, but some express a desire for higher fidelity visuals and smoother mechanics.

    • “Everything is down to a T when it comes to aesthetic and design.”
    • “The intro sequence explaining the utopia was very cool, and I really liked the graphical styling it was presented in.”
    • “And the aesthetic... eldritch horror on a USSR sub, amazing.”
    • “Its a great game with funny dialogue/moments, serious horrors and jump scares, and a unique art style and gameplay that gets undermined by poor optimization and bugs.”
    • “When you take a casual glance at the game, you’ll probably only notice the low-budget graphics, the somewhat confusing UI, and the Lego minifigure-looking NPCs.”
    • “I love retro-style graphics, but sometimes these are almost beyond retro and feel too much like Minecraft.”
  • optimization35 mentions

    The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, particularly during enemy encounters, leading to significant frame rate drops. Bugs and glitches, such as getting stuck on geometry and inconsistent pathfinding, further detract from the experience. While many reviewers acknowledge the game's potential and enjoyable elements, they recommend waiting for patches to address these optimization problems before fully diving in.

    • “Only objective cons are slight performance issues and small bugs (though nothing that prevented me from enjoying the game).”
    • “Edit: I finished it after 10 hours (a lot of side quests and getting lost) and except for the performance issues, I still highly recommend the game; it has a fun interconnected map.”
    • “The game is good, the performance is terrible; the game is in desperate need of better optimization.”
    • “There really is a good game under the hood, but the problem is it's seriously marred by bugs and inexplicably bad performance issues.”
    • “Really needs optimization; it gets unplayable at FPS levels if there are more than two enemies on the screen.”
  • atmosphere33 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and oppressive qualities, effectively blending elements of survival horror with a quirky, humorous undertone. Players appreciate the rich, varied settings that evoke a strong sense of nostalgia, particularly for Soviet themes, while the tension and unease are heightened by effective sound design and art style. Overall, the atmosphere is described as thick and engaging, making it a standout feature that enhances the gameplay experience.

    • “The atmosphere is crazy, humorous but also oppressive, yet always believable and immersive - and the setting includes a lot of varied locales ranging from what you'd expect to find on a submarine, to parks, and ancient libraries and temples, and it all fits together.”
    • “The atmosphere is thick and very unpleasant (in the best possible way). Moment to moment gameplay is tense and exciting.”
    • “The atmosphere is just incredible; I was nervous and on the edge of my seat pretty much for the whole game.”
    • “Sometimes it has a creepy and oppressive atmosphere, and other times you're solving mysteries with actual Sherlock Holmes. I'm not saying this type of tone could never work together; it's just that the tonal changes were kind of off for me.”
    • “You'll be navigating environments that generally put you at unease with a mix of strong art style, sound design, and general atmosphere.”
    • “On the highest difficulty, it's really butt-clenching at times; the atmosphere is dense and convincing even with the overly comic art style of the enemy sprites.”
  • story32 mentions

    The story of the game is a mix of silly and intriguing elements, featuring a blend of tense survival horror and humorous writing that keeps players engaged despite its occasional lack of depth. While the main plot may not be groundbreaking, it offers interesting side quests and environmental storytelling that enhance the immersive experience. Players appreciate the game's atmosphere and exploration, though some find the narrative structure and quest tracking to be somewhat disjointed.

    • “It has an intriguing story, manages to have humorous writing without becoming bogged down in 'yes comrade' memes, is occasionally genuinely scary, and offers you interesting challenges and choices throughout.”
    • “The overall plot is intriguing, and the environment is nicely designed.”
    • “The story is fairly simple but not without a few surprises and reveals; the game even has some fun side quests.”
    • “The story was silly and strange, but nothing I'll likely ever think about beyond my single playthrough.”
    • “The story is also yet another carbon copy of System Shock 2/Bioshock, so not much necessarily going on.”
    • “The plot was often hard to keep up with, but it all came together nicely at the end.”
  • humor13 mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by witty dialogue and clever meta-humor that complements its horror elements, creating a unique and immersive atmosphere. Players appreciate the balance between comedic moments and serious themes, though some find the humor's effectiveness can vary based on personal taste. While the charm and satirical elements enhance the experience, occasional typos and bugs can detract from the overall enjoyment.

    • “The game just oozes charm and is equal parts hilarious tongue-in-cheek adventure and survival horror.”
    • “There's also a good dose of satirical humor in it, which suits this world - and the mood - very well.”
    • “The horror elements (which are actually scary to me), mixed with the humor from the dialogues and notes, make for a unique atmosphere.”
  • stability6 mentions

    The game exhibits notable stability issues, with frequent bugs affecting enemy behavior, UI glitches, and weapon functionality. While players enjoy the overall experience, they often encounter frustrating moments due to these inconsistencies, particularly when sanity levels drop. Overall, the stability is described as a mixed bag, with some enjoyable aspects overshadowed by persistent glitches.

    • “It can be buggy at times; the enemies have a tendency to get stuck behind a lot of objects.”
    • “The lower your sanity drops, side effects like hallucinations, UI glitches, and enemies will begin to appear; it's always a gamble when using them if you're not prepared for the consequences.”
    • “The dialogue system is quite primitive and sometimes buggy.”
  • music5 mentions

    The game's music is minimal, with players noting a strong focus on ambient sounds that enhance the tense atmosphere, overshadowing the actual musical score. While the intro theme and a catchy hacking mini-game track stand out, many players struggle to recall other musical elements, suggesting that the sound design prioritizes environmental immersion over a prominent soundtrack.

    • “The gameplay is fun and challenging; everything sounds great, from the music to gunshots, and the horror is definitely there, even with plenty of NPCs to interact with.”
    • “Sonar Shock features very little music and lets the derelict ambiance of the multi-layered areas bleed into your ears, providing a seriously tense environment around every turn.”
    • “Edit: The hacking mini-game song is a bop, 'bonk!'”
    • “Thinking back on it now, was there even music in the game?”
    • “I remember the intro theme song, but I'm actually struggling to think of any other music.”
    • “Sonar Shock features very little music and lets the derelict ambiance of the multi-layered areas bleed into your ears and provide a seriously tense environment around every turn.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    The game offers high replayability, primarily due to its skill system and build variety, which encourages players to experiment with different character setups. While the dungeon crawler camera mechanics may take some getting used to, the relatively short length of the game allows for multiple playthroughs to explore various strategies and builds.

    • “High replayability.”
    • “If you can deal with a D-key dungeon crawler style camera turning, it's a pretty enjoyable game with decent replay value through its skill system.”
    • “It's essentially a stripped-down version of SS2 (including weapon stat requirements), but this works in favor due to how relatively short the game is, so the actual replay value potential can be seen pretty easily.”
    • “Probably has plenty of replayability due to build variety; I'll definitely come back to it at some point.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, as issues with movement and mouselook can turn exploration into a frustrating experience, making even simple tasks like entering doorways feel cumbersome.

    • “The aforementioned issues with movement and mouselook unfortunately turn this from fun to tedious more often than not.”
    • “This can make even entering a normal doorway unnecessarily fiddly and makes exploration quite tedious.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Initially, the game may not resonate emotionally and can even feel disorienting, but over time, it develops a strong emotional connection with players, ultimately winning their affection.

    • “At first, it didn't convince me and even made me feel a bit dizzy, but little by little it has won a place in my heart.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
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Negative mentions (%)Negative

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