Fort Solis Review – Reaching for the Mars

Fort Solis Review

The notion of what defines a game is constantly in flux. A decade or two ago, games as narrative vehicles were very much in their infancy. Today, the so-called Walking Simulator is an undeniable part of the story of gaming. Are they ‘games’? Yes. Not in the same way Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game, mind you, but games nonetheless. Fort Solis is absolutely a walking simulator. The first effort from new studio Fallen Leaf, Fort Solis tells the story of Jack Leary and Jessica Appleton: two engineers working a Martian colony 50 years in the future.

Story Time

The story begins with Jack responding to a routine alarm at the old, outdated Fort Solis. Something’s amiss, and Jack rapidly discovers just how dire the circumstances are. Unfortunately, I found things dire in a mostly predictable way. Twists were few, and I kept hoping for things to get creepier or more mysterious throughout the journey. It falls well short of the impact something like What Remains of Edith Finch had on me.

I’ll avoid saying more about the story’s beats though – it wouldn’t take much to spoil a good deal of the barely 3 hour story. Yes, Fort Solis is easily completed in a single sitting, and my initial playthrough covered around 90% of all the logs that are out there to be found. A second run didn’t reveal much new, outside of a few remote locations I missed the first time. I don’t like the practice of bringing perceived value into reviews, but Fort Solis is undoubtedly a short experience.

I don’t want you thinking I speed ran through the game either, friends, as I interacted with every optional bit of flavour I could find. Those bit are actually some of the best content on offer in Fort Solis, as Jack’s camaraderie with Jessica becomes more real, and their bond more evident. I generally found myself most riveted by the periphery of the world. What conditions on Earth led to our presence on Mars? What else are people doing on Mars, other than what the main story deals with? I wanted more lore to let my imagination run wild. There are certainly hints scattered through Fort Solis, and they were ultimately more compelling than the core storyline.

Acting Chops

Though I found Jack and Jessica to be a charming pair, their near constant contact felt at odds with Fort Solis’ horror ambitions. I was less tense turning blind corners or stumbling across disturbing scenes thanks to Jessica’s presence. In moments where Jack’s communication was cut off, the creep factor ratcheted up significantly. Both aspects are well handled and presented, but they negatively impact one another.

Narrative games in general lean heavily on their writing and performances, and Fort Solis has some heavy hitters on board. Roger Clark – most notably known as Arthur in Red Dead Redemption 2 – and Troy Baker highlight the list, though voice acting newcomer Julia Brown more than holds her own in that company. Troy Baker is the standout, with impactful delivery of his lines even in the context of video logs. Sadly I couldn’t shake the notion that Roger Clark’s performance didn’t match his character’s physical makeup. To hear him, Jack is a crusty old fossil with fewer days ahead than behind. Meanwhile his physical model is closer to a guy that just enlisted straight out of high school. It’s not critical to the overall experience, but immersion is important when playing a spooky adventure.

“Played” is of course relative in a game like Fort Solis. There’s a lot of tilting the stick forward and pressing X to interact with the environment, with occasional quick time events during cutscenes and other minor mini games. Par for the genre, one might contend. It’s functional for the delivery of the story, and it really is that: delivery of the story. Narrative choice and flexibility have no place in Fort Solis, to the point that quick time event outcomes don’t actually lead to fail states. Onscreen QTE prompts aren’t always obvious, and after missing a few at key moments I tested what difference missing them all made. In my testing, the answer was nothing. It’s ok to lean more toward the ‘ride’ end of the game-o-meter, but the question begs. Why have them at all?

Hi-Res Rocks

Fort Solis uses Unreal Engine 5, and in doing so looks excellent. The lighting is creepy and atmospheric, and does a great job of generating the aforementioned sense of loneliness in a vacuum. Environmental details are crisply defined, from the rocky terrain to the pipes snaking throughout the base. I longed for more time on the surface of Mars, simply to take in more of the landscape. The interior areas of Fort Solis are great too, with oodles of moody atmosphere. Hiccups were few, though textures tend to load extremely lazily in places. I played through on PS5 and found the performance mode preferable for the framerate, with little noticeable difference in fidelity between them. The experience in general is polished, from the moment to moment interactions to the cutscenes.

Fort Solis is a moderately successful first effort from Fallen Leaf. It scores points for atmosphere and good voice work, but suffers from clashing tonality. Tension is often severed before it takes hold, and the experience wraps up before exploring threads sufficiently. I understand why the scope is limited mostly to the critical path, but there were numerous threads along the way I wanted desperately to be able to tug at. Fort Solis isn’t exactly blazing any new trails, but there’s an entertaining few hours to be had here for fans of narrative adventures.

**PS5 code provided by the publisher**