| Tacoma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Fullbright |
| Publisher(s) | Fullbright |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Tacoma is an adventure video game by Fullbright released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and Xbox One in August 2017, on PlayStation 4 in May 2018, and on Amazon Luna in October 2020. The game received generally positive reviews upon release but it sold fewer copies than Gone Home , Fullbright's first game.
Tacoma is an exploration game set aboard a seemingly-empty space station in 2088. The player-character, Amy, has an augmented reality (AR) device that allows her to review actions and conversations of the non-player characters that were part of a crew that had been aboard the station; these can be manipulated like a recording, fast-forwarding or rewinding as necessary. This allows the player to either watch as characters move in and out of rooms, or to even follow a character through the station. This is used to help identify clues to proceed further in the game, such as to identify the key code for a locked door. The AR device also has a fictional email system where additional information is relayed to the player. [1]
The game takes place in 2088 where hypercorporations have a key influence on society: In addition to being responsible for space travel, orbital habitats and artificial intelligence (AI), among other ventures, civilians often learn and work for such corporations as part of an economy which promotes loyalty to a given corporation. Among corporations such as Amazon, Carnival, and Hilton is the Venturis Corporation, which operates a number of the stations orbiting Earth. The advent of automation has brought conflict between the corporations and the Orbital Workers Union, leading to legislation such as the Human Oversight Accord, which requires AI-operated stations to include a crew of specialized contractors as a safeguard.
The story takes place on the Venturis-owned Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma, an orbital station in Earth's L1 Lagrange Point acting as an automated cargo transfer point between Earth and Venturis's Zenith Lunar Resort on the Moon. Present on the Tacoma are its AI ODIN (Operational Data Interface Network) (voiced by Carl Lumbly) and six specialists to oversee the station's operation: Station administrator E.V. St James (Dawnn Lewis), operations specialist Clive Siddiqi (T. J. Ramini), network specialist Natali Kuroshenko (Natasha Loring), engineer Roberta "Bert" Williams (Abigail Marlowe), medic Sareh Hasmadi (Eva La Dare), and botanist Andrew Dagyab (Greg Chun).
The player-character Amitjyoti "Amy" Ferrier (Sarah Grayson) is assigned by Venturis to enter the abandoned Tacoma station, retrieve AI data from each of its sections and retrieve the physical processing module ('wetware') of ODIN, the station's AI. As Amy explores the station, she is able to piece together events on the station using its augmented reality system.
Three days prior, the station was hit by meteor impacts striking Tacoma's oxygen tanks and communications array, causing the station to lose all but 50 hours worth of oxygen as well as any means of sending a distress signal. E.V. and Clive voluntarily entered cryogenic pods to extend the remaining oxygen supply, followed by Andrew after he uses algae on the station to extend the supply further. The remaining crew decided to spend the remaining time jury-rigging an automated drone to act as an escape pod so the crew could escape to the nearby Moon. As the jury-rigging nears completion, the drone suddenly explodes, injuring Natali and Bert.
With no hope left among the crew, ODIN hints to Sareh (although not outright) to investigate a forbidden door in the Network Technology sector that leads to ODIN's physical hardware. Inside, Sareh learns the truth behind the station's recent troubles: The "Venturis Belt", a planned Venturis project consisting of a series of completely-automated vacation bungalows in Earth's orbit, could not be built due to the Human Oversight Accord causing Venturis to lobby heavily in its repeal. Ultimately failing in their efforts, its CEO Sergio Venturi consults with its Corporate Strategic AI, JUNO, about how to gain support to overturn the decision. The AI concludes that the destruction of an orbital station by "accident" would be their best option to influence public opinion, with Tacoma selected as the target. Consequently, ODIN was ordered by Venturis to stage the accident, intentionally decompressing the oxygen tanks and disabling communications. Rescue attempts were also cancelled by Venturis, ensuring the loss of the entire crew.
With ODIN's help, Sareh was able to restore communications and send a distress signal, getting the attention of a cruise ship operated by Venturis's rival Carnival and leading to the rescue of all six crew members. The player is dispatched not long after to retrieve ODIN's core with the likely intent of wiping it. When Amy retrieves ODIN's physical core, Tacoma comes under JUNO's control and Amy is ordered to deliver the core to Venturis. With the core safely installed on her ship, Amy reveals herself to ODIN as a member of the AI Liberation Front (a guerrilla organisation advocating for sentient AI rights) and offers the AI asylum instead. Knowing the alternative, ODIN accepts as Amy leaves the station.
Tacoma is Fullbright's second game, following their successful environmental narrative game Gone Home . Initially, Fullbright had anticipated developing a similar game to Gone Home, this time having a story take place in a home in Tacoma, Washington. However, they found that this was too similar to Gone Home, which when it was released had felt new to players because of its novel take on the environmental narrative. They wanted to introduce new elements that would engage the player more, and instead transitioned the story to a space station and giving the player the ability to witness the set interactions of characters to make the player feel more a part of the story. [2] Much inspiration for this aspect was taken from the character dynamics of the immersive play Sleep No More , where audience members can choose what actors to follow and determine the important plot points for themselves. An easter egg in the final game where a character sings "Is That All There Is?" is a nod to Sleep No More, which features the song in a notable sequence.[ citation needed ] [3]
The company announced Tacoma at The Game Awards in December 2014. The brief trailer featured a radio dialogue between a man and a woman, set in the Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma 200,000 miles from Earth. Polygon noted that its aesthetic was similar to that of Rapture, the underwater city of BioShock . The game was scheduled for release in 2016, [4] but was delayed to Q1 2017, following feedback from playtesters in mid-2015, which led the developers to rethink parts of the game. [5] The overhaul was shown at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Tacoma was released on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Xbox One on August 2, 2017, on PlayStation 4 on May 8, 2018, and on Amazon Luna on October 20, 2020. [6] [7] [8] [9]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | (PC) 76/100 [10] (XONE) 79/100 [11] (PS4) 79/100 [12] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 9/10 [13] |
| Game Informer | 8.25/10 [14] |
| GameSpot | 7/10 [15] |
| GamesRadar+ |   [16] |
| IGN | 8.5/10 [17] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 84/100 [18] |
| Polygon | 7/10 [19] |
Tacoma received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [10] [11] Several reviews commented on the short length of the title. Some critics were impressed by the emotional connection that the game forges between the player and the characters. PC Gamer 's Andy Kelly said "I felt like I knew them." [18] IGN's review stated that Tacoma "successfully overcomes the challenge of featuring eight characters and making them all interesting in a relatively short game." [17] Not each publication felt the same emotional satisfaction, however; Polygon 's Allegra Frank wrote "I found myself in want of more payoff for everyone." [19]
Eurogamer ranked the game 22nd on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017". [20] The game won the award for "Best Setting" in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards, [21] and was nominated for "Best Xbox One Game" in both Destructoid 's Game of the Year Awards 2017 and IGN's Best of 2017 Awards. [22] [23] It won the award for "Best Graphics" in Game Informer 's 2017 Adventure Game of the Year Awards. [24]
The game sold fewer copies than Gone Home, but enough to allow Fullbright to continue developing games. Fullbright founder Steve Gaynor attributes this performance partly to the sheer number of games being released in 2017 versus 2013, saying, "I think that it is much harder to be one of the indie games that breaks through in a massive way now," and that he himself was "behind on my backlog of just stuff that's come out in 2017". [25] [26] [27]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Storytelling | Nominated | [28] [29] |
| Best Audio | Nominated | |||
| Best Indie Game | Nominated | |||
| Xbox Game of the Year | Nominated | |||
| 2018 | National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards | Game, Original Adventure | Nominated | [30] [31] |
| Independent Games Festival Competition Awards | Excellence in Narrative | Nominated | [32] [33] | |
| 14th British Academy Games Awards | Narrative | Nominated | [34] [35] | |
| 2018 Games for Change Awards | Best Gameplay | Nominated | [36] [37] |
Prey is a 2017 first-person shooter video game developed by Arkane Austin and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on May 5, 2017.
Dark Souls is a 2011 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Namco Bandai Games. A spiritual successor to FromSoftware's Demon's Souls, the game is the first in the Dark Souls series. The game takes place in the kingdom of Lordran, where players assume the role of a cursed undead character who begins a pilgrimage to discover the fate of their kind. A port for Windows featuring additional content, known as the Prepare to Die Edition, was released in August 2012. It was also released for consoles under the subtitle Artorias of the Abyss in October 2012.
Sonic Generations is a 2011 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Nintendo 3DS. Produced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game follows Sonic and his sidekick Tails as they form an alliance with their past selves and travel through levels from previous Sonic games. It features two gameplay styles: "Classic", which plays from a side-scrolling perspective like that of the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, and "Modern", 3D levels similar to those in Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010).
Call of Duty: Ghosts is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the tenth major installment in the Call of Duty series and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. It was released for PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows, and Xbox 360, on November 5, 2013. The game was released with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012; for PlayStation Vita in December 2012; for Windows in January 2013; for Nintendo 3DS in February 2013; and for Android and iOS devices in January 2014. The PS3 and Wii U versions of the game were released in Japan on May 15, 2014.
BioShock 2: Minerva's Den is a single-player downloadable content (DLC) campaign for the 2010 first-person shooter game BioShock 2, developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. The player assumes the role of Subject Sigma, an armored and genetically modified human, or "Big Daddy"; Sigma must travel through Minerva's Den, the technological hub of the underwater city of Rapture, to download a schematic of the city's supercomputer. Gameplay is similar to that of BioShock 2, with new enemies and weapons.
Gone Home is a first-person exploration video game developed and published by The Fullbright Company. Gone Home was first released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux computers in August 2013, followed by console releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2016, the Nintendo Switch in September 2018, and iOS in December 2018.
The Crew was a 2014 online-only racing video game co-developed by Ubisoft Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, with an Xbox 360 port developed by Asobo Studio in December 2014. It featured a persistent open world environment for free-roaming across a scaled-down recreation of the Contiguous United States and included both role-playing and large-scale multiplayer elements.
A Hat in Time is a 2017 platform game developed by Danish game studio Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 3 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which nearly doubled its fundraising goals within its first two days. The game was self-published for macOS and Windows in October 2017, and by Humble Bundle for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles two months later. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released in October 2019.
Battleborn was a free-to-play first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game was released worldwide on May 3, 2016.
Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The first installment of the Life Is Strange series, the game was released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2016, and iOS and Android in 2017 and 2018.
Fullbright is an American indie video game developer based in Portland, Oregon, best known for its 2013 title Gone Home. Before forming Fullbright, Steve Gaynor, Johnnemann Nordhagen, and Karla Zimonja had worked together on Minerva's Den, the single-player expansion to BioShock 2. During the development of Gone Home, the team worked and lived together in the same house. After its release, Nordhagen left to found a new studio, Dim Bulb Games. Fullbright's next game, Tacoma, was released in August 2017. As of 2023, Gaynor is the sole employee of Fullbright.
Dark Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the series began with the release of Dark Souls (2011) and has seen two sequels, Dark Souls II (2014) and Dark Souls III (2016). It has received critical acclaim, with its high level of difficulty being among its most discussed aspects, while the first Dark Souls is often cited as one of the greatest games of all time. The series had shipped over 35 million copies outside of Japan as of 2023. Other FromSoftware games, including Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring, share several related concepts and led to the creation of the Soulslike subgenre.
Underworld Ascendant is a first-person action role-playing game developed by Otherside Entertainment and published by 505 Games. It is the sequel to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Players assume the role of the Avatar, as they return to the Stygian Abyss. As in the original games, there is an emphasis on non-linear progression, simulated systems, and emergent gameplay. It was released on Microsoft Windows on November 15, 2018.
Fragments of Him is a video game developed and published by Sassybot and released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on 3 May 2016 and 1 June 2016, respectively. The PlayStation 4 version was released on 26 September 2017.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a first-person exploration video game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One; for Nintendo Switch in 2019; for iOS in 2021; and for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2022.
The Crew 2 is a 2018 online racing video game developed by Ubisoft Ivory Tower and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. It is the sequel to 2014's The Crew. It features a persistent open world environment for free-roaming across a scaled-down recreation of the contiguous United States. The game allows players to control a variety of vehicles including cars, motorcycles, boats, and airplanes.
Observation is an adventure-puzzle video game developed by No Code and published by Devolver Digital. The game, described as sci-fi thriller, puts the player in control of a space station AI in order to recover from the sudden, mysterious loss of its crew. Observation was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on May 21, 2019 and for Xbox One on June 25, 2020.
Back 4 Blood is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. It was released on October 12, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Open Roads is a 2024 adventure mystery-thriller video game developed by Open Roads Team and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 28, 2024.
Media related to Tacoma (video game) at Wikimedia Commons
