{"id":11390,"date":"2018-01-28T05:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/sos-alpha-review-get-your-improv-on\/"},"modified":"2024-01-24T17:14:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:14:21","slug":"sos-alpha-review-get-your-improv-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/sos-alpha-review-get-your-improv-on\/","title":{"rendered":"SOS (Alpha) Review \u2013 Get Your Improv On"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

SOS<\/strong>
\n Outpost Games, Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This sure is one game that came out of left field for me. I didn\u2019t receive any press releases about it. No one told me about it. You know how I caught wind of it? I came across it myself haphazardly while browsing through Steam. Then, when I checked out SOS\u2019s<\/em> main trailer and immediately thought to myself \u201cOh no, not another PUBG<\/em> wannabe.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as I kept finding out more and more about the game, it began to remind me more of another battle royale title: Xavient Game\u2019s, ill-fated The Culling.<\/em> Just as with The Culling, SOS<\/em> pits sixteen contestants against each other on a jungle island (this one\u2019s called El Cuna). Only here you have 30 minutes to achieve victory instead of 25 as in The Culling. SOS<\/em> also presents itself as a TV gameshow within a video game. And just when I thought that the similarities were over, I noticed that SOS<\/em> seems to have the same goofy-voiced announcer as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, SOS\u2019s<\/em> setup is much more reality TV-themed. You get some slick cutscenes at the start of every game, and then each of the pre-designed gameshow contestants are introduced. Well, actually, you have to introduce yourself. \u00a0You see, in SOS <\/em>every player has to have a mic because the game is so heavily based around communication that if you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll be at a serious disadvantage. Whereas in other survival games your reaction speed and aim with your guns are what matter the most, in SOS<\/em> your mouth and demeanor can win the day.<\/p>\n

Each game begins with the players starting off on the fringes of the El Cuna\u2019s shorelines. Paths snake inwards through dense foliage, and eventually wind around both villages and decrepit Indiana Jones-style temples. As each player (or duo if playing with a friend) moves further towards these points of interest, they have to investigate these areas for certain items, most importantly weapons and relics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Each player who gets their grimy mitts on a relic can shoot a flare into the sky, which signals to a helicopter hovering over the island that it\u2019s time to pick that lucky contestant up. But there are only three relics, and sixteen contestants. You can see how this could be a problem. Oh, and there are some nasty, long-toothed and taloned monsters on the island as well who just so happen to love human flesh.<\/p>\n

My first game of SOS <\/em>started off quite in an embarrassing fashion. Since I didn\u2019t know that I\u2019d have to introduce myself, I sort of squealed out a nervous \u201cHey\u2026uh\u2026there,\u201d in a weird, nasally voice. I probably sounded like some guy dressed like Pee-Wee Herman playing with his popcorn in the back of an adult movie theater.<\/p>\n

After starting off on the beach, I immediately dashed inwards towards the POI\u2019s and quickly came across my first weapon\u2014a knife. As I turned around from the case I\u2019d withdrawn the knife from I was suddenly greeted by two other players. This gave me the opportunity to see why mics are so important in SOS.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019d read that the audio you broadcast in-game is always being heard by real live audiences who are watching each game, I knew using improve would go a long ways. Besides, I had to make up for my abysmal introduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be your slave if you want me to,\u201d I offered in a goofy voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHmmm\u2026but you\u2019ve got the knife, maybe we\u2019ll be your slaves,\u201d one of them said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, just don\u2019t hurt us\u2026too badly anyway,\u201d the other snarkily chimed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly if I get to cut off that dopey purple wig you got on your dome and nail it to my lodge wall,\u201d I said, noting that one of the two characters was a female with shoulder-length purple hair. I must have passed their improve test because before I knew it, we were all high-fiving (SOS\u2019s <\/em>way of allying with other players).<\/p>\n

From there, we killed our enemies\u2014who had likewise coalesced into teams\u2014grabbed a relic, shot a flare into the sky, and eventually got helo-lifted from the island. After playing a few more games (which I died in), I realized that \u201cwinning\u201d (i.e. getting lifted off of the island) really didn\u2019t matter to me. What mattered more was the pure, unadulterated fun that I was having throughout each match of SOS.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the dynamic nature of the game itself is matched only by the unpredictability of real human interactions with your fellow contestants. More often than not, I experienced some seriously hilarious situations that I remembered long after I\u2019d logged off of the game itself. In SOS,<\/em> you\u2019ll unavoidably become entangled in all manner of hilarious hijinks. Not only are things super-spontaneous, but most people like to really ham it up as well, probably due to the fact that they know they\u2019re being watched by an audience.<\/p>\n

SOS\u2019s <\/em>graphics are hands down some of the best I\u2019ve seen for a battle royale-style game. Unlike similar games such as PUBG <\/em>or The Culling<\/em>, each contestant in SOS<\/em> is highly detailed and even comes with some very emotive facial expressions. The environmental visuals are likewise very polished looking (except for the odd bit of tearing here and there) and show an immense attention to detail. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s just me being spoiled by games these days, but little things such as foliage moving around my character really goes a long way, in terms of immersion. SOS<\/em> has that and more\u2014such as feet prints staying in the sand and blood leaking from wounds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SOS<\/em> is a little skimpy when it comes to content, but that\u2019s quite understandable since it\u2019s only in Alpha. I\u2019m really interested in seeing what sorts of additional weapons and other items they\u2019ll add in later. I just hope that they keep the game melee-centric, instead becoming just another \u201cwhoever-grabs-the-AK-first\u201d clone. Games that force you into up-close and personal combat always makes the proceedings seem more visceral and savage.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of survival games, comedy, and wits over weapons, SOS<\/em> is definitely a charming little title that has a lot of potential. If handled properly, I can easily see it being one of the break-out titles of 2018, and maybe even a top 10 contender. Is this the dawn of a new genre\u2026survival improv?<\/p>\n

SCORE: 84%<\/p>\n

SOS<\/em> features outstanding graphics that make its survival horror gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
BIG GAME TRACER II 15 VR<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visit CyberpowerPC\u2019s website<\/a> to check out all of the other great deals as well!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOS Outpost Games, Inc. This sure is one game that came out of left field for me. I didn\u2019t receive any press releases about it. No one told me about it. You know how I caught wind of it? I came across it myself haphazardly while browsing through Steam. Then, when I checked out SOS\u2019s… Read More »SOS (Alpha) Review \u2013 Get Your Improv On<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2724],"tags":[2520,741,2488,2527,1225,67,2486,2602,2545],"class_list":["post-11390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4k-gaming","tag-cyberpower-pc","tag-game-review","tag-game-reviews-2","tag-gaming-laptop","tag-gaming-pc","tag-ian-kane","tag-survival-games","tag-third-person-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16432,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11390\/revisions\/16432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}