developer: fullbright
publisher: fullbright
genre: vhs simulator
official game site: tacoma.game
platforms: |||| ps4 |||| xbox one |||| pc/mac/lin ||||
release: |||| may 8th, 2018 (ps4) |||| august 2nd, 2017 (xbox one/pc/mac/lin) ||||
ps4 pro enhanced: yes, 4k toggle
xbox one x enhanced: yes, 4k/30fps or 1080p/60fps toggle
what is new: 2 hours of developer commentary (added to all versions), with checklist menu so you can't miss anything
cats: yes, all the cats
ghosts: maybe this time?
acquire: |||| { -[psn]- } |||| { -[steam]- } |||| { -[itch.io]- } |||| { -[gog]- } |||| { -[humble]- } |||| { -[xbox]- } ||||
Tacoma is a narrative adventure set aboard a high-tech space station in the year 2088. As you go about your mission, you'll explore every detail of how the station's crew lived and worked, finding the clues that add up to a gripping story of trust, fear, and resolve in the face of disaster.
At the heart of Tacoma is the facility's digital surveillance system, which has captured 3D recordings of pivotal moments in the crew's life on the station. As you explore, echoes of these captured moments surround you. You'll use your ability to rewind, fast-forward, and move through the physical space of these complex, interwoven scenes to examine events from every angle, reconstructing the multi-layered narrative as you explore.
A Richly Layered Story Experience:
Six crewmembers lived and worked on space station Tacoma, forming relationships, experiencing love and loss, and facing crisis together. Discover not just what happened to these people, but what makes them who they are, through your role as an interactive investigator. The story is told through a series of fully voiced and animated interactive AR scenes, immersing you in the events on Tacoma.
A Groundbreaking Multi-Path Story System:
In each section of the station, you are surrounded by digital representations of crew members following their own parallel story threads that diverge, recombine, and split off again. Rewind, fast-forward, and move through these scenes' chronologies as they swirl around you. Your interactive tools allow you to discover the tightly-knotted narrative from every angle, and in every detail.
A Deeply Interactive Gameworld:
Explore Tacoma Station both physically and digitally. Unlock doors and drawers to find meaningful objects, notes, and physical artifacts, while simultaneously exploring extensive records of the crew's digital communications and personal thoughts. Every facet of the crew's experience on Tacoma is part of your investigation.
A Vision of the Future:
Experience life in the year 2088. Discover a rich fictional universe that depicts humanity's expansion into low-Earth orbit and beyond. A deeply-imagined speculative vision of the near future from the award-winning story team behind Gone Home and BioShock 2: Minerva's Den.
A Compact Narrative Game:
Tacoma is estimated to take around 2 to 5 hours to complete. How deep you dig and how much detail you find is up to you. Tacoma is a non-combat, non-puzzle-focused game. The details of the story and gameworld are there for you to discover at your own pace.
Interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKmFF033I9E (video version of text summary above)
https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/steve-gaynor-part-1 Designer Notes interview with Steve Part 1 (general talk)
https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/steve-gaynor-part-2 Designer Notes interview with Steve Part 2 (covers why they made Tacoma)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N0qNhOHjWw Making Of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr23iLln8Bo The Reinvention of Tacoma
Gameplay with devs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hCQb13zbUs Kinda Funny plays Tacoma w/ Steve Gaynor
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/165729220 Gamasutra plays Tacoma with level designer Nina Freeman
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/173250292 Let's Intelliplay: Tacoma w/ Steve Gaynor and Nina Freeman!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2YdecRTCTw Giant Bomb plays the game with Steve and Karla Zimonja
Article Stuff/Criticism:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/tacoma-in-capitalism-no-one-can-hear-you-scream.html
https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/art...topia-of-tacoma-labor-politics-are-still-hell (critical piece on labor politics in the Tacoma universe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVxVaX0GqyQ Tacoma: The Little Details (Writing on Games)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGkfMTlDl1A Errant Signal on Tacoma (and Gone Home)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAyJ866xGLs Let's Study Tacoma (Ian Bryce Jones)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U_rfYXXdOY SOMA vs Tacoma (Noah Caldwell-Gervais)
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