Fort Solis puts players on a dead Martian mining station, and it wants them to feel trapped there. The 2023 game from Fallen Leaf asks players to follow engineer Jack Leary through locked rooms, dead bodies and a rising terror that won’t let go. It’s a third-person thriller that leans heavily on dread, and it mostly delivers.
Trailer, via Dear Villagers.
Jack, Jessica and Wyatt
Jack Leary is the main character, a maintenance technician who answers a routine alarm and finds nobody waiting at Fort Solis. Jessica Appleton, his colleague, joins the investigation later. Wyatt Taylor, the station’s medical officer, turns into the story’s central threat.
The voice cast carries a lot of weight here. Roger Clark plays Jack, Julia Brown plays Jessica, and Troy Baker plays Wyatt. Their performances sell the tension, even when the script behind them stumbles.
What Works
The strongest parts of Fort Solis are its atmosphere and its performances. The station feels lived-in, full of logs, bloodstains and quiet corridors that keep getting darker. The motion capture work holds up across the three lead roles, giving the story a sense of presence that lesser games don’t manage.
The game also runs without camera cuts or loading screens, which keeps the pace smooth as Jack moves between rooms and sections. Puzzles tied to key cards and a handheld device open new areas, and quick time events punctuate the story’s high points.
Where It Falls Short
The gameplay doesn’t match the ambition of its premise. Exploration often feels thin, and the way the station connects its nine sections together isn’t always clear. Players who expect combat-heavy action will find the focus on exploration frustrating.
The narrative itself is where the game loses steam. The mystery of what Fort Solis was built for and why its crew vanished gets explained through logs and audio files, but the pacing drags in the middle stretch. The payoff of the viral outbreak and Wyatt Taylor’s motives lands, but it takes too long to get there.
Comparing the Releases
| Platform | Release Date |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | August 2023 |
| Windows | August 2023 |
| macOS | October 2023 |
| Xbox Series X/S | December 2025 |
Key Facts
- Developer: Fallen Leaf
- Publisher: Plug In Digital, Dear Villagers
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac
- Voice cast: Roger Clark (Jack), Julia Brown (Jessica), Troy Baker (Wyatt)
- Themes: Horror, Sci-fi, Adventure
- Score: 6.4/10
Fort Solis is a game that knows how to build dread but struggles to sustain it. The performances and atmosphere carry a lot of weight, but the gameplay and pacing let them down. It’s worth playing for the feeling of being trapped, even if the escape route takes too long to arrive.
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