Initial SOMA concept

[xdeath]

I'll add to this as Frictional might find the feedback useful/interesting:

I too felt it odd that nothing like the 'debut' trailer was in the game, which, apart from the live-action stuff, was all I watched.

In the live-action 'vivarium' video we see Imogen 'simulated' in the machine and killed; this freaks her out. My expectation was that we would see evil machines that did things like this. SOMA doesn't have a particularly prevalent evil though like Penumbra did (Clarence) or Amnesia (Agrippa, Justine). I might write more about this in another post.

I'm in agreement that there is something odd about how this game was teased vs the finished product.

And it comes down to the monsters, they were not necessary. They seem out of place.

In looking at other horror games(I'll go with the ones I've played).

Starting with Silent Hill 2. They are manifestations of the main Characters frustrations, created by the evil force that has engulfed the town.
Amnesia they are the shadow(strange force that guards the orb) and the servants(an extension of Alexanders will).
Alien Isolation. It's the Alien. It's in the title.

In all these cases, especially Alien, they are key to the story.