Still Wakes the Deep
A story driven horror you won't soon forget!
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Platform: PS5 PC Xbox X|S
Reviewed on: PC
Developer: The Chinese Room
Publisher: Secret Mode
Release: June 18, 2024
Time Played: 4 hours
Genre: First Person Horror
ESRB: M
Intro:
You will be playing a man working on an offshore oilrig in the 70s. Starting out everything would be as you would expect, mouthy workers, loud noises, and a jerk for a boss. However, not long after the start the rig hits something unknown deep in the sea unleashing countless horrors and nightmares to contend with. Do you have what it takes to surviving the harrowing experience and find your way home?
Where it starts
Your adventure starts with a letter from your wife wishing you merry Christmas from her and the kids, with undertones of marital issues because it’s tough being away from home for a while because of work. Soon after your called to the bosses office, meeting co-workers and friends on the way there, kind of filling in the back story. After an uncomfortable chat with the boss, the rig shakes and you fall into the ocean, thankfully your rescued but wake up to a living nightmare of a situation.
Can the kids watch
Being on an oil rig you can imagine the colorful language used to enhance every statement. Nearly every curse word under the moon will make an appearance in this game so be warned. The scary monsters you have to avoid will be on the more disgusting side, humans merged together, and body parts found throughout the rig.
Avoiding monsters
While trying to survive you won’t find any weapons to help fend against the horrors, instead you’ll need to move very quietly and stay out of sight using lockers or other tight spaces. You may find some items lying around that can be picked up and thrown across the room, distracting anything that may currently be hunting you.
Moving Around the Rig
The game moved in a straightforward motion, no side areas to explore, making it difficult to get lost. As you progress your current objective will pop up giving you a pretty good idea of what needs to be done next. There was no HuD to distract from the game, the only time that may be a problem is when your swimming and have no idea how much breath you have left, so just swim fast and you’d be alright…
I wouldn’t say there were any puzzles in the traditional sense, however survival had its bouts of special button combinations or levers to pull. Climbing a ladder wasn’t as simple as climbing up and down, and don’t even get me started on trying to jump from a ledge onto one! But after playing for a while it was easier to navigate and move around the rig.
Outro:
Although short, my experience with Still Wakes the Deep will stand out in my mind for a while. The visuals weren’t mind blowing, quite a few rough edges. The monsters did have a horrifying visage and the environments were clear. However, the characters looked bland, and when doing things from a first-person perspective your hands sometimes didn’t seem natural. I’m giving the visuals a two.
The visuals may have been low but the story more than made up for it. The main character trying to run from a mistake and try to keep his life together at the same time, all while dealing with supernatural events was an amazing experience. I really liked the story from end to finish, but it could be the fact that I felt a connection with a father of two daughters working on an oil rig knowing that experience on a personal level. Regardless I’m giving the story a five.
There wasn’t much in terms of gameplay. A lot of the game was spent parkouring my way across the rig, climbing up and down to pull levers or push buttons. The areas where I had to swim underwater or avoid monsters by hiding were quite terrifying, however sometimes I won’t end up where I didn’t belong, getting stuck in the air and having to restart the game, or the monster’s tracking bugging out not allowing me to pass. It didn’t happen often but there were some broken parts in the game, it’s getting a three.
Replayability is low. The game only ended up taking four hours to finish with no optional quests or collectibles to find. It had it’s spooky bits and the story was great, but I don’t see any reason to go back and play, unless I remember the story was good but forgot what the story actually was and want to experience it again, but I doubt that would happen, I’m handing out a one.
As far as Fun is concerned. The beginning was scary, as most scary games tend to be, after a while of running away from monsters and it became the new norm, the stress levels started to die off. By the end it was a simple game, achieving it’s purpose of entertainment, earning a three in my book.
Giving Still Wakes the Deep an average score of two point eight out of five, placing it on the Mid Shelf. The total experience being comparable to watching a scary movie in an evening. You can finish the entire thing in one sitting and put it away for a while. I was lucky enough to check it out on the Game Pass so if you have that I would definitely recommend this game. The initial price might be a little steep considering how short the game is, but the story offered will stick with you, even if the overall gameplay doesn’t.