Review: Still Wakes the Deep

Synopsis

• LIVE THE HORROR: An immersive disaster story aboard a stunningly realised North Sea oil rig, starring an authentic cast of Scottish actors. Experience the beauty and ferocity of the sea as it rips apart one of humanity’s strongest structures and its steadfast crew. 
• ESCAPE THE RIG: No weapons. No powers. Just your wits and determination. Struggle for survival on an unstable oil rig, where one wrong step could be your last. 
• FACE YOUR FEARS: Something has turned your home into a nightmare, where the familiar becomes threatening, and where a noise in the dark fills you with dread. Resist the urge to turn back. Confront the unknown.

TL:DR

A well-made single-player psychological horror game that meshes ocean and body horror. Simple but enjoyable gameplay. 9/10

Review

Still Wakes the Deep is a video game that caught my eye in a clip on instagram actually. I immediately was afraid it wouldn’t hit consoles, as I am a PS5 gamer, and so many interesting looking horror games have gone right to Steam. The game is created by The Chinese Room and distributed by Sumo Group, and I was able to grab it on sale as a digital download.

The game itself, to be honest, feels like it started as a walking simulator that then got cranked up to 11. And trust me, this game is absolutely beautiful, so I don’t mean that as an insult…I would genuinely just walk through the game. When I first started it, there were parts of the cabins that looked like they were from a movie rather than a game. That may be due to the game’s less complex gameplay, but still, it had so much detail.

The game has you play as Caz, a man that took a job on an oil rig, the Beira D, to get out of a sticky situation. You play through the eyes of Caz, and the first person POV really upped the tension and claustrophobia in this for me. What starts as a normal day on the rig…well aside from your boss screaming and firing you…quickly turns dark as an accident (or something else) damages the entire oil rig. You’re in the North Sea, and the game’s 1970 setting really helps drive home just how stuck you are. Oh, and how screwed. Bad rains, no outward calls, malfunctioning lifeboats…

While simple, the gameplay was really fun, and the fact that it looked so good really helped it along the way. From walking, there are also pulse-pounding scenes that require sprinting, jumping, climbing, and hiding. There is no combat, but there is a stealth dynamic that helps keep you alive, and frankly, seriously anxious. There are small interactions, like sticking a screwdriver through the tines of a lock to snap it open, that the steps really feel like you’re applying the pressure. You also flip switches, open and close airtight doorways, and free retractable ladders. It’s not a lot, but it feels heavily psychological in the involvement you do have.

Whatever has happened to the rig, or perhaps attacked it, has set off a chain of events that lead you and the few other survivors into multiple dangerous situations as you try your darnedest to stall for time and keep the rig afloat. This really did feel like The Thing on the ocean with its eldritch body horror and Lovecraftian-altered engineers. The first few, at least to me, felt almost like zombies of the more rabies-style, as their bodies slowly turned and grew psychotic. I loved when they neared you (though terrifying) or you neared the “thing,” how the corners of the screen turned spotted and multicolored like a kaleidoscopic oil spill.

Synopsis

1986. The Beira D is now a groaning steel catacomb interred in the inky depths of the North Sea. What really happened that December day in 1975, when communications to the mainland were severed and the rig sank without a trace? What answers can be given to families who still grieve, ten years on?

Review

I also grabbed the DLC because of how much I was enjoying the game. Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest was a really solid addition to the game, and the switch to underwater diving was a good idea because it kept it from getting too samey.

10 years after the Beira D collapsed into the sea, two divers are determined to get some closure for those families affected by searching through the submerged wreckage. This continued the claustrophobic feel from the main game, and maybe it’s just me, but the idea of being so deep and possibly trapped is terrifying, so that only made it scarier to play.

While the main game is pretty smooth with its movement physics, this DLC in my opinion, felt particularly good. As the diver, you move entirely different, and it actually feels like swimming. Oh…and that damn umbilical cord feeding you oxygen? It freaking follows and twists around everywhere and everything. I think the idea of knowing the horrors that were in the main game could also be hiding in the deep made you anticipate there being something around every corner. Although this part didn’t deliver it all the same way, the idea of suffocation is a real fear of mine.

While the game features puzzles, stealth, and some parkour survival, the DLC features the search for answers, oxygen shortages, and a real edge-of-your-seat, outright chase. Almost as good as the full game. I really enjoyed both.