Still Wakes the Deep Review

I would generally come throughout obstacles about the peak of my shins that could not be jumped over because of invisible partitions. Why even give me a bounce button then? Sure fences cannot be climbed, besides at one particular level the place they put a yellow blanket over considered one of them and now, magically, you’ll be able to! And this occurs mainly in all places. There’s so little in-world logic to which areas could be traversed and which might’t, that I usually wanted the yellow paint to determine what the hell they even anticipated me to do. It is a very heavy-handed repair for a elementary failing in the manner areas are introduced and laid out.

Gaps in logic lengthen to the story as nicely. In truth, considered one of the predominant emotional moments, which I will not spoil right here, is significantly undercut by the undeniable fact that it solely occurred because of the type of willful, “Let’s break up up, gang!” stupidity that you simply’d anticipate in a schlocky slasher flick or an episode of Scooby Doo. One developer described the story as “The Factor on an oil rig,” which is an unflattering comparability, because it solely highlights the lack of intrigue and interpersonal drama that made that movie a basic. The one characters you should have any significant battle with have already clearly became monsters, for the most half. It would not actually dial up the paranoia.

And that is the place my largest level of disappointment is available in: Still Wakes the Deep just isn’t that scary. Not for an absence of attempting, after all. I performed it in the darkish, with the home windows shuttered, in 4K HDR, whereas utilizing high-end, noise-canceling headphones – doing it as many favors as I might – as all horror video games need to be skilled. However the worry I hoped would grip me, prefer it did in earlier video games by The Chinese language Room like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, by no means arrived.

I even needed to cease and ask myself if that was an indication I’ve simply change into fully jaded and inoculated to those types of “Amnesia-like” horror experiences. It is laborious to say. Definitely, this one would not do something new or shocking which may have put me on my toes proper once I thought I knew I used to be in for. Typically it’s a must to run from a monster down a hall whereas it screams bloody homicide behind you. Typically it’s a must to sneak round by means of the vents, or throw a bottle to distract them. You pull some levers, flip some valves, and infrequently have interaction in some fiddly swimming and platforming. It is all fairly acquainted, uninspiring stuff to me at this level, which does not actually retain its influence once I’ve seen it so many instances already. Somebody fully new to this type of recreation would possibly discover it extra affecting, however I can solely speculate on that, as a result of I actually did not.

There is not even something I might actually describe as a puzzle. It is all going from one place to a different after which interacting with clearly-labeled equipment. You by no means actually even need to backtrack, besides in a pair instances the place one linear section is simply going by means of the earlier linear section in the wrong way. I by no means even needed to seek for a door code or a key or something like that. So Still Wakes the Deep not solely discourages exploration, it would not even need you to need to suppose too laborious about find out how to overcome its obstacles, which makes it extra underwhelming.

All the similar, I did care about Caz and his crewmates. The voice performing, as I discussed earlier than, actually is top-notch, with a forged of principally Scottish actors talking in genuine and evocative dialects. Few video games are this efficient at making me really feel transported to a particular place at a particular time limit, and the backdrop of the tempestuous, unforgiving North Sea provides quite a bit to the expertise – particularly when the storms actually begin raging. And the nice sound design solely enhances this.

We be taught a good bit about Caz’s backstory and why he is right here, which lends heartbreaking context to his plight. The ultimate moments are an emotionally-affecting payoff to his character arc, however as soon as once more, the stifling lack of something approaching participant company all through the story undersells it a bit. We’re watching another person’s story, by means of his eyes, however I by no means got here to establish with him as strongly as I might need if no less than a few of these essential decisions had been inside my management. I most likely would have made the similar decisions Caz did anyway, however it could have been good to have a alternative.