Still Wakes the Deep

Imagine John Carpenter has decided to create a video game adaptation of The Thing. Yep, that's what Still Wakes the Deep is, and it's lovely.

*standing ovation clap* This is how you do a walking simulator with a bit of hiding and running from scary monsters and tie it around with a tight bow of cosmic horror that tries to enter your mind. And it's a short game which you can play it in one, 4 to 5 hour sitting but I'm perfectly fine with that. Playing open world games all the time will eventually give some fatigue so this was nice change of pace. What more I can say? Visuals complete the narration of the story perfectly and monsters plays nice homage to the other monsters in this genre. The overall story is like a good movie about disaster turning into full blown nightmarish horror that slowly succumbs the main character to realize that you can't run away from this thing. As it happens in all of the genre classics. EDIT: And with the DLC, Siren's Nest... Well, you got me and to the developers, you get to be in rare collection of games where I'm just staring the screen while the ending of the game unravels and the emotions t...

Still Wakes the Deep offers a fresh and intriguing take on the survival roguelike genre, combining atmospheric exploration with intense underwater combat and procedural storytelling. Developed by Dan M. Hart and published on Steam, this game invites players into a vast, mysterious ocean world filled with strange creatures, hidden secrets, and treacherous terrain. Unlike traditional roguelikes that rely on dungeon crawling or fantasy tropes, Still Wakes the Deep crafts an immersive maritime experience, where the ocean itself feels like a living, breathing antagonist. At its core, the game centers around a lone diver piloting a fragile submersible through the depths of an uncharted sea. The visuals strike a perfect balance between stylized minimalism and detailed environmental effects, creating a moody, almost haunting ambiance. The ocean is depicted with dark blues and subtle light play, emphasizing the isolation and danger lurking beneath the waves. The world feels expansive and unpre...

Steam really needs an in between rating, This game is thematically and visually stunning. The voice acting is supreme and the setting and atmosphere (especially at the start of the game) is so enthralling. The rig is a character in its own right, incredible detail and feels really thought out and carefully directed, you could take a screenshot at almost any moment and its going to look cinematic and intriguing. I feel as though this experience is let down by two main things, the loading between environments and the traversal. With how detailed the rig is; I would've loved to experience a seamless transition between scenes. Every time I reached a door that I knew was going to transition to that loading screen animation, Any tension that had built up previously effectively got wiped. It always led to this feeling of 'level completed' that I think kept taking me out of it. The traversal feels really thrilling initially, but very quickly gets a bit dull. Don't get me wrong, there are ...

I am quite disappointed in this game. It has an interesting premise and setting, but it is poorly done. The graphics are mostly very good and the voice acting is superb... But the controls are CLUNKY, and to be frank I've seen this sort thing many a time before. The gloopy meat monster is straight out of Carrion (except in that you play as it!) or Homeworld Cataclysm (the Beast) and there are many other variations such as Dead Space etc not to mention movies and tv variations. Basically it is sadly lacking in originality. And the game's pacing is poor. It spends maybe 10 minutes setting the scene (probably the best part of the game actually) and after that you are basically 'running' around (except that you can usually move at only a slow walk or crawl, often even slower if the game puts you in a threatening position - it almost always make you run away in slow motion!) lurching from one life and death disaster to another, and of course, playing Mr Fixit on all the broken j...

If, for whatever weird reason, you are in love with Scottish accents, this game is for you. Excellent voice cast! The fact that you can earn an achievement called "Walking Simulator" might give you a hint of the nature of this game - or let's rather call it an experience, as the number of actual gameplay elements is very limited to parkour, QTE, and throwing objects. The visual quality of this experience is breathtaking. I enjoyed every step of these extraordinary hours on a horror-rotten, rusty rig on the stormy North Sea. Works great on 21:9 ultrawide. Keybinding was changeable to my liking.

Kısa ve yerinde bir deneyimdi, özel ve çok iyi yaptığı hiçbir şey yok aslında ama sizi bir şekilde başında tutuyor. Sizi oyunun başında tutmasının en temel sebebi de Lovecraftvari kozmik korkuya dayanıyor olması, etrafınızda ne olup bittiğini anlamlandıramadığınız, "anlam verilemeyen bir dehşete" tanık olduğunuz zaman merak ediyorsunuz çünkü "ne oluyor lan burda?" diyerek. [b]Oyunun Sonuyla İlgili Spoiler Olabilecek Bilgiler [/b] Açıkçası ben ne olup bittiğinin gerçekten de anlatılmasını isterdim ancak... bu oyun öyle bir oyun değil. Oyunu bitirdiğinizde kafanızda çoook fazla soru işareti kalacak çünkü. Ayrıca oyun bence çok yersiz bir noktada son buluyor, biraz aceleye getirilmiş gibi hissetmeden edemedim. [b]Spoiler Sonu [/b] Çok lineer bir yapısı olduğundan keşfetmeye çok çabalamadım açıkçası oyun genelde nereye gideceğinizi sarı boyalarla bağıra bağıra söylüyor ve genelde o sarı noktalar dışında da hi...

Still Wakes the Deep delivers a gripping horror experience on a 1970s Scottish oil rig, with stellar voice acting, authentic dialogue, and a haunting atmosphere powered by Unreal Engine 5’s stunning visuals. The story, blending Lovecraftian horror with human drama, immerses you as electrician Caz McLeary navigating a collapsing rig overrun by grotesque entitiy. However, the game’s extreme linearity stifles exploration, guiding players with heavy-handed yellow paint cues and a single-path structure that feels restrictive. At roughly 6 hours, its R330 price tag feels steep for the short runtime and lack of replay value. While the narrative and setting shine, the simplistic game play and brief length hold it back from greatness. Worth a play for horror fans, preferably at a discount

Still Wakes the Deep is a flawed game with a good setting, characters, and story. The Chinese Room are known for pretty poorly made walking simulators and this one managed to only be slightly better than their previous titles in that you can now climb. Broken graphics, levels bloated with hiding spots, and the main character talking/yelling in moments where he's supposed to be quiet are unfortunately some of the more egregious annoyances throughout the game. However, the voice acting is top tier and the setting is incredibly well done. If you weren't scared of oil rigs before then this game will certainly install a level of fear of working on one. Although the story is a bit rocky at times, it nails some of the more crucial parts, especially the ending. Overall, while it's got some major flaws it still manages to be a worthwhile horror experience.

Absolutely superb from start to finish. I played this on the Steam Deck and made the following changes to settings: FSR 3 - Quality Lighting - High All other graphical settings - medium The game looked great and was able to hold 30fps with minor dips in places. I love the atmosphere in Still Wakes The Deep, and the unique setting adds to it. The storytelling is really good and the line "He's in the walls. He's hunting me" freaked me out in both playthroughs (Xbox and Steam). Cannot recommend enough.