Still Wakes the Deep

Still Wakes the Deep is a riveting premise, and unique gaming experience. You play a man named Caz McCreary who decides to work a side job as an electrician on a oil rig despite his wife's best interests. After some time, the oil rig encounters a deadly force and you spend the entire game navigating the rig and attempting to escape unscathed.

It is listed as a horror game and while it does have some scary moments, I wouldn't go into this experience assuming to be scared. It's more of a thriller with intense moments in between.

What the game does right:

1) Immersion. You really get invested in this character and, over time, you do start to care about key side characters.

2) Visuals. It's fairly beautiful, albeit mostly dark, somber and rustic (oil rig obviously).

3) Voice Acting. Top tier, honestly. I haven't heard this organic of voice acting in a long time and really helps the immersion and the connection to the characters.

What the game lacks:

Controls/Gameplay. The controls are a little wonky and your character is slow as molasses. You certainly get used to it, and this isn't COD... but running is barely any faster than walking. The developers clearly wanted this character to be no different than your average man, but it's rough sometimes.

The Progression. You pretty much get the gist of what this game has to offer in terms of progression within the first hour. It's pretty linear (which doesn't bother me) but you get tired of looking for vents instead of doors, turning wheels and shut off switches, and climbing ladders the whole time.

The Why. It doesn't really explain why any of this is happening. It doesn't explain how it exists and where it comes from. Maybe it doesn't need to? After all, if you and I were someone stranded on an oil rig running away from dark entities, we wouldn't get to know why it's happening either. Maybe that IS the point.

Overall, its enjoyable. It doesn't require more than one playthrough so if you buy it, don't go into it assuming there's much replay value. If it's on Game Pass (like it was for me) it's definitely worth a run-through.

Still Wakes the Deep is a gripping, atmospheric horror game set on a 1970s North Sea oil rig. You play as Caz McLeary, an electrician caught in a nightmare as something monstrous begins to consume the rig and its crew.

The game nails its setting-claustrophobic, grimy, and grounded in great Scottish voice acting. The tension builds steadily with no combat, just stealth, hiding, and surviving. It's clearly inspired by films like The Thing and Alien, and delivers some truly unsettling moments.

However, I ran into a sound bug that forced me to restart the game five times, which was frustrating in such a short (5-hour) experience. When the audio works, though, it's phenomenal and adds a lot to the atmosphere.

Despite the technical hiccups, it's a unique and memorable horror story. A must-play for fans of slow-burn, narrative-driven scares.

Starting from the opening, the setting seemed to me not the best choice, and now that I'm 1/3 through into the game, I still think the rig is somewhat repellent even for a horror. Nobody said that serving a horror experience, things need to be as unpleasant as they get. So far I have encountered plenty of the alien substance spread all over the place which was fairly ok, not great, but ok. The same goes for the first alien creature impression - it was serviceable but not great.

I don't mind at all the terrain being very straightforward, but like I said the before, the setting is nothing spectacular which is not helping really, unless you have a specific passion to explore rigs.

Having played the half of it, this is certainly an ok take on "The Thing", but is no way a masterpiece. It mostly features the monster design that makes you nostalgic, but other than that, it doesn't have a story or good characters. Basically all the time it's about just making your way through the rig, shimmying, with a monster occasionally trying to catch you, which very soon becomes repetitive and stops being a thrill.

I still considered getting the platinum trophy, luckily in the first playthrough since I would never settle for the second one. Just so you get the idea, it doesn't even comprise the 1/100 of Alien: isolation, and if you want comparison with other indie horrors, then the Call of Cthulhu (2018), Visage, Madison did a much better job in every aspect.

Even if you ignore the lack of the narrative, relying on visuals alone doesn't save the day either, since the level design like I said is very straightforward and monotonous. A proper "The Thing" title instead would've worked much better.

Only closer to the very end the atmosphere got more suspenseful, and a little backstory on the protagonist was revealed which nevertheless didn't make this a groundbreaking experience, just an ok horror, but no way a masterpiece.

Still Wakes the Deep is an Eldrich horror type game where you and your crew are on an oil rig in 1975. The team accidentally drills into a slumbering creature that takes over the drill rig and begins to spread and use the crew members as its hosts to grow. The game does well at forming emotional bonds between longer lasting characters and does an excellent job at making a dreary and dismal atmosphere while still maintaining a steady balance of vibrant colors. The voice acting is phenomenal with many emotional scenes that tug at your heart strings. The only grievance I truly had with the game was the rinse and repeat cycle of avoiding or running from the creatures. There's not much diversity when it comes to how you deal with the monsters and there's no background explaining what it is or where it came from. The only aspect of clarity you get is that it's a hivemind. It's intelligent and knows how to manipulate its victims. This is truly a very powerful and well done game, just not from a horror perspective. Definitely as a thriller and fantasy however. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys sci fi thrillers like The Thing or The Mist.

I should say that I played this on Game Pass, so didn't pay for it, but gladly would have for the experience. This game wears its influences on its sleeve, and does it well. Everyone involved should be very proud of the the finished game, The acting, writing, music and sound design are the perfect. The atmosphere and tension created is superb, and whilst the game could be considered short in terms of playtime, I thought it was perfect. There are some memorable 'wtf' moments, and the story did provoke an emotional response in me, Everyone involved in bringing the game to life should be immensely proud of their work, and I hope at least one person involved will get to see this review to let them know just how much their work is appreciated. Play it, now!