Still Wakes the Deep

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!

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.

Still Wakes the Deep is a chilling creature-feature that delivers a powerfully pure narrative bolstered by phenomenally talented performances from a cast that convey visceral emotions. Streamlined gameplay won't satisfy every player, but developer The Chinese Room, in my opinion, does a fantastic job of balancing 'walking sim' with platforming and puzzle engagements that keep things spicy.

Overall, Still Wakes the Deep is a lovingly curated journey through a Scotsman's struggle to survive on an offshore oil rig crumbling to pieces while being relentlessly stalked by mysterious monsters. It's tense, beautiful, and fantastically priced for the content.

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.

The games atmosphere and just look of it is so detailed and gross and awesome, I feel so immersed while playing it, and spaghetti monster look horrifying.

I've always enjoyed games where you are in one location, and slowly it is deteriorating before your eyes and this game does it masterfully, in the last act, it looks beautiful and horrifying.

Drilling platform looks like old rusty wooden thing that is barely keeping up and has not been maintained properly in a while and it is an atmospheric top.

The story about blue collar people just trying to survive the most horrifying, Unbelievable situation in one of the most hostile places you can be on earth that isn't the Desert or Arctic.

But the gameplay works it is very simple and there's not much to it, but I was immersed and wanted to see where it was going. It was a nice experience, It was not scary but the body horror was certainly on point.

Ton of Scottish Spice helped a lot.