Still Wakes the Deep Review: A Deep, emotional, and unusual story (2024)

From the very beginning of the journey in Still Wakes the Deep, you'll immediately see that this game is very unusual, and dare I say strange, if that's not too strong a word. The location where the game takes place, the choice of characters and their accents, the storytelling approach, and the gameplay minimalism—everything tells you that this game will not be something you can experience every day.

Let me be clear from the start. This game is heavily story-related, and it will be judged as such because, lately, we have a lot of bad vibes related to the Xbox exclusive Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, when it received tonnes of negative criticism for not having enough gameplay diversity, even though the game's main emphasis was actually great storytelling. So, to avoid further confusion, consider yourself informed.

I, as someone who greatly appreciates a good story in video games, will always consider such titles very good because they promise to deliver an emotional and heartbreaking story, and they do just that. Such is the case with Still Wakes the Deep. It is the game whose story will kick you out of your shoes, and if it features nothing else in it, it would be more than enough for me to win me over completely.

Story

Rare are the games with such a deep and emotional story as the one you're about to experience in Still Wakes the Deep if you decide to give this game a chance. It is a story with true emotional roller-coasters and very likeable characters that will grow into you so deeply that losing some of them will hit you like a truck.

You play as Cameron McLeary (short Caz), an electrician who works on an oil rig somewhere inside the North Sea. He has a troubled past, even with the police-related problems, and when the problems catch up with him even in a remote place like an oil rig, he has to take responsibility and face them.

As he was preparing to do just that, the rig was attacked by a strange, extraterrestrial matter that would soon turn the entire place into a living nightmare, and everyday work would become pure survival. This is how the story kicks in. As soon as you witness those events, you'll become immediately hooked. Every next step will mean life or death, and you'll do everything in your power to escape this place and save your fellow colleagues.

Given that the game is designed in a linear fashion, meaning you will always follow a predetermined path, the story is told in exactly the same way—every new chapter will reveal the next piece of the story, and this system will propel you all the way through, to the very end. I assure you, the story is so interesting that it will be hard to drop the game only to discover what happens next.

The highlight of the story is, for certain, the excellent voice acting. All the actors who lend their voices to the in-game characters did a stellar job. Given that the company Caz works for is Scottish, all the characters are Scottish as well, and their accent is very genuine. Considering English is not my first language, I must admit that I had a quite hard time understanding some phrases, but luckily, there are subtitles that can help here.

Regardless of the "lost in translation" problems, this Scottish accent is a total hit, and it makes a game so genuine and original, like a few I've experienced before. I wouldn't have it any other way, really.

The characters in Still Wakes the Deep are very good and very well-written. The emotions Caz can bring to the screen are really something else. During the ending, Caz had one emotional breakdown that made me actually cry. The character development is so well done that every character you meet in the game has its own personality, and I assure you, you'll care for their destinies, and every potential loss will hit you hard.

There are special bonds Caz shares with some of the characters in the game, and their relationships are presented to be even stronger and more emotional. Expect sacrifices, parental and marital bonds, and many more raw feelings and emotions that will touch the deepest parts of your soul.

As this game is some kind of softcore horror, you can expect the story to flirt with the supernatural and some psychologically induced conditions that will raise the question of whether all Caz sees is real or not. The hallucinations form a large part of the story, which makes the whole story very mysterious and extremely interesting. With all that being said, the story will fascinate you, that's for sure because the level of its quality is just above average for a video game.

Gameplay

As fascinating as the story is, the gameplay is okay, but no more than that. However, I'll say it again: it won't affect the overall rating because this game is so focused on the story that everything else takes a back seat. Of course, do not assume that Still Wakes the Deep is a game with no gameplay—you will be entertained; do not be wary—it simply feels like there could be more to it, but it is what it is.

At its core, Still Wakes the Deep is a walking simulator with horror elements, and everything you do in the game serves the story. The levels are extremely linear, to the point where there are no alternate paths at all. You will go literally where the game wants you to go—no left, no right. There are some levels featuring enemies where you'll have to hide from them, and those levels are a bit wider and have some alternate paths, but apart from that, everything is very linear.

Still Wakes the Deep doesn't feature any weapons or fighting systems. In order to survive, you'll have to hide from your enemies. Luckily, those encounters are not so frequent, so do not expect the "Outlast" kind of hide and seek; those encounters are extremely simple, and enemies are really easy to avoid.

The only two tools you'll be using are the screwdriver, used for opening vent shafts and breaking padlocks, and the lamp for illuminating dark spaces—no more than that. No guns, no melee weapons, nothing. However, it all seems very logical because the enemies you'll encounter cannot be killed with conventional weaponry anyway. Your enemy in this game is an extraterrestrial substance that turns people into monsters—no gun can kill that, trust me.

Regarding other gameplay elements, you can walk, run, jump, climb ladders and other obstacles, push and pull objects to unblock paths and solve some mini-interactions, only to make this game look more like a game. Sometimes it's even ridiculous how Still Wakes the Deep is designed to be so simple.

For example, you have a fire coming out of a pipe that blocks your way. Naturally, all video games work in such a way that you need to find a valve, turn it to stop that fire and unblock the path to progress. Well, in this game, you do not need to look for a valve because the valve will be right in front of you. This is just one small example. Situations like this are very frequent all over the game.

One more drawback is the absence of a real horror in Still Wakes the Deep. The game has all the conditions to be a true horror: the best location for that ever—I mean, can you imagine anything that spooky as a desolated oil rig in the middle of a sea—the perfect atmosphere, very good graphics and sounds, but still it fails to deliver in that particular segment. Why is that? I really can't explain, but not on one occasion did the game manage to startle me, even for a bit.

I've already mentioned that the game is extremely linear. Well, in this linearity, there is zero space for exploration, and sadly, there's no need for exploration as well, because the game doesn't feature collectables or anything similar to that.

You might think that if there are no collectables, then some quality puzzles must be involved, right? Well, you're wrong again, because there are no puzzles to be solved either. Those two are great letdowns, and they will definitely effect the overall rating.

Graphics, Sounds, and Performance

Still Wakes the Deep is a showcase of graphical brilliance powered by Unreal Engine 5, and the graphics in this game are just that—unreal. The beauty and horrors of an oil rig located somewhere in the deep blue wilderness of the North Sea will amaze you beyond words.

Whether it’s wild waves crashing against the oil rig's legs, beautiful sunsets over the open sea, or a raging sea storm, everything is depicted fantastically and brought to visual perfection.

A huge chunk of the game is "filmed" inside, and those interiors deserve special praise when it comes to the visual presentation. Due to a disaster on the oil rig, everything is half-destroyed, and many compartments are flooded and devastated. The effects of destroyed pipes, fire burning everywhere, and reflections on the water inside the well-lit areas are just beautiful and very well designed. The general lighting is particularly impressive, especially in the areas effected by the alien substance.

Those areas trigger some special effects that are visually beautiful. Also, the particle effects are very well used and not overused, as is the case with some games. Regarding other graphical effects, I would single out the rain effect, which is very lifelike.

Sadly, it's not all flowers and butterflies when it comes to the graphic presentation in Still Wakes the Deep, because the overall impression is quite ruined by the below-average character design. It's really strange to see the visual perfection of the environment with all the aforementioned beauties and then see the face of a character that looks like it was made for a ten-year-old game.

You simply cannot see the emotions on the characters' faces, except maybe for one, the oil rig manager. All the other characters are just plain, and somehow they don't show a single emotion. Luckily, the game is played from the first-person perspective, and the facial expressions are not visible on the main character.

The sound presentation is very important in horror games, and I must say that the sound designers of this game were up to the task because the sounds in Still Wakes the Deep are one more masterpiece.

The soundtrack is perfect, with many nice melodies that build up the atmosphere. The sounds of the environment, including weather effects like thunderstorms, rain, and wind, along with the sounds and echoes of the large empty spaces and hallways, add to the overall atmosphere and make this game even more intense.

Regarding performance, I must say that Still Wakes the Deep is a very stable and well-optimised game. The PlayStation 5 version of the game features two classic settings: one for better fidelity rendered in 4K resolution that runs at 30 FPS, and one for better performance with slightly lowered resolution that runs at 60 FPS. Both options are well-optimised, and it is up to you to choose the one you prefer.

Conclusion

If you appreciate good, emotional story that will make you shed a tear or two, than look no further because that's exactly what you'll get from Still Wakes the Deep. However, be prepared for minimalistic gameplay with mechanics reminiscent of a walking simulator without those fancy shooting mechanics we're all so used to these days.

On the other hand, all those shortcomings will be easily overlooked once you get your hands on the game because, visually, it is a true thing of beauty. So, if you love a good story, beautiful graphics and sounds, and can tolerate minimalistic gameplay, then Still Wakes the Deep is a game for you.