Here’s a public service announcement and a trigger warning: Don’t play this game if you are claustrophobic or thalassophobic. Still Wakes the Deep is a minimalist horror game played from a first-person perspective, and is set on an offshore rig in the sea near Scotland in the 1970s.
Developed by The Chinese Room, known for creating psychological horror games like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Still Wakes the Deep plays like an industrial disaster movie with a horrifying entity thrown into the mix.
Rough day at work
You play Cameron “Caz” McLeary, an electrician who works aboard Beira D, an offshore rig that has committed several safety lapses. As he is about to depart from the rig, an incident during drilling damages the rig and lets something insidious in. A mysterious entity takes over the rig and turns some of the crew into bloodthirsty monsters resembling long-legged, fleshy arachnids.
With no equipment except for a headlamp, and no means to defend himself, not even a crowbar, Caz has to find a way to survive the horror onboard the sinking rig and save his colleagues. Initially, I was glad that Caz picked up a headlamp, hoping that he will be getting some equipment later in the game to fight back, but this isn’t that kind of game.
Although the rig isn’t very big, the game throws plenty of obstacles at you, such as destroyed walkways, fire, floods and live electrical currents, making traversing the rig difficult and slow.
As the events unfold, certain areas will become inaccessible while new and unconventional paths open up, which keep the experience fresh especially since Caz needs to travel back and forth to the various areas of the rig.
As such, the game is pretty linear, with the missions being “go there and do this”, and nothing to collect. If the path is inaccessible, there must be something nearby to interact with, such as an air duct to crawl through, a fire extinguisher to put out a fire or a switch to turn off power.
The game is pretty short and can be completed in less than five hours, but the tense atmosphere, jump scares and frequent deaths makes it an intense and scary experience.
Terrors from the deep
Still Wakes the Deep excels in creating a tense and scary atmosphere with suspicious shadows, claustrophobic crawl spaces, and plenty of sudden jump scares. Most areas are pitch black, and Caz only has a headlight to illuminate the way and the light plays tricks on your eyes.
Scripted events like a walkway giving way, slipping when traversing a narrow ledge, pipes bursting and being forced to swim quickly to escape from drowning, keeps you constantly on the edge.
The game even assigns a dedicated button (the mouse scroll wheel for PC) for a quick view behind you, which is useful for sneaking around and avoiding danger.
With no weapons, Caz has to constantly scan for places to hide from danger, out of monsters’ sight and hearing, as well as dodging their flailing appendages. At times, there is no other option but to run and crawl away as fast as possible when spotted, since Caz is completely defenseless.
However, he can pick up objects to throw and distract his crewmates-turned-monsters when hidden, giving him a chance to run for cover. There is also a visual effect to indicate danger is close, with colourful, bubbly fog obscuring Caz’s vision which adds to the sense of dread and fear.
The game induces sweaty palms with plenty of opportunities for Caz to meet a gruesome end. Apart from being detected and attacked by the monsters, there are also industrial hazards like falling from height, drowning, poisoned by gas, or burnt by fire.
However, there are occasions where there is no time to think, and you will just have to desperately scramble around to escape death. Thankfully, the game’s frequent autosaves ensures that not too much progress is lost.
I did encounter a few bugs, from minor ones like objects floating in the air, to game-breaking ones where movable obstacles get stuck in places and block Caz’s access permanently, as well as glitching to the outside of the rig with incomplete textures, and subsequently “falling” to death while swimming in the water. Restarting the game or restoring to a previous save usually did the trick to avoid the glitches.
But the game isn’t all just about jump scares and gory deaths. Caz’s flashbacks and hallucinations explore his relationship with his wife, and his regret in having a big fight with her before going off on the rig. The game also constantly reminds us of his young daughters missing him, which add an emotional layer to Caz and drive his will to survive.
Sense of foreboding
Although the graphics and motion capture of the characters are not quite cutting edge, the level designs of the rig show great attention to detail.
From the retro prints on the curtains to the food clutter in the cafeteria to the bloodstain splatters on the walls, the level of thought and detail makes the rig feel like a very real place.
Even the entity itself is actually quite mesmerising and pretty, with sparkly pink luminescence and elegant spirals. Unfortunately, there isn’t usually time to appreciate it since Caz is constantly running for his life.
The game is pretty good in using yellow items as clues, such as paint, towels or tape to guide you, so there is little fear in getting lost. There are times when sudden scripted events force you to unpredictable places, like water rushing in or the walkway falling apart, making you scramble blindly to escape.
As with good horror games, sound plays a huge part in the scary experience of Still Wakes the Deep.
The game’s haunting instrumental music adds to the emotions, and the various metallic notes complement the rig’s structure that is slowly falling apart. Disturbing sounds like people screaming, monsters wailing and the rig groaning all add to the extremely tense and frightening atmosphere.
Audio also changes the atmosphere. You can hear the fierce storm, howling wind and roaring waves once you step outside the rig, which is a relief after being confined in the claustrophobic crawl spaces of the rig.
The emphatic voice acting is excellent, especially with Caz showing a wide range of emotions including fear, frustration, anger, disappointment and sadness.
That said, the characters’ Scottish accents are rather hard for me to catch, so I had to rely heavily on subtitles. The challenge is trying to read them when plenty of frantic action is taking place and you’re trying to escape from hazards and monsters!
TL;DR
Still Wakes the Deep plays like a well-scripted disaster and monster action movie, with excellent narrative and voice acting.
Despite being rather short and minimalistic with no combat or gear, the first-person game is immersive with clever level designs, action-packed sequences and strong emotional focus.
Although there are some game-breaking bugs, the frequent autosaves meant that not too much progress is lost.
With plenty of gore, scary and tense gameplay and frequent swearing even during regular conversations, the game is not suitable for young gamers.
Still Wakes the Deep is available on Steam at S$29 and the Microsoft Store at S$51.75, and is included as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass.
