Still Wakes the Deep review: The horror of the ocean becomes clearer

The sea is basically the blue skin of the world, but we know little about its depths. Much like the vastness of space, it is full of mystery. With both comes the unknown, and therefore terror. in It still awakens the depthsthe latest first-person horror film from The Chinese Room, the sea breeds a mysterious terror that takes over an oil rig, and its workers must fight to survive.

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, players meet protagonist McClerley, an annoying electrician working on a Scottish oil rig. From the beginning, I was incredibly impressed with the voice acting, writing, and performance. Most of the crew are Glaswegians, who use colloquial terms and slang, which the game warns can be “translated” by turning on subtitles. McClerley (Alec Newman, who plays… Cyberpunk 2077Adam Smasher and Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s Beast, among others) is a much-loved protagonist. When we first meet him, he’s been fired for causing a fight on the beach that leads the police to the rig, much to his boss’s dismay. As he leaves via helicopter, the platform hits something – or something hits the platform – well below the surface.

From there, everything turns chaotic, as bioluminescent tentacles and large seaweed-like leaves begin to cover the entire platform. But when he interacts with humans, he absorbs them, transforming into terrifying John Carpenter monsters. The thing.

McClerley must use his skills as an electrician to fight his way out of a sea nightmare. Environmental puzzles – which involve turning levers and wheels, putting out fires, and pushing and pulling in the correct sequence – make up most of your time, while the platforming groans and disintegrates and echoes the screams of friends and colleagues shifting metal walkways.

The game is, at times, wonderfully terrifying, and I was impressed by the creature designs. The friends you meet early in the game now scream and spout the threats and fears they had when they were fully human, their flesh permanently connected to the growing alien threat that has taken over the platform. (It’s never explained what the threat, monster, or virus is, just that it comes from the sea.) When stuck in these corridors with monsters, McLearly can’t help but hide, throw things, and sneak around. There is no combat or instant death, which can be somewhat frustrating. You’re never sure when or where the monster will hear you, and the game seems to have a very strict and internally consistent idea of ​​how to succeed in cat-and-mouse levels.

The game is incredibly tactile. The intuitive button mapping meant I always felt like I was embodied in McLearly, from pulling levers to climbing and even sliding stairs. The developers have done an excellent job of putting you in McLearly’s shoes, allowing you to see his entire body as he climbs and crawls. McLearly unscrews the air vents, catches himself dragging himself through the dark water, slips and slides, screams, and swears as he tries to jump. Aside from feeling like I was embodying him, McClerley’s reactions to what he was doing also seemed like he was embodying him I: Taking a big jump meant I sometimes swore, and hilariously, I found McLarley screaming the same thing when he landed.

As with previous Chinese Chamber titles, the original orchestral score is bold and raucous when you finally hear it. But unlike Everyone went into ecstasyWhere Jessica Carey’s music did so much to tell that story, here, it was muted, with only a few waves of music rushing by. Much of the atmosphere comes from the collapse of the drilling rig, with the sound of destruction serving as annihilation music rather than powerful choral music. Jason Graves (composer for the Supermassive horror titles and… Order: 1886) does a good job here, even if it doesn’t live up to Carrey’s work.

The oil rig itself is impressively detailed, with its lifelike textures and appropriate signage, old-fashioned switch-operated telephones, and realistic displays. Even though you can’t interact with most of the world, you still feel like you’re living in it, a place that people have occupied and created themselves – especially when visiting the solo crew’s quarters.

The level of detail, combined with the excellent voice direction, made me feel like I was on the stage. You’ll have to return again to areas, and your knowledge will help you navigate the level: doors and corridors you walked through untouched are now clogged with debris, or your friend turns into a giant tentacled monster. I appreciated the developers’ strict focus on one specific location, with limited areas, allowing them to show the slow destruction in a tangible way.

Although it doesn’t push the genre anywhere new, It still awakens the depths It’s a worthwhile addition to horror films – and further proof that the great void of the ocean is something I want to avoid.

It still awakens the depths Releases June 18 on PS5, Xbox Series