Beneath

nah half these reviews gotta be fake cause already got softlocked in the game just beacause of an in game cutscene optimizations fine but this game is a real buggy mess

I'm only a few hours in, but I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of the negative reviews as I have had a rather different experience. I suppose it could be argued that some of the levels have been artificially stretched to increase the overall playtime. However, as someone who enjoys exploring every corner of a game world and taking in the atmosphere and absorbing the world-building/lore, I haven't really noticed it thus far (i'm about 1/3rd of the way through the campaign). The environments felt worth lingering in, so any added time lurking the benthic base didn't come across as a problem to me. Other reviewers have criticized the lack of a deep, intricate story and the game's reliance on familiar FPS tropes. What these criticisms often overlook is that the era this game is drawing inspiration from was absolutely packed with those same tropes. Take a look at the list of comparisons below and the design choices become readily apparent—the game isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. It's intentionally reflecting the games that inspired it. A couple of free community mods resolved the ammo scarcity issue for me, and once that was addressed, I was able to fully appreciate the game for what it is: a loving homage to the great shooters of the early 2000s (note to the devs: perhaps lean more into the shooter vibe rather than the ultra-difficult-survival vibe). The influences are unmistakable—*Doom 3*, *Prey*, *Quake IV*, and *F.E.A.R.* are all present in its DNA, with a healthy dose of *Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth* thrown in for good eldritch measure. More than anything, I am genuinely in awe of the amount of love, passion, and dedication that went into this project: from the voice-acting to the lighting design. I also greatly appreciate the visual presentation. The graphics are well executed and do an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere the developers were aiming for. Some reviewers have reported issues with flashing, stuttering, and physics glitches. I haven't personally encountered any of those problems, though that isn't to say others haven't. It seems I'm part of the roughly 60% of players who had both a smooth gameplay experience and a technically stable one. For that, I am grateful, because the nostalgia alone was worth the price of admission. The game succeeds at transporting me back to a particular era of FPS design, and that's ultimately what I was hoping to get out of the experience.

Horrible, horrible stutter/smear effect, which is apparently caused by the physics rate not matching the frame rate, that the devs have still not fixed. Makes the game near-unplayable and I will be requesting a refund until they release some sort of patch that doesn't require me to use a 3rd party tool

This game really tests my patience. Beneath is a greatest-hits of fps tropes with a sprinkle of F.E.A.R.. The plot can be ignored. Just be quiet and follow your quest marker. The hero is trying to save his daughter from a vague illness that a random person SAYS she has. Couldn't she just have the sniffles? As it is, the player is a stereotypical father/military special forces/engineer/doctor/professional diver. I felt like the game was trying to convince me it was about something other than shooting soldiers, zombies and squid monsters. Nope. That's it. I should say, I very nearly refunded the game during the first station. It drags on too long. Nothing happens. You backtrack through blood-drenched hallways and a waterlogged maintenance shaft without any built tension or engagement while your character whines about helping his daughter. Really? No comments on what's happening around you? Now, they could have packed these areas with jump scares and I'm glad they didn't, but why do I need to walk back through empty areas? Rest assured, every step you take going forward WILL be followed by walking back through that area to return to the elevator or stairs, silently. These moments are missed opportunities to build tension, show character, or show environmental storytelling. Or even spectacle. Something. By the end of the first station, I felt cheated out of the money I paid. That is a terrible first impression. You get the sense the developers intended for a more robust experience, considering the tool tips early on. The game will tell you, "sometimes you may need to avoid combat or try to escape." In practice, the level design does not make this possible. The game is almost linear. There is no jumping. Piles of boxes or crates funnel the player down a single path, even in large rooms where free movement would work fine. Immediately after being given a pistol, you will hit a room of 6 soldiers with no way around. Just shoot 'em and move on. The stealth system, if there is one, malfunctions randomly. Your flashlight will alert soldiers to your presence, which can really hurt. Sometimes, however, soldiers just see you through walls and begin firing like madmen at whatever section of masonry stands between you. However, when things go right, it is helpful to get the drop on your enemies, if only to kill a couple before the fight. Exploration is terrible. There's no reason to comb areas and scavenging is almost nonexistent. You can find weapon upgrade parts which I ignored after a while, and... paint... to slightly change your weapon skins. What, is this an EA game? Most items you can pickup glow bright green, and aside from a handful of audio logs and computer emails, there's very little to find. There is no environmental storytelling, copy-paste areas with offices and slimy tentacles on the walls and floor. Slimes orbs are effectively landmines that regenerate. The gunplay is okay. Weapons are all hitscan military knock offs that spit and crack through an endless flow of ammo. Damage feels unpredictable. Sometimes a couple of hits will down an enemy, sometimes half a magazine. The game tells you ammo is scarce. On normal difficulty, it isn't. I never once ran out. If I had, I would have needed to reload to the last checkpoint, because fighting is mandatory. Personally, I'm bored to tears by military weapons in FPS games. Given the setting, it would have been easy to get creative with the weaponry. I have a number of believability issues with the characters. Squads of soldiers make jokes and discuss future plans, while being trapped in an undersea station overrun by zombies and toxic tentacles. The tone misses the mark. See, the tension doesn't really, "ramp up." The station has obviously gone to ♥♥♥♥. What does change, is the way characters respond to the horror. This is different from the progression of, say, system shock 2 or bioshock, inspiration shows. This feels backwards. In firefights soldiers have a hivemind, blurting out, "He's good, but we'll get him," after their comrades are wiped out. Do none of these people have a sense of self? Self-preservation instincts? Why are they shooting at random gunmen when faced with death by squid face? Eventually, you will approach navigation with the resignation of working an 8 hour shift. There are a lot of moments of waiting. Waiting to slowly crawl to the end of a vent. Waiting for pressure chambers to fill. Waiting while you slowly carry a battery canister to the other side of a station. The underwater walking sections remind me of spacewalking in KoToR. Which is to say, awful. This continuous action evokes an immersive sim, but unlike those, there is virtually no environmental interactability. The only thing you can do is shoot the occasional explosive barrel or fire extinguisher that (ironically) are fire bombs. I've been tearing into it, but are there any positives? After a few hours, you can see some soul here. When you stop trying to sneak around, the action starts to feel good. When you ignore exploration and play it like an arcade shooter, its enjoyable. The animations are quite good, with soldiers and zombies stumbling realistically when hit, and the sound design is absolutely impeccable. I also appreciate the manageable reaction time of enemy soldiers. They turn to you slowly enough that you'd think they have frame interpolation. When I emerged into the second station, I thought, "Okay, maybe this game won't be terrible." Things get more interesting. Then, even more. The middle few stations see your arsenal growing, and you start to see more monsters. This section of the game was really exciting, with the hero losing his mind, the player unsure of what's even real, while piles of monsters emerge from dark corners. Then, the late game had me groaning. More of the same. More soldiers. And more soldiers. More backtracking. You've seen everything the game has by the halfway point. The plot was predictably disappointing. Like many FPS games, the final boss was also. There were moments of pleasure here, but the bad outweighs the good.

I think the game has potential since most core mechanics are well done but there are some flaws. First, the ammo dropping system, the ammo is scare, too scare to be shooter. In some part I have to fight hordes of monster with only 4-5 shotgun bullets. Second, the flashing graphic, I think they should reduce the flashing graphic in this game. Everything from electronic screen, light, gun fire, there are way too many flashing graphic. Third, death trap, if the monster get a jump on you, you simply die because everyone of them hit hard and outrun. So most of the time they put save point in front of encounter to mitigate the problem but I think the better way is to make them run slower or make the character run faster. Overall the next game should be very more fun to play and I hope to buy the studio next game as well.

Boring, clunky, its worht 5 bucks max

Game WAS GOOD, excellent graphics. But the ending was terrible, couldn't wait for it to end. To drawn out. Just like the previous game 'Syndrome' , that ending was bad too.

It's a nice shooter with Lovecraftian Horror, nice atmosphere and interesting game play. I recommend it, but here are some flaws you might want to know before buying: * Enemies sometimes spawn in your back mid-fight. * Some enemies can port and they can port directly behind you. * In some levels you have to "walk back" to the start to leave the level. * Some passages seem unnecessary difficult because the are too random. * I had V-Sync promblems on my machine, even thou I activated it. So it's not really an A title, but it's nice. If you can live with the flaws, give it a try, I liked it.

It is quite a fun game overall. It gave me far more positive emotions than negative ones. The biggest issue, however, is the artificial prolonging of the gameplay. At times, it feels as if the developers were afraid players would complain that the game was too short, so certain sections seem stretched beyond what the experience actually needed. I can understand the reasoning — many players equate longer games with better value — but in this case a tighter, shorter version might have resulted in a stronger overall experience. Perhaps offering both a shorter “focused” mode and a longer version for players who enjoy extended gameplay could satisfy different audiences...

It's not a groundbreaking masterpiece or anything, but it surprised me in a good way. The atmosphere is strong from the start, becoming heavier and gorier as the game progresses. There are no cheap jumpcares, but a constant growing unease. Combat is solid and adds pressure without going full action. Resources matter, and bullets go out very quickly. Use headshots when possible and don't wast your MG on zombies. Nice combat and great atmosphere.