Alright. [i]Nothing But the Silent Deep[/i] is done and dusted. This is kind of the epitome of an Indie Game. The developer had an idea and dove into making that singular idea an actual game. There's no fluff, no unnecessary additions. This game is simply the exact vision the developer had. Well, maybe "vision" is a poor choice of words, lol, but you get the point.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3489726572
The entire premise is that you, the unnamed protagonist, end up in a dark cave with no flashlight or any other source of light and need to find your way out using only sound as your guide. This is represented in the first level by the sound of rockfall trapping you in said cave. Throughout, you will hear your footsteps, the sound of you colliding with walls and doors, and the sounds of your surroundings, which include water and machinery. What exactly is going on in these caves?
The specific types of sounds are the clues you need to progress. When you thump against metal, it sounds different than when you thump against stone. The sound of you walking through water is of course unmistakable. And all that machinery...at first feels very confusing, but what I realized pretty quickly is the sounds of your interaction with said machinery was typically you finding a lever that would open a door somewhere else in the level. None of the levels are very large, so counting your steps is a valid way of finding your way back to said doors once you've triggered them. However, as an added wrinkle, some of these doors are on timers and only stay open for a brief window of time. Represented by the sound of a clock ticking down. You will also simply knock down certain walls (or maybe you're really moving and climbing over rubble...not totally sure here).
All of the above will lead you to the end of one level and beginning of the next. There are twenty-five levels in total. Once I realized what the machinery was, my progression sped up significantly, but in general, each level might take a minute or two, give or take. You can also find a cat, but I personally took a wrong turn and finished the level the cat is in without actually finding it. Once you make it outside, you are treated to a cutscene.
There is no options menu. Esc exits the game, and Launch puts you wherever you left off. As such, there is no way to reset the game and there is no level select. I think people would probably appreciate the ability to start over back at level 20 to take whatever path they didn't in their first playthrough since that is the only part where there is a branching path that affects the ending you get. One of the achievements is for wiping out your save file and starting over, so I imagine finding the save file on your computer and deleting it will trigger this and allow you to play over to get that second ending, but for expediency, I would have liked to see level select instead, personally.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3489721435
With that one critique notwithstanding, I thought this was a really cool idea for a game, and one that works immaculately. The developer's vision (ummm...or...) was executed flawlessly and it's an interesting and pretty fun way to spend an hour or so. There is replay value if you go through the steps to delete your save file, but I'd imagine the levels don't actually change, so you're really replaying everything for the sake of the cat...or for the sake of not saving the cat, lol.
I think the game earns the $2.99 price tag, personally. Certainly, there aren't many games that require you to eschew vision to play them, and that alone makes this a worthwhile experience in my estimation. But also, the game is pretty cool. Give it a...umm...listen?
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