I would have preferred tentacle-horror.
I’d say the "horror game set on an offshore oil rig" genre is pretty rare, which is why this title appealed to me. I bought it hoping for an atmospheric horror game, but unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver.
I'll start with the things I liked: The graphics are splendid, the main setting of the oil rigs look exactly how I would expect an oil rig to look and the north sea has it charms, as always. I had some bugs during my gameplay which were, to be honest, pretty annoying.
But the voice acting is splendid! I think it was the best thing about the game, really.
The music was very good, too.
The plot.. started off very good, but the second half of the game was just very predictable and boring to watch. I thought the premise—playing a criminal hiding on an oil rig who feels guilty about his wife—was actually brilliant! It’s really something different. Unfortunately, you don't learn enough about him or his colleagues; in my opinion, the game doesn't take enough time right from the start. Because once the first accident happens (and we all know it will—otherwise it would just be a cozy oil rig simulation game), there isn't really any story left—it’s more a case of other people barking orders at you while you have to fix everything. Which, for me at least, turned out to be rather unsatisfying. Caz's backstory is never really built on other than some flashbacks and those are not really deep.
That also includes the other characters, and this is the point I found the most disappointing. I hoped for an emotional ride with people Caz cared about, but spoiler: everyone dies. I didn't really feel anything for the deaths of the other characters because there is nothing you can do to prefent it.
What really annoyed me was a remark at the end. You are told "be brave for once in your life". Caz and me spent around 6 hours facing death, bugs and horror every 5 seconds while everyone else has excuses to do nothing!
Besides the plot my next complaint is the gameplay, which was veeery frustrating in the end (because I died constantly at some points).
The navigation is very simple but leaves no room for own exploration. (Especially in the end.) You never have to think for yourself, the main goal is to have an overview about where to go and to catch the quick time reaction prompts. The game is very linear.
All those deathtraps at the end just made me want to get the whole thing over with; they didn't create a spooky atmosphere at all, just frustration.
Perhaps I have a different understanding of Lovecraftian horror. To me, the horror in Lovecraft/Cthulhu works doesn't come from gore, blood, or gross-out elements (like we see here), but rather from the psychological aspect, the mystery surrounding the bigger picture, and the "why" of it all. "Less is more" would be a fitting motto here, and *Still Wakes the Deep* definitely has far too much action (and "do this, do that" quests) to allow an eerie mood to develop. As for the monsters you encounter... well, they look gross, but that’s really about it.
Still wakes the deep would have been better if it had more story, character development, gave you more room and places and people to explore - overall: just had more depth to it, I would absolutely recommend this game but since it feels like a walking simulator with lots of qick time events and no real story to tell I cannot do that.
