Still Wakes the Deep

Игра 10 кирпичей из 10, DLC даже 1 кирпича не заслуживает

This game is pretty fun but I cannot recommend it in its current state. I am playing on a maxed out PC yet once i got to the mission to go to the helicopter I could not hold 20fps and I see lots of others have this issue. PLEASE fix so myself and hundreds of others can enjoy this game

nice game

incredible game, made me nearly piss myself

Good. Spooky. Getting your steps in.

I'm not crying, you're crying!

Good game

So, I avoided this game for a while because of reviews and such, but I got it during the summer sale. First off, graphics are very nice, sound design and voice acting are are fantastic, and the atmosphere is nailed. Initially, I was loving it, but once the sneaking around the creatures started, I got bored really fast. It's not at all scary, and I pride myself in my ability to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good horror game/story. I'm easily startled, and it didn't get me at all. The creature designs were great, but the gameplay... Yikes. The gameplay is atrocious. It's very repetitive, and there's not much to do. Notes aren't really worth reading, nothing really to explore, 1 ending only, and the entire gameplay loop just didn't seem very thought out. Like maybe there were a few changes during production. I can get past all this to at least finish it. What I can't get past, literally, is a part where I leave ADMIN and have to move (pull) a cart to proceed forward. It wasn't budging for anything. I thought about seeing if it were a common issue, but at that point, nah. Not worth it, in my opinion. You'd literally get a 95% similar experience watching a playthrough. How this won anything aside of visual or sound awards, is quite beyond me. Sucks because I really wanted to enjoy this.

TL;DR decent game for fans of walking sims or horror games like Amnesia. Amazing atmosphere, voice acting, graphics, world design, but dull gameplay and not much of a horror game. The DLC captures the horror experience better and is also very worth playing. The biggest thing this game has going for it is the setting, atmosphere, characterisation of the world it builds, which I think has generally been The Chinese Room's strength (see Everybody's Gone to the Rapture as a comparable example in this regard). It is such a distinctive and well-realised setting, enabled and furthered by the beautiful graphics and top-notch voice acting and dialogue. Having said that, I enjoyed the start of the game the most, when you can really soak up the atmosphere before the story really gets going. IMO it loses a lot of that once it starts tying in more of the horror elements, though it does still maintain a consistent setting and tone throughout. I also didn't find it to be the most engaging game ever. If you've played other walking sims you probably know what to expect, but there's no inventory or resource management etc., you basically just walk from place to place, crawl across beams, climb up ladders, turn valves, sneak round monsters, etc. It's not boring, but for me the gameplay was just fine, and at times a little janky and irritating, so the short playtime works in its favour I think. It doesn't overstay its welcome too badly. I think a single playthrough of the basegame generally takes people 3-5 hours, but it took me about 8 because I like taking my time and looking at everything etc. The story is decent, but more serviceable than really profoundly engaging. It kept me engaged enough to want to see how it played out, but it's nothing too special. The biggest question you have through the game remains unresolved by the end, which is a bit unsatisfying, but I suppose Lovecraftian horror is all about the 'unknown', so its thematically on point I guess. Another thing worth mentioning is that for me, it wasn't scary at all. It is a horror game in terms of its story, but I didn't even feel on edge or uncomfortable at any point, I don't remember any jumpscares or reacting to them at all if there were any. This review is supposed to be just for the base game, but I will say the DLC is great, arguably better than the base game for me. For one, it's shorter (maybe 1.5-3 hours?), which might be a downside for some, but again, for me, it again avoids overstaying its welcome. Second, the claustrophobic, isolated feeling of being at the bottom of the ocean makes for a way more scary and uncomfortable play experience. I still wasn't covering my eyes or screaming etc., but it did have me genuinely on edge and nervous at points. It felt more like a legitimate horror game. Overall solid and definitely worth playing at some point, but don't have any illusions about it being the best game ever made or anything like that. It's a decent game though for fans of The Chinese Room's previous games or any of the Frictional games (Amnesia, Penumbra, SOMA) etc.

Still Wakes The Deep grounds its Lovecraftian horror within the rusted, industrial confines of a 1975 Scottish oil rig to foster a uniquely suffocating atmosphere. Every corridor pulses with an authentic, isolated dread that transforms the creaking metal structure into a claustrophobic cage for the protagonist and his struggling crew. Realistic movement systems dictate how players navigate the environment, requiring a manual grip button to safely traverse ladders, pipes, and precarious balance beams. These deliberate physical interactions successfully replace standard, weightless animations with a grounded tension that reinforces the fragility of surviving amidst such an inhospitable and collapsing workplace. Authentic Scottish vocal performances elevate the narrative, lending a palpable sense of human desperation to the protagonist's interactions with his doomed colleagues. Themes of personal failure and haunting guilt anchor the unfolding madness, ensuring that the unfolding tragedy feels rooted in specific character motivations rather than simple, abstract scares. Stealth serves as the primary mechanism for evading mutated former crew members, forcing players to retreat into lockers or ventilation shafts when pursued. While the majority of these encounters effectively heighten the surrounding tension, some segments drift into repetitive trial-and-error patterns that slightly disrupt the overall sense of forward momentum. Visual screen effects depicting injury or mental instability occasionally obscure the player’s vision to the point of rendering navigation difficult during hectic escapes. These fleeting moments of visual overload can prove more frustrating than terrifying, though they do little to undermine the otherwise masterful use of lighting and grime. Technical performance displays occasional frame rate instability during the most intense environmental transformations and set pieces. Despite these dips, the flashlight mechanics operate reliably without the burden of constant battery management, allowing focus to remain entirely on the haunting mutations and the surrounding environmental storytelling of the rig. Overall, the atmospheric environmental design creates a consistent sense of place that remains compelling from the opening arrival to the final, tragic revelation. Balancing tense stealth segments with methodical exploration proves effective, particularly when paired with such a distinct historical setting and a deeply personal story of regret.