Still Wakes the Deep got so much right but the main criticism I have is that they didn't make a video game. It looks amazing, the setting is unique and the acting is brilliant - what I am saying is that this would've been a great movie. The game is a survival horror set on a North Sea oil rig in 1975. You play as a Glaswegian electrician named Caz who finds himself trapped on the rig as harsh weather and mysterious creatures tear it apart.
I live in Scotland and the best compliment I can give this game is that this is such an accurate representation of Scottish people and the fact that it uses proper dialect really made me happy! Also you can play this game in Scottish Gaelic which is a nice touch and shows that developer The Chinese Room really cares about the culture. You can even hear the differences between the Glasweigians and Aberdonians, and there is the odd geordie thrown in there for good measure! When making the game the developers interviewed many oil rig workers and I believe this is the reason why all the characters in the game feel like real three dimensional people with depth. I will stress again, the writing and the actors performances in this game are faultless and it is worth playing to experience great writing, well performed.
The opening section had me hooked! I instantly loved Caz and was immersed straight away. The Chinese Room created a lead character I was routing for and that is important in a survival horror. I love that Caz is not a silent protagonist either, he commentates on what is going on around him and makes all the noises you would expect someone frightened for their lives to make. This again adds to the immersion, he is a normal, relatable dude in a horrific situation and it really puts you into his state of mind. Also much like Outlast, Caz has no way of fighting back. He has no weapons and his only option is to run for his life.
Graphically Still Wakes the Deep is beautiful! It captures the bleak, harsh grayness of the North sea and the people are animated so realistically. The incredibly detailed graphics mean that the monsters look terrifying and have that Resident Evil 'wetness' to them that we have seen in RE7 and the recent remakes (hopefully you know what I mean by that!).
I thought the interactions with enemies would be similar to Alien: Isolation and would have me desperately hiding and trying to hold my breath so I don't get found by a monster that is about to tear me apart. It never felt that scary for some reason and at first I couldn't put my finger on why, and then I figured it out. It is because this game is so linear! The reason why Alien: Isolation, Outlast and Resident Evil 7 are so scary is because you make the decisions. Do you run or do you hide? And then you face the consequences if you make the wrong choice. But Still Wakes the Deep is so linear that I never had that panic moment of 'did I make the right decision?'. I knew I had always made the right decision, because it was the only decision!
Now for my main gripe with this game - too much yellow! I think when Chris Martin sang 'It was all Yellow' he was predicting the release of this game! You know the game trope of climbable objects being yellow? Well in this game pretty much everything you need to interact with is yellow. It took me seconds to work out what I was supposed to do at any point during the game because I just looked for something yellow. It almost became comical as the game went along! I half expected munchkins to pop out and sing 'Follow The Yellow Brick Road' every time I started a section. I guess it did help with pacing because I never got stuck, but then I found myself asking the question, why am I playing this instead of watching it? I never had the 'I am so smart' moment you get when figuring out a puzzle in a survival horror. In fact one of the only positive thing I can take away from playing this is that I know for a fact now I am not colour blind.
I may sound like I didn't enjoy my time with this game, that is not true! I cannot state enough how much I loved the characters, setting and acting. There is a relationship between Caz and a character called Roy that was so well written that it actually reminded me of how my dad interacts with his mates. One minute they are roasting each other, the next they are talking about how much they care about each other. There is also a character called Rennick that plays the villainous, unfeeling boss character and the writing of him is so funny. I laughed out loud several times at how cartoonishly mean this man was and I always enjoy it when horror has moments of great comic relief. I also really like the idea behind the creatures you are facing. They are members of your crew that have been infected by some weird alien organism that turns them into monsters. I like the fact that every time you see one, Caz will call out the name of the person that it used to be, which gives the game a bit more emotional weight.
Overall Still Wakes The Deep is a great story with beautiful graphics and flawless performances. I just wish it was scarier, played more like a video game and wasn't drowned in yellow paint! The game took me around 4 hours to complete and the lack of exploration or collectibles means that it is a definite one time experience.
I would give the game a 6 out of 10
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