Still Wakes The Deep

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Couldn't see a thread on this.

Anyone else played it?

In 40 years of gaming I don't think I've played such an affecting game - I say game but it's more of an experience.

The acting and characterisation in it were amazing.

The gameplay was a bit clunky, and there is zero replay value, but what an experience.

Well worth giving it a try.

[MCBrowncoat]

Yeah I may do, not quite yet though, liked what I saw in the preview trailers (even if there were a few glaring glitches) and a review I read was a bit flat, but still fancy it, different enough, not too long etc

[snuffy]

That looks right up my alley, so I've just bought it. Thanks for posting it up.

[SmithCorona]

snuffy said:

That looks right up my alley, so I've just bought it. Thanks for posting it up.

+1. I will play through this on my upcoming week off!

[paolow]

Dont want to post any spoilers - but agree it's a 'one and done' (not a negative per se - just how it plays out)

Having said that - I really REALLY like the gameplay of SOMA - and this gave me similar (ish) vibes. Its not the same - but it had that feeling of dread and experience that is hard to capture in a game). I guess with it being a UK base i could engage with the characters easily - in sum - good - not SOMA - but good.

[snuffy]

paolow said:

Dont want to post any spoilers - but agree it's a 'one and done' (not a negative per se - just how it plays out)

Pretty much every game I play are the type that come to an end. And once I've played it, that's it, I never play it again. Am I odd ?

[snuffy]

I've just finished it on story mode. I'd highly recommend it.

[sgrimshaw]

Read the reviews and it sounds like a vaguely similar storyline to the drama/thriller "The Rig" ... is that a fair comment?

Regardless, it sounds right up my street

[conkerman]

Is this a Chinese room 'walking simulator'?

I quite enjoyed Everybodys gone to the rapture, Dear Esther was a bit of a slog though.

I must finish SOMA someday. It was very good, what I played of it.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

conkerman said:

Is this a Chinese room 'walking simulator'?

I quite enjoyed Everybodys gone to the rapture, Dear Esther was a bit of a slog though.

I must finish SOMA someday. It was very good, what I played of it.

I loved SOMA, once I had installed the mod that made the monsters ignore you (which was subsequently officially incorporated into the game as an update, to give a "Safe Mode") as it just wasn't my thing initially. It feels like a totally different game with that, for the better (for me, I mean. Others may disagree)

I've not read many good reviews about Still Wakes The Deep. Many say it is far too much "on rails" and is lacking,

Here's one such review
https://www.ign.com/articles/still-wakes-the-deep-...

[Clockwork Cupcake]

snuffy said:

Pretty much every game I play are the type that come to an end. And once I've played it, that's it, I never play it again. Am I odd ?

Depends on the game. Some games definitely have replay value as choices that you make can radically affect the outcome. Or in other games such as RPGs you may want to spec your character totally differently, which will radically affect your playstyle (although I always seem to end up as a Stealth Archer)

[snuffy]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

I've not read many good reviews about Still Wakes The Deep. Many say it is far too much "on rails" and is lacking,

Here's one such review
https://www.ign.com/articles/still-wakes-the-deep-...

It's 100% on rails. There's only one way you can go, if you go any other way, it will be for a few yards, and all you will find is a locked door.

However, I like that. I like linear games, and this one is very linear. I reckon there was only 2 or 3 time I was left thinking "where do I go now?" and then a spotted it.

[snuffy]

conkerman said:

Is this a Chinese room 'walking simulator'?

I quite enjoyed Everybodys gone to the rapture, Dear Esther was a bit of a slog though.

I must finish SOMA someday. It was very good, what I played of it.

You can get killed, by missing a jump and falling. Or the monster gets you. But I did play on story mode, so maybe the other mode has more of that ?

If you enjoyed Everybodys Gone to The Rapture, then I can highly recommend Firewatch.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

snuffy said:

If you enjoyed Everybodys Gone to The Rapture, then I can highly recommend Firewatch.

Yeah Firewatch had it's moments but ultimately I gave up on it and just read a spoiler-filled precis

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture was a mixed result for me. I liked the story but it felt like a radio play with visuals for a lot of the time. I felt like a mere observer. Also, as someone who had played a lot of Fo3 and Fo:NV, I felt that the "found info" was severely lacking and could have been so much more.

[snuffy]

sgrimshaw said:

Read the reviews and it sounds like a vaguely similar storyline to the drama/thriller "The Rig" ... is that a fair comment?

Regardless, it sounds right up my street

Well, it is set on an oil rig.

There's two things I'm not sure about in teh game:

a) There's a female on the rig. But it's set in 1975, off the coast of Scotland. Would women have been allowed on rigs then ? I've only been on an oil rig once, early 90s it was, and I'm sure it was male only.

b) There's the crew room, and there's cans of lager almost on a bar type of thing. I know for certain in the early 1990s that alcohol was not allowed. But in 1975? Maybe you could drink, but I'd be amazed if you could.

[Mastodon2]

I played through SWTD this weekend, I must admit to being very impressed overall, particularly with the pacing and build-up in the first half of the game. Playing on an RTX 4090 with the graphics on max settings, the Beira is a marvellous thing to behold. I've never been on an oil rig and I definitely wasn't on an oil rig in 1975, but I feel like I've been on one now, having walked around that place. The design and lighting of the accommodation block and in particular, the canteen and kitchen area were superb.

The story pacing of traversing the rig as it falls apart and the situation becomes more and more desperate was good and I enjoyed the way the 'presence' on board became increasingly grotesque and unsettling throughout. I saw some people complaining that there wasn't enough information on what the thing was that caused the disaster, but I think those people are forgetting that the game is played from the perspective of a Scottish electrician, surrounded by Scottish engineering staff, in the midst of a disaster. Such folk would not have the capacity to ponder nature of the affliction of the Beira, nor would such pondering actually change their situation or increase their hopes of survival.

The gameplay, or lack therefore, was not an impediment to enjoyment. It's essentially a walk-through movie (very heavy on the walking part of the walking sim genre) and annoying the use of yellow items as a prompt on where to go in video games continued to be in force here, but if you treat it as an experience rather than a video game you'll have a better time with it. That said, at £30 and taking roughly 5 hours to complete, it's one of the worst value for money things you can buy on Steam at the moment. I don't regret playing it now, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to wait for a sale.

The sound design was mostly great throughout, although the song that plays when the credits rolled was awful. I know, it fit the melancholic themes of the game, man vs the elements, Scotland's relationship with her harsh waters, the pain a man leaving his family to escape his mistakes which threatens their future etc, but bloody hell, it was a screechy old tune.