REVIEW – The latest product from The Chinese Room brings the familiar flavor of at least two of their other titles, Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs was a little more than that), so this time we’re looking at another walking simulator, only this time with a little more horror, and therefore not a product that will stick around for the long haul.

And that brings us to the obligatory line about it being on Xbox Game Pass.

1975, behind Buttf__k, Nowhere

Set nearly half a century ago, Still Wakes the Deep stars Scottish electrician Caz McLeary, who has done what we would do: left his pile of problems behind to instead regenerate in solitude on an oil rig in the North Sea. The tranquility is interrupted by storms and technical problems on the rig. If that were all it was, it would just be a grumpy place to work, but there’s more to it than meets the eye, and we find out quickly, as Still Wakes The Deep doesn’t give us much time to get to know the world and our colleagues. An accident further destroys the already crumbling structure, and then an otherworldly being begins to take over. A giant vine here, a possessed colleague there, who then turns into some kind of deformed creature. Of course, Caz is left alone to figure out what’s going on and come up with some sort of solution, all the while trying to keep his pursuer and the horror behind him.

The location is perfect for the genre, but it is not recommended for players suffering from claustrophobia, as it is a closed place with narrow corridors, although this can be interpreted as a positive, as the location can create tension. The problem is that the whole thing is not very capable of creating serious fear, except for a few unpleasant moments. So it is no accident that the stroll is called HORRORISTIC rather than HORRORFUL. Although the root of the word or phrase is the same, how different the two mean. Still Wakes The Deep is simply incapable of creating real suspense. No matter how you say that something is chasing you or following you, it’s easy to hide. Compared to Alien: Isolation, this game is simply weak in this regard. It lacks complexity and a sense of stakes in general. It’s as if The Chinese Room promised to be scary, but failed to deliver. Of course, the atmosphere could improve this somewhat, but that is a matter of subjective judgment, as it may be a positive thing for some people, but the opposite for others. Caz’s voice is good, and maybe the quality of the story writing isn’t bad, but then again, almost everything else is, except maybe the graphics, which aren’t bad; in that respect, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture was probably not disappointing.

Three hours, fo(u)rgettable

It takes three hours to complete Still Wakes The Deep. This quickly puts the game on the figurative shelf, and it’s not so sure that you’ll pick it up again after that. The gameplay is also rather poor, making it once again a walking simulator, as most of the interaction consists of walking through most of the locations with a minimal amount of stealth, a few environmental tasks, and maybe a few forks here and there. Still, you find yourself at the end very quickly, and the replayability is not that great either. It’s nice to feel like you’re at least moving forward, and maybe that can keep you engaged. That’s why it can’t get such a low rating, because the momentum is there in Still Wakes The Deep.

It’s visually appealing, and towards the end, with the otherworldly elements, the game looks quite alright, thanks to the proper design. But a game doesn’t become permanently stuck in our heads just because it looks nice. Good visuals alone don’t make a good product (how many games have been made that looked good but were forgettable in everything else?). But it’s still a positive thing, because it might stay in our minds for a while, and thus not get a 3/10 or a 4/10, because it doesn’t suffer from any major design flaws (and this doesn’t just apply to graphics, but also to the narrative and the pacing). However, there is one more question to ask. Is Still Wakes The DeepD fun? Yes, but this is not a simple yes/no answer, because there is a but at the end. Yes, BUT only once.

Maybe you shouldn’t have come here

Still Wakes the Deep deserves no more than a 6.5/10, because it’s still just a walking simulator. A walking simulator that you can play through in three hours. And after that it’s doubtful that we’ll ever play it again. The game is good, but not memorable. And it makes you wonder if it was a good idea for the already struggling Paradox to entrust this studio to create Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The answer will most likely be no, the game will be a failure, and the publisher will go bankrupt… and the game is worth a try as a Game Pass subscriber.

-V-

Publisher: Secret Mode

Developer: The Chinese Room

Style: walking simulator

Release: June 18, 2024.