Still Wakes the Deep is a beautiful, somber tale of a doomed Oil Rig off the coast of Northern Scotland, set in the 1970s. This is the most Scottish game I have ever played. Top-tier voice acting compliments an engrossing story in this Horror-Platformer from The Chinese Room & Sumo Digital. It’s available Day One on Game Pass for Cloud, Console, & PC, so let’s find out if it’s worth a download.
North Atlantic – Scotland in 1975 on the Beira D Oil Rig
Still Wakes the Deep tells a tale of terror, hope, greed, and a desperate struggle to survive. You are Caz McLeary, working on the Beira D. It’s December 1975 and you’re working as an electrician on an Oil Rig while on the run from the law. That revelation happens immediately and I won’t spoil any of the interesting plot points. Suffice it to say that fact gets lost in the shuffle once shit starts to go down. If you’ve seen the trailers then you know that something bad happens to the Beira D and weird shite starts poppin off.
The game steers clear of most cliches, having some of the most genuine character interactions you can in the medium. Caz’s friends on the rig along with the protagonist himself come off as real people and not tropes. While the Rig manager is a real monster at times even he has depth as to why he’s such a prick. The effin and jeffin flies in Still Wakes the Deep. I’ve never heard the C word so many times in a game, and it works perfectly. Working on an Oil Rig in the middle of the ocean is a horrendously difficult job and you feel that sense of camaraderie and bawdy humor that keeps things light in an otherwise awful situation. I beat the game in roughly 6 hours and found the collectibles, which are macabre in nature. It was an interesting time because I don’t believe the game contains a single puzzle.
Caz the Lecky
As an Electrician, Caz is capable when it comes to the internal workings of the ship’s electrical system but needs guidance when attempting to repair or use others. The majority of the game is you trying to fix things or reach certain areas. There isn’t a puzzle to be found, outside of the light platforming ones you’ll encounter. Still Wakes the Deep is played entirely from first-person. There is no combat and the only aiming you’ll do is for throwing objects to try and distract certain things at certain times. The main buttons used are the right trigger for climbing, the left trigger to regain your grip if you lose it, A to jump, X to interact, and Y to turn your headlamp on. You’ll hold a direction indicated on screen to use equipment or break locks and that’s about it.
The majority of the game is a mix of walking, running, and platforming. I got the achievement for not running more than 10 total minutes during my completion of the story. I owe that in large part to how engrossing the environment is. As things go as they do, again trying to not spoil much, It always felt like I was on an oil rig in various states of movement. If the seas were rough I could feel the controls fighting me as gravity took over and Caz had to fight against it. Swimming feels painfully realistic, in that Caz isn’t a Dolphin. He’s a regular guy in decent shape who gets cold as all hell after submerging.
Occasionally you’ll need to find a heater to warm up but don’t worry, this isn’t a survival game. It’s a strictly linear narrative adventure title. The main gameplay mechanics are occasionally having to run to survive. If you mess up the load times are short and the checkpoints are generous. For those who don’t want the shite scared out of them repeatedly there is a story mode that makes it far more difficult to fail. The stars of the game though are the Oil Rig itself and the incredible voice acting.
The Human Element
Whoever came up with the idea of a mid-70s oil right in the North Atlantic off the coast of Scotland is a genius. Cold, isolated, and terrifying, it is one of the best locations I’ve experienced in a horror-focused game. The Rig itself feels big, old, almost alive. Manned by a large crew, this giant metal structure is a home for those you’ll meet early on. I’d highly advise taking the time to talk to everyone you can in the opening Canteen scene. The insight you get into each character is invaluable as you come across them throughout the story.
Caz is on the ship thanks to his wife’s uncle, Roy. Roy’s a big man who works in the kitchen and has diabetes. Caz and Roy’s interactions felt like real family talks. Two older men who shoot the shit and truly care about one another. As you progress through the story you’ll come across more crew and even in the brief interactions you may have you get the sense of friendship between them all. They’re stuck working out here in these awful conditions and the conversations always sound natural. It’s a testament not only to the voice actors but to the direction given to them. Conversations flow, feeling like people in that situation talking to each other and never just reading a line on a page. Add in the changes to the environment and how the crew behaves and you have the makings of a special experience.
The story itself, what happens and why isn’t crazily inventive, though the visuals you’ll encounter are magnificent at times. There’s better tech here than in previous Chinese Room titles, and while I chose to play in performance mode with all post-processing disabled on Series X you can opt for a quality mode that is smudgier in movement but higher fidelity in animations for the rig itself. I didn’t run into a single bug while playing, not one. It’s a rarity and greatly appreciated.
Wrapping Things Up
Still Wakes the Deep is a special experience. A brilliant setting for a horror story is matched by quality writing and stellar voice acting. It’s available on Game Pass at launch and I highly recommend giving it a try to anyone interested.
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Fantastic Voice Acting
- Good Writing
- Excellent Setting
- Competent gameplay
CONS
- Smudgy graphics
- Low quality animations in performance mode
“The Chinese Room”
“I don’t believe the game contains a single puzzle”
that checks out
“I got the achievement for not running more than 10 total minutes during my completion of the story.”
at least they have a button for running this time
This sounds a lot like Soma. Like that game, I’m glad to hear there’s a wuss mode for those of us who don’t handle horror well.
Regarding The Chinese Room, how come we never got Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture on Xbox?
Really looking forward to this, loved Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and games like this.
Great score - I admit I’ve not read the review as want to go in completely blind, but will read it after
This game looks like it’s right up my alley. Just hope there’s enough settings to adjust to keep the motion sickness at bay.
I used to work offshore, in Scotland. And as such, I’m keenly interested in this.
Will definitely be checking out.
Saying this while I’m in the middle of Disco Elysium, Starfield, Witcher 3, Doom Eternal expansions.
Backlog is like…
Can’t wait. Been looking forward to this one since it was revealed.
As I’m a fellow caber tosser, I must play this.
Looks great this. Precisely what i want from Gamepass.