Still Wakes The Deep Review - The Abyss Stares Back
Though The Chinese Room has previously worked in the horror genre, I don’t think of the team as primarily a horror-centric development studio. Rather, I’ve long felt its name is synonymous with sadness. The throughline spanning games like Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and even Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a feeling of melancholy, longing, or even tragedy. Still Wakes The Deep continues this run of depressing games, which I mean as a compliment. By leaning into the studio’s forte, the game’s memorable horrors become more affecting hardships.
I’ve found it difficult to write about Still Wakes The Deep as I didn’t want to spoil its best aspect–the monster at the root of it all, which isn’t shown in any pre-launch materials. But then I discovered how the game has been advertised–“The Thing on an oil rig”–which seems to let me off the hook. As it turns out, that elevator pitch is exactly what this game is like. Blue-collar workers stranded with a creature of unknown origin is a classic horror premise–Alien’s “truckers in space” is essentially this, too. The Chinese Room pulls from these genre titans to tell a story of its own and places it all in an especially uncommon setting.
It’s Christmas 1975. Aboard an oil rig near Scotland, Caz McLeary evades the personal problems awaiting him back on the mainland by joining his buddy and several others toiling away at sea. The game’s early moments set the scene well, with large, intimidating human-made machinery creaking and bellowing amid a storm. Indoors, claustrophobic corridors are plastered in cautionary signage that reminds players of just how dangerous and oppressive an oil rig is–even without a monster showing up. Fulfilling any role in such an environment seems to merit copious hazard pay. As waves crash around the perimeter and rain-soaked ladders climb to platforms that feel more like thrill rides when you stand atop them, the game’s message seems clear: This place is not safe, and humanity doesn’t belong there.
About Post Author
