Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down.
Skyscraper-sized waves crash beneath me as I crawl across a broken metal beam in the middle of the North Sea, suspended at the base of a collapsing oil rig. I crawl quickly but carefully, my knees sliding on the wet metal, my eyes fixed on the platform in front of me. Do not look down
I look down. The cold sea boils just inches from my beam, white foam rising and threatening to drag me into miles of suffocating darkness and pressure. Shit.
In The deep still awakensHorror comes in multiple forms. Violent creatures stalk the halls, spindly, overlong limbs jutting out from their bodies like snapping bungee cords. Human-sized pustules and bloody ribbons grow along the corridors, emitting a sickly cosmic glow. The ocean is a relentless menace, groaning beneath every step. And then there’s the Beira D oil rig itself, a massive, labyrinthine industrial platform supported by spindly tension legs amidst a raging sea, creaking and tilting as it tears apart from the inside. Each of these elements is deadly; each manifests a unique brand of terror.
The deep still awakens is a first-person horror game from The Chinese Room, the studio behind Amnesia: a machine for pigs, Dear Esther and They have all gone to the RaptureThe game is set in the winter of 1975 and its action is concentrated in Beira D, a vast metal labyrinth that offers mystery, increasing familiarity and death at every turn. The platform is filled with a rich cast of characters from the British Isles, most of them Scottish. Players take on the role of Caz, an electrician on the platform whose best friend is Roy, the cook.
The deep still awakens It feels like a PS3/Xbox 360-era success, without the bloat of modern AAA games. It's as restrained as the original. Dead spacewith a central loop that serves the narrative and vice versa. The mechanics evolve constantly without becoming repetitive or cumbersome. Its monsters are killer but not over the top. The deep still awakensThe horror is relentless, but its source constantly changes (ferocious supernatural beasts, the crumbling platform, the raging North Sea) and this diversity infuses the game with vibrant tension until the stunning final scene.
The game is fully voiced, and its crew members are incredibly charming. An undercurrent of good-natured banter contrasts every interaction, and the dialogue is heartfelt and legitimately funny, even in life-or-death situations. This deft sense of character development only makes the carnage more disturbing once the monsters come aboard the Beira D.
After an oil rig drills for a mysterious substance deep in the North Sea, a gigantic supernatural organism takes over the structure, ripping apart its metal walkways and infesting the bodies of some of the crew. Caz is on a mission to survive the creatures and escape the rig – and help save Roy, whose body is rapidly fading away because he can’t access his insulin.
Gameplay in The deep still awakens Beira D is a first-person horror classic, executed with elegance and mastery. The action involves jumping across broken platforms, balancing on thin ledges, running through hallways, climbing ladders, swimming through claustrophobic holes, and hiding from monsters in vents and lockers. There are no weapons in Beira D, and Caz only has a screwdriver to help him pick locks and unscrew metal panels, making the focus on pure survival rather than combat. Interactive materials tend to be highlighted in yellow, so it’s never a question of what to do or where to go, but rather how to get there without falling prey to the monsters, the sea, or the platform.
Every command feels perfectly precise and responsive. Climbing a ladder, for example, requires holding RT and pushing the analog stick in the appropriate direction, but if Caz slips, players must press and hold LT as well, so she can regain her grip in a quick-time event. In these moments of sudden panic, pulling both triggers feels like second nature. It’s deeply satisfying to grip the gamepad as tightly as Caz holds onto the ladder rungs, player and character completely in sync after a sudden scare. The deep still awakens It's a great example of intuitive game design.
It's also a wonderful game. I froze several times while playing. The deep still awakens Simply to admire the crisp lines, intricate lighting, and photorealism of specific scenes, but every frame is packed with thoughtful, well-rendered detail. The supernatural structures littering the equipment make Caz’s vision fizz like a melted film reel, and multicoloured circles invade the screen whenever she passes too close to a pustule – it’s disconcerting and oddly pretty, like the rest of the game.
The deep still awakens is an instant horror classic. It's packed with pulse-pounding terror and laugh-out-loud dialogue, and it all takes place in an environment that's rarely explored in interactive media. Between sneaking, swimming, running, and climbing in Beira D, The deep still awakens It manages to tell a moving and powerful story about relationships and sacrifice. Caz and Roy have a special friendship, but they also have family on the mainland and getting back to those people (alive, ideally) is a constant driving force.
The deep still awakens It’s out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series x/S, and is included in Game Pass. It’s developed by The Chinese Room and published by Secret Mode.
