Still Wakes the Deep is a survival horror developed by The Chinese Room, a small development studio in Brighton, famous for having developed, among others, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. With this game, the development team wanted to change the cards a bit and create a horror game that differs from Amnesia, characterized by a strong narrative impact. In this article, we will talk about all the information that we have in our possession at the time of writing, in order to give you a first look at what the game will be.
Still Wakes the Deep release date and platforms
Announced in June, Still Wakes the Deep still doesn’t have a precise launch date. For the moment, we know that the game will arrive on next-generation consoles and PC in early 2024. Surely, as the launch period approaches, the developers will release the precise date, so we just have to wait.
Still Wakes the Deep story
During Gamescom 2023, senior game designer Jade Jacson explained “This time we want to touch on all possible phobias. During the game, we thus face the fear of heights, that of the dark, the fear of drowning or being alone, the phobia of tight spaces, and the unknown. And then of course the loss: loss of loved ones, loss of sanity… and of course death, aka loss of life.”
As for the plot itself, Still Wakes the Deep is set in 1975 among the seas of northern Scotland. The game puts us in the role of Caz, a middle-aged man who lives with other people on board the Beira D, which is a huge oil platform located in the middle of the sea. Suddenly, something dark will awaken from the darkness and begin to terrify the personnel on the platform. Our task, therefore, will be to shed light on what is happening, trying not to fall victim to this entity.
Still Wakes the Deep gameplay
In our adventure, it will be possible to explore this platform in all its corridors and tunnels, in such a way as to be able to experience the daily life of the people who live on it. The development team seems to have done a great job, going into every little detail, even with regard to the Christmas decorations that try to make the atmosphere less depressing and distressing.
After an initial exploration phase, the game will take a completely different turn and the horror part will begin, with heart-pounding rhythms. In fact, the protagonist will have to deal with a dark entity that infests this oil platform. The developers have announced that, as in many games of the genre, it will not be possible to defeat this entity, so you will have to try to survive by hiding and fleeing.
At the moment, however, we still don’t know exactly what the guys from The Chinese Room have decided to do with regard to the gameplay. We don’t know exactly how much freedom there will be and what game mechanics they have decided to implement. We know, at the moment, that they will take some mechanics used in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and use them again in this game.
Finally, we remind you that the game has been entirely dubbed in the Scottish dialect, but the development team has already made it official that there will be subtitles for many languages. A more than welcome confirmation since, even for English speakers, following dialogues in Scottish dialect and with different cadences may not be a simple thing.