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Game Information

Game Title: Still Wakes the Deep

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Jun 18, 2024)
• PlayStation 5 (Jun 18, 2024)
• PC (Jun 18, 2024)

Trailer:

• STILL WAKES THE DEEP | Launch Trailer
• Still Wakes the Deep | Official Date Reveal Trailer

Developer: The Chinese Room

Publisher: Secret Mode

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 76 average - 68% recommended

Metacritic - 76 Based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews


ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

Video Review - Quote not available

AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 80 / 100

if you love a good story, beautiful graphics and sounds, and can tolerate minimalistic gameplay, then Still Wakes the Deep is a game for you.

But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 8.5 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep nails exploring a unique setting while finding ways to tell a compelling story.

Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 6 / 10

With a strong setting, nice visuals and authentic performances, Still Wakes the Deep has all the tools to create a memorable experience, but stumbles in providing anything innovative. Its dishevelled oil rig full of mutants is always creepy but never truly scary, and while it's not a poorly made game by any means, it's never really exciting, either. I don't regret my brief visit to a dangerous 1975 oil rig; but when horror as a genre is moving in some seriously impressive and unique directions, Still Wakes the Deep feels a little bit stuck in the past.

Cinelinx - Becky O'Brien - 4.5 / 5

In a crowded genre, Still Wakes the Deep stands out not only as a horror title, but one of the best games I've played this year.

GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 82%

Still Wakes the Deep is just the best game from The Chinese Room so far. The gameplay is not very demanding and strictly linear, but delivers a high variety for this kind of games. The main thing is, that the horror-trip on a Scottish oil platform provides a compelling experience with mostly perfect sound delivering a strong atmosphere from the start till the end.

GameMAG - Russian - 7 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep seems dragged out and occasionally devoid of meaning, but it's still very much science fiction, clearly inspired by John Carpenter's classic films.

GamePro - Tobias Veltin - German - 82 / 100

Atmospherically gripping, but playfully shallow oil rig horror trip with engaging sound design.

Gaming Age - Matthew Pollesel - 9.5 / 10

Seeing as I still have fond memories of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture nearly a decade after I played it, I’ve been eager to see The Chinese Room return to this style of game – and I’m very pleased to see that with Still Wakes the Deep, their return is a huge success

GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 7 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep doesn't fully realize the horrific potential of its intriguing setting, and some might find it to be a bit too light on gameplay, but thanks to an engaging story and gorgeous visuals, it's still a game worth playing.

Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 87 / 100

Although the first few bars didn't tell me much about the title except that it looked like another walking simulator with scares, it was the complete pack that left me excited. The combination of a very powerful visual aspect, incredible sonic fidelity, a rhythm that encourages you to know more and an action that catches you, result in Still Wakes the Deep being one of the best cinematic style titles you can find today.

God is a Geek - Chris White - 8 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep tells an emotional tale under extreme circumstances, with a stunningly detailed world and intelligent storytelling.

Hobby Consolas - Daniel Quesada - Spanish - 83 / 100

A horror adventure that knows how to get to the point and tell us its story in a convincing way. In terms of gameplay, it has nothing particularly memorable, but the tide of the narrative will sweep you away.

IGN - Leana Hafer - 6 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep's nearly on-rails structure and ineffective scares undersell its otherwise fantastic setting.

MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 7.5 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep is a good narrative adventure that immerses us in the horror of a realistically reproduced oil rig, but it fails to create high levels of tension in the player. Thanks to the good story, the interesting cast of characters and the excellent original voice acting, it remains an excellent first-person adventure that fans of the genre should not miss.

PC Gamer - Elie Gould - 86 / 100

An emotive story that is equal parts terrifying and traumatic.

PSX Brasil - Mateus Alexandre - Portuguese - 85 / 100

Still Wakes The Deep dispenses with any traditional gameplay system and manages to sustain itself only with the power of good writing and doses of tension at the right times.

Press Start - James Mitchell - 7.5 / 10

Falling short of its potential, Still Wakes The Deep's linearity and simplicity of gameplay does disservice to a great concept. Despite this, it's still well worth a look, owing to its stellar art direction, well-written characters and strong atmosphere. The result is an inviting and alluring world that's a joy to take in, even if it doesn't quite scare the player in ways it intended.

Push Square - Aaron Bayne - 8 / 10

Still Wakes The Deep may not stick around for long, but it'll have an iron-clad grip on you across its runtime. There's clear inspiration here from horror movie classics such as Alien and The Thing, and we adored seeing those inspirations play out through its highly-detailed settings and salt-of-the-Earth cast of characters. It may not be the most engaging gameplay experience on the PS5, but The Chinese Room smartly lays a solid foundation in the Beira D and its gaggle of staff, that'll keep its viscerally focused horror on your mind long after the credits roll.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Brendan Caldwell - Unscored

A first-person North Sea horror that doesn't push the boat out but still excels within its genre

SECTOR.sk - Oto Schultz - Slovak - 8 / 10

The beauty of cosmic horror shows best in the recreation of something known, into something unknown. Similarly, The Chinese Room's newest title Still Wakes The Deep transforms their established formula into something newish and isolates this terrorizing idea onto a secluded oil rig located in the Northern Sea where it gives into this genre's beauty. Unique Scottish setting, unfathomably well-designed story, and dense audio design with great visuals push this glorified walking sim into a terrifying realm and serve players a true one-of-a-kind experience!

Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - 7 / 10

Still Wakes the Deep is a classic walking simulator with few interactions. It's a very linear and guided horror game with a good story and a gameplay that comes from 2010, too simple to leave a mark in this competitive market.

TheSixthAxis - Tuffcub - 9 / 10

Treat Still Wakes the Deep like a Netflix mini series and you will have a whale of a time. Its excellent script, acting, and atmosphere make it just as good to passively watch as to actively play, so grab your partner, turn off the lights and binge it over a few evenings.

Wccftech - Nathan Birch - 6 / 10

While Still Wakes the Deep offers up its fair share of thrills, railroad-style level design, a short runtime, and a surprisingly superficial story result in an experience that may entertain in the moment, but will likely be forgotten rather quickly. Still Wakes the Deep may well float your boat at a discount, but there are better, scarier fish in the sea.

WellPlayed - Zach Jackson - 7.5 / 10

With a cracking setting and emotional narrative that's expertly brought to life by fantastic voice acting and writing, Still Wakes the Deep is a solid horror title that falls short of greatness due to its generic gameplay and limited scare factor.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.5 / 10

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.

Video Reviews

 

[Punished Miku]

I never played their previous games but I'm intrigued by the setting. This is pretty much what I expected. Perfect GP game to break up some of the bigger releases.

 

[Thief1987]

Still Wakes the Deep is a classic walking simulator with few interactions. It's a very linear and guided horror game with a good story and a gameplay that comes from 2010, too simple to leave a mark in this competitive market.

Well, this is telling everything about this kinda game. Should be a hit on gamepass though as they are like this kind of stuff.

 

[adamsapple]

Treat Still Wakes the Deep like a Netflix mini series and you will have a whale of a time. Its excellent script, acting, and atmosphere make it just as good to passively watch as to actively play, so grab your partner, turn off the lights and binge it over a few evenings.

 

[acm2000]

sounds like perfect game pass game, will shit it onto my xbox and spaff it into my eyes tomorrow.

 

[Mr Moose]

Xbox tax.

 

[Jaybe]

Thick Thighs Save Lives the metacritic link goes to open critic, just a heads-uo

 

[Salz01]

After a playing a little bit of Hellblade 2, I’m over walking sims.

 

[mdkirby]

I wish there was at least 4X more games like this. There's just never enough of them, and they are 'weekend games' so you finish them in just a couple of sittings, which is a perfect length for these games, but it means you only get a few of weekends on them per year.

 

[clarky]

Ill save you all some cash.

I actually work on an oil rig full of disheveled mutants and can tell you its boring and no fun.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Thick Thighs Save Lives the metacritic link goes to open critic, just a heads-uo

Ty! The link should be fixed now.

 

[HL3.exe]

This bodes well for Vampire Bloodlines 2

/s

(Jokingly, I kinda like 7 out of 10's.)

 

[analog_future]

Sounds right up my alley. Really excited to play this one.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Absolutely getting this, sounds amazing.

 

[tommib]

Actually pre-ordered this and it’s loaded on my PS5.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I'll update the OP with more reviews, etc. in about an hour from now.

Edit: OP has been updated.

 

[Negotiator101]

Looking forward to this, this review from Checkpoint gaming "but when horror as a genre is moving in some seriously impressive and unique directions, Still Wakes the Deep feels a little bit stuck in the past. What horror games are moving the genre forward exactly?

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Rapture was OK, the setting and premise of this sounds far more interesting, will check it out at some point.

 

[Negotiator101]

Actually pre-ordered this and it’s loaded on my PS5.

It's Day 1 Gamepass, save you some dough.

 

[John Marston]

Ill save you all some cash.

I actually work on an oil rig full of disheveled mutants and can tell you its boring and no fun.

Yes I remember the picture you posted in our "Post a picture of yourself" thread

 

[Luipadre]

Cant wait to play tomorrow. Im in a horror game mood

 

[Flabagast]

Day 1 on PS5, cant wait

 

[BadBurger]

The visuals look fantastic. It has the facade of Lovecraft. I have a feeling my backlog is about to increase by one.

 

[reektann]

Any details on performance on console?

 

[tommib]

It's Day 1 Gamepass, save you some dough.

I don’t do subscription services.

 

[GHG]

You're buying?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

It's Day 1 Gamepass, save you some dough.

Don't try to convert him into a dirty scrub

 

[tommib]

Waiting….

 

[Denton]

Sounds good, gonna play it to get a break from Tsushima, which is overstaying its welcome a bit.

 

[adamsapple]

You're buying?

Yes, I bought into Game Pass™ to play this game.

 

[tommib]

Don't try to convert him into a dirty scrub

People have no idea how rich I am.

 

[Bartski]

lovely, my plan for tomorrow evening

 

[John Marston]

Actually pre-ordered this and it’s loaded on my PS5.

Followed you like a happy sheep and did the same

 

[Luipadre]

Looks like it has 60fps too on console with pretty great IQ

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

First 20 minutes of Still Wakes the Deep:

 

[mckmas8808]

Xbox tax.

How and why do Xbox reviewers rate their games so high? What's happening here?

 

[LordOfChaos]

Great volumes of water serve as a bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth.

Overcome this hindrance, and seek what is yours.

 

[Mr Moose]

How and why do Xbox reviewers rate their games so high? What's happening here?

They might've thought it was exclusive.

 

[Terenty]

looks like MGS2 first person mod

 

[adamsapple]

How and why do Xbox reviewers rate their games so high? What's happening here?

They might've thought it was exclusive.

Both platform exclusives websites like PSX Brasil, Xbox Era etc rate it the same 8.5 to 8.7.

Most of the really low scoring reviews like the 4's and many 6's are only listed on the PS reviews page (even though they're from multi-platform websites).

This is why I prefer opencritic, it has all reviews for a game in a single page

 

[Mr Moose]

Both platform exclusives websites like PSX Brasil, Xbox Era etc rate it the same 8.5 to 8.7.

Most of the really low scoring reviews like the 4's and many 6's are only listed on the PS reviews page (even though they're from multi-platform websites).

This is why I prefer opencritic, it has all reviews for a game in a single page

I was joking.

 

[adamsapple]

I was joking.

No, I know. It's just a long standing MC thing that they divide reviews by platform. Doesn't give an accurate aggregation. (But it also has its positive points, like I wouldn't lump in Cyberpunk PS4/XBO reviews with the PC version when the game originally launched, or Bayonetta PS3 with the 360 reviews etc)

 

[Chuck Berry]

Developer name sounds oddly racist

Developer: The Chinese Room

Spoiler

I'm kidding

 

[Flabagast]

Looks like it has 60fps too on console with pretty great IQ

ray tracing only in the 30 fps mode, shit

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[Magic Carpet]

First 20 minutes of Still Wakes the Deep:

Wow, I can't believe I have not been following this. I'm going to love this.
Gamepass preinstall is up, only 8GB.

 

[adamsapple]

Damn, a The Thing inspired game is just what I need to celebrate The Thing remastered announcement!

 

[Diseased Yak]

Played for a bit this morning, holy hell did they nail the atmosphere! Some thoughts:

- Amusing to see the subtitles provide translations for the Scottish slang being thrown about.
- Some of the best sound design I've heard. Using headphones is an experience, let me tell ya. Creepy af.
- Graphics are amazing. I'm playing fully cranked at 119 fps and it's jaw-dropping at times.
- Pursuant to above, the only graphical issue I had was the motion blur, turned it off. Well, that and anything that's a rope or cable hanging down or swinging seems to have less animation frames than anything else.
- The plot is pretty great so far, though I'm less than 2 hours in. Gets creepy very quickly.

I guess that's it for now. Will report back when I finish it up.

 

[Punished Miku]

Played for a bit this morning, holy hell did they nail the atmosphere! Some thoughts:

- Amusing to see the subtitles provide translations for the Scottish slang being thrown about.
- Some of the best sound design I've heard. Using headphones is an experience, let me tell ya. Creepy af.
- Graphics are amazing. I'm playing fully cranked at 119 fps and it's jaw-dropping at times.
- Pursuant to above, the only graphical issue I had was the motion blur, turned it off. Well, that and anything that's a rope or cable hanging down or swinging seems to have less animation frames than anything else.
- The plot is pretty great so far, though I'm less than 2 hours in. Gets creepy very quickly.

I guess that's it for now. Will report back when I finish it up.

I might save this one for the weekend, but sounds really promising. Nice.

 

[kikii]

Played for a bit this morning, holy hell did they nail the atmosphere! Some thoughts:

- Amusing to see the subtitles provide translations for the Scottish slang being thrown about.
- Some of the best sound design I've heard. Using headphones is an experience, let me tell ya. Creepy af.
- Graphics are amazing. I'm playing fully cranked at 119 fps and it's jaw-dropping at times.
- Pursuant to above, the only graphical issue I had was the motion blur, turned it off. Well, that and anything that's a rope or cable hanging down or swinging seems to have less animation frames than anything else.
- The plot is pretty great so far, though I'm less than 2 hours in. Gets creepy very quickly.

I guess that's it for now. Will report back when I finish it up.

its 3hrs game so u are at halfway ^^