Single-player or multiplayer: Single-player | Free to play: No
In Still Wakes the Deep, horror comes in multiple forms. Eldritch creatures stalk the Beira D oil rig on thin, too-long limbs that burst from their bodies like snapping bungee cords. Human-sized pustules and bloody ribbons grow along the corridors, emitting a sickly cosmic glow. The North Sea is an unrelenting threat, wailing beneath every step. And then there’s the rig itself, a maze-like industrial platform supported by slender tension legs in the middle of a raging ocean, groaning as it’s ripped apart from the inside.
Gameplay in Still Wakes the Deep is traditional first-person horror fare, executed with elegance and expertise by The Chinese Room. Its action involves leaping across broken platforms, balancing on ledges, running down corridors, climbing ladders, swimming through claustrophobic holes, and hiding from monsters in vents and lockers. There are no guns on the Beira D, and the protagonist has just a screwdriver to help him break open locks and metal panels, placing the focus on pure survival rather than combat. The game is fully voice acted and its crew members — most of them Scottish — are incredibly charming, which only makes the carnage more disturbing once the monsters board the rig.
Still Wakes the Deep is an instant horror classic. It’s filled with heart-pounding terror and laugh-out-loud dialogue, and it all takes place in a setting that’s rarely explored in interactive media. Amid the sneaking, swimming, running and climbing, Still Wakes the Deep manages to tell a heartfelt story about relationships and sacrifice. — J.C.