When I first saw trailers for Still Wakes the Deep, I thought it looked interesting enough to try on Game Pass eventually. Once I started seeing comparisons to the movie The Thing, I decided to play it day one. I’m just now getting around to writing about it, but it was definitely worth the playthrough.
Getting Started on the Rig
The start was a bit slow, but helped build the relationships between the characters. As the main character, Cameron “Caz” McLeary, the job on the oil rig is an attempt to escape legal troubles on the mainland. That stint on the oil rig was thanks to his friend Roy who I think was the brother of Caz’s wife Suze.
It was very linear with really only 1 path, but nice to meet all the characters and learn a bit of backstory before all hell broke loose. The rig took place on Biera D, off of Scottland and the characters had thick Scottish accents. It was funny to hear some of the different lingo. The “lecky” to identify electricians was my favorite.
The legal troubles that started the game found their way onto the oil rig, angering the big boss of the rig, Rennick. Before Caz could get booted off the rig, the drill team hit disaster. The oil rig practically exploded and shook so much of the structure apart.
Still Wakes the Deep, Then Boom
That’s where the “fun” trying to survive started. I spent the game running and jumping across dangerous gaps. There was climbing, crawling, shimmying, swimming and solving some simple environmental puzzles. It was a tense journey to try to escape the oil rig which inevitably sent me deeper into it.
At first, I’d gasp every time the rig would shake as I climbed on a narrow beam or a ledge and had to adjust my grip to avoid falling. After awhile though, I pretty much just expected that to happen every time I was dangling. Another minor bit of immersion breaking annoyance in Still Wakes the Deep was the infamous “yellow paint”.
Countless games have used some variant of bright paint to identify climbable or interactive objects. I couldn’t help a minor eye roll at things that look climbable, but I know there were not due to the lack of that paint. On the flip side though, when running for my life later, it very welcome to know exactly which path to take.
Starting the Horror Part of the Show
Running for my characters life and then hiding were frequent activities in the game. The rig disaster morphed into horror with some alien or ancient life taking over. As it infected more and more of the crew, inspiration from The Thing was more apparent, but that is a good thing.
The creepy stretched faces with tendrils coming out of appendages was a fitting tribute to that classic movie. Those monstrosities in the game heightened the tension when I’d run for my life or hide from their sight. Some of the memorable tense moments involved throwing objects to distract monsters while rushing to the next hiding spot.
Most of the Still Wakes the Deep is spent alone, it was a nice reprieve to run into other surviving members of the crew along the way. We’d help each other out to get farther along and try to keep the rig afloat. It’s no surprise that allies are lost along the way, but it made the journey more impactful.
The story had plenty of tension and tragedy, but I enjoyed the ride. It was less than 10 hours, but I felt like the length was a perfect bookend for some of the longer games I’ve played. I’d for sure recommend it to any fans of The Thing. Plus this game has a more definitive ending than that movie did.
For those with Game Pass, there’s no excuse not to play it.