There's enough "open world" games out there, so I appreciate the linear and tighter story-telling thus provides. It's like an interactive movie, in a good way.
You can't really go an "open world" on a goddamn oilrig. Making an oldschool level design, with levels big enough to explore but not big enough for open world would've been great.
@@Dat_Jonx oil rigs are large but the interior isn't exactly expansive. My uncle worked on a couple and it always seemed a bit claustrophobic at times, especially since you couldn't go anywhere. Great setting for horror actually.
There's linear and then there is being a long cutscene where you walk in a straight line from scripted moment to scripted moment. This is not a "game" in any meaningful sense of the word.
And honestly most open world games are mediocre at best. There’s only so much you can really let the player do before you’re forced to pad the game with meaningless collectibles or repetitive side missions to “justify” the open world. Very few developers know how to pull off a genuinely good open world game
I loved the linearity and non-combat of this game. The story and visuals were so good, the characters and situations so well crafted, I was happy to hang on for the ride.
yep, this game is not about challenging player, but to tell a story. This story would work in a book or a movie, but they chose game media. there is nothing wrong with that.
My brother in law is a structural engineer and was frequently flown out by helicopter to inspect abandoned oil rigs. Rusted cat walks, bad weather out of nowhere, and only two other people (including the pilot). Always sounded terrifying.
A lot of my family worked on North Sea oil Rigs from the 1970s through to the early 2010s, and I showed some of them this. They were impressed by the boss's accurate representation of being the same utter C|_INT of a boss, as seen in every other North Sea rig of the time. The banter and dialogue in this is PERFECTION. When you hear people try Scottish accents and they're not raised in Scotland, you just cannot help but notice it, as it really stands out to us but in this game, I was pleasantly surprised by it.
Honestly mad props to you Drinker for covering this game. It was one of my favorite games of 2024 and it flew under the radar to the point I barely heard anyone of prominence talk about it. This game felt like a perfect dose of John Carpenter’s The Thing body horror mixed with a really cool out at sea setting. More people should definitely experience this game so it’s about fucking time this game gets some much deserved love, thank you Drinker!
This was my favourite game of 2024. Great memories of that one. I actually enjoyed the early part the most (before it all kicks off), just exploring the time period/environment. The ending was a bit of a tear jerker though. I like these "walking sims" being linear. Not everything has to be an open world sandbox. They are practically a movie/book. You are being told a story, with some interaction so you can live the experience.
I did offshore for 10 years in the GOM, currently my wife and I work together on a land rig. We work opposite 12 hour shifts and live in our office trailer. We love it, neither of us would do this without the other here now. We even have out little dog with us. We did exactly 5 months last round. This round is only gonna be about 30 days thank god. I played this game and loved it, they have different names for stuff than i am used to, like "mud handling" we call the shaker house or pit room etc. The rig was a little sparse of employees being a floater however i did not work out there back in the 70s so that may be accurate. I have worked on older floaters and older jackups in the gulf though and even some inland barges. This one hit close to home for me for sure. I would say if you have not played this game, do so.
tbh every game these days is open world and usually story suffers because of that if it is not done right. I am glad we have just story driven corridor, where the main focus was on scenery and story
I agree. I was just complaining to a friend how EVERY game has to be open world and so huge that the story and gameplay suffers because the devs spent so much time making it "immersive." I recently started playing a very simple game with good gameplay and story, and I was shocked how hooked I was because it didn't waste my time, and it rewarded me for the hours I put in.
Well I hear that the pay while working on an oil rig is very good. Although apparently the working hours are brutal. It’s a job you should do while youre young and then get out when you’ve made your money
I have some friends who are considering it. basically 2 12 hour shifts, one shift works while the other sleeps. and when you sign on, you have to sign for at leas 6 months. If you die, your family is handsomely compensated, which says a lot about the job in itself.
Rig work is excellent pay, Think everyone had those kids at school who had every gadget and toys who ppl automatically went 'His dad works on rigs' to make everyone else feel better about just getting the one pair of trainers at Christmas
Spent six months as a systems tech on a North Sea rig in the mid 90’s. Took some getting used to but after six months work, I could afford to take the following year off and go travelling on a very comfortable budget.
If anyone can enlighten me, how do you even go about getting a job on an oil rig to begin with? Are you expected to have already been trained or is like on the job training? Honestly, I’m curious.
I like how real Caz's reactions are. He's told to venture out onto a bridge 100 feet away from the rig to relight a torch? "Screw that! You do it instead." They then gave a reasonable in-universe answer as to why you had to play the game before throwing you out there again. Edit: as for the yellow paint, (apparently) you can turn it off in settings. I can't fact check this but that's what I heard.
@FazaPlaza Alright. Thanks for telling me. Still, I feel like this is the one game it is justified in for like equipment and whatnot (though I will admit the convenient paint spills everywhere do get grating)
Sounds like SOMA; also a linear walking game but the story, man...the oppressive and depressing atmosphere of that game made me go back to it after finishing it.
Still Wakes The Deep is the literal definition of an “interactive movie” but it is done VERY well that it isn’t really a problem for a game more or less meant to only be played once.
This reminds me so much of SOMA and I can't be more happy since both are amazing games. Thanks Drinker for showing of this game. AAA Developers live in fear once more because Drinker is here.
this looks not only like a very interesting concept, both the isolation of the rig, and the mystery of what you could have possibly dug up, as well as a very good execution of it. the monsters are realistic but terrifying, and the idea of becoming one yourself seems worse than death
I agree with you, I stood still and just looked around when I first explored the crew quarters. Everything from the rain hitting the windows to the way the light reflected off different surfaces was like nothing I've experienced before. Unreal Engine 5 has so much room to grow still, but this feels like the start of a new era when it comes to immersion in video games.
You absolutely should try SOMA! It’s a very similar game in terms of atmosphere and vibe. Once again you can’t fight but the variety of enemy’s and approaches (generally) offers a great experience. I sat down and played the game all the way through in one sitting.
Those developers are known for making “walking-sim” games, which have a market. I love several games in that genre, such as Journey, Virginia, Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter.
Oh man the Vanishing Of Ethan Carter absolutely blew my mind when I first played it. I remember just wanting to stop and take in the scenes/explore everything instead of progressing the story. And don’t get me wrong it was a good story too. That game finally made me enjoy walking sims
There is a miniseries with a similar plot that came out in 2023 about an Oil Rig off the coast of Scotland drilling into a mysterious entity. It’s called The Rig, and beyond the similar premise it’s totally different. But it’s so weird that two separate media came out around the same time with such similar premises.
@@Johnboy6346I must have spent several hours on the first part of the game with Snake on the tanker just fucking around with the enemies and how much fun it was. This is the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life and I know that people will sometimes willingly eat fecal matter
I loved this game. Played it through twice in a row - once with the Gaelic subtitles - and loved everything about it both times. The game looks phenomenal, and the voice acting is some of the best I've ever heard.
I really really enjoyed this game. I appreciated the tight linear gameplay. Felt like a breath of fresh air to be just told a good story - and what a damn good story it was. Your criticisms are valid, but I never felt the detraction, I only wanted more.
Sadly the gameplay is a side effect of Chinese Room, the studio. Its how they make games, hell this is the most dynamic and interactive and explorable game they've done yet because of pick up and throw stuff mechanic. Yeah its a low bar, and all their narrative stuff is generally really nice or good ideas, but ugh the gameplay... The fact they do keep taking tiny baby steps foreward does suggest maybe like, 3-4 releases from now we'll get an actual game, but yeah.
Indeed, Chinese Room is renowned (and in certain circles, infamous) for betting all chips and their neckties on making walking simulators, trading their visuals and narrative off for as superficial gameplay as possible.
the movie you mentioned was already made a long time ago. The Intruder Within is a 1981 made-for-TV horror movie about a creature found on an oil rig. The movie is about drillers who accidentally hatch prehistoric eggs and unleash a deadly creature. Plot:
I honestly don't mind the whole "yellow paint" thing. When you see it, you know that's the way you've got to go to progress, and any other path is going to be side content for collectables etc
thx for the review and keeping me cracking up throughout- you can actually hold my attention that’s pretty amazing in and of itself. great stuff dude your cuts are superb. i gotta practice my scottish accents
This game sat on my wishlist for a long time until recently when I finally got it on sale. Boy was I pleasantly surprised, one of the most memorable horror style games I have played in some time
@@Secret_Takodachi Thank you! Exactly, in a real life scenario we would find ANYTHING to use as a weapon. Just the idea of having something to defend yourself actually makes the experience more scary because you think that means you have to actually interact with the enemies at some point, rather than a barebones gameplay loop of outrun monster (who has to be slower than you for gameplay purposes because you have no other way to deal with them) or hide from monster (which is incredibly simplified and braindead because, again, NO other interaction mechanics exist in the game to make sneaking around more involved or compelling). You don't even NEED the weapons to deal damage or have the enemies killable, Alien Isolation has deep gameplay and weapons and yet the Alien is 100% indestructable. Horror is THE WORST possible genre for walking sims and it baffles me that this developer hasn't tried doing anything else to make the game more engaging so that the horror has a chance to be effective outside of visuals. Even the Amnesia people gave up on walking sims (ironically after this developer got them into it) when they realized it wasn't working, and then made Amnesia the Bunker which is very gameplay focused and is quite possibly their best game, and a genuinely scary and tense game on top of that!
The best part of the game is honestly the dialogue and acting, especially from Caz's VA. Every reaction from him feels so disturbingly real. The banter and overall tone of the dialogue is amazing too, you can tell every member of the crew is horrified at what's going on but they still keep their banter with each other.
Thank you for the review, Drinker! I shall watch the playthroughs with a bucket of popcorn! Who needs movies these days when interactive stories easily keep player’s attention?
I went to the Maritime Museum in Aberdeen, which has a bunch of fantastic equipment and scale models from the oil drilling industry and it was incredible. Seems as close to working on the Nostromo from Alien as I can imagine (no xenomorphs, but same amount of terror). After, I spent an hour nursing a pint in a pub watching a documentary on TH-cam about the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster. Presented right, it's an environment that you want to learn everything about that you possibly can, and then physically avoid for the rest of your life.
I genuinely don't know why these developers keep choosing to make horror themed walking sims, when horror is the WORST possible genre for a walking sim. If they added more gameplay, the horror would be more effective. If they stuck with walking sims, but used a different genre then the gameplay (or lack thereof) would be more effective. It baffles me that horror is the most common walking sim genre!
This is basically what movies are evolving into. Walking simulators that bring you from a crafted/scripted scene to the next. It's probably for the best, and yet another thing Star Trek predicted.
I reminded me a lot of Soma when I played it. The horribly mutated people and the isolated setting (a deep sea facility in that game), and a remarkably great narrative. I don't even mind the linearity, I want more narrative-based horror like this one.
Ngl I thought The Chinese Room closed its doors years ago after Everyone has gone to the rapture. Really enjoyed that game for what it was. Glad to hear they are still around. Might give this one a look. Thanks for putting it on my radar, Drinker.
The Poseidon Adventure meets The Thing with C bombs. As a Middlesbrough man with more kinship going North than South and a substantial family history with that sea and those rigs, this was a great experience. Loved Gaz as a character. Check out Soma. It's a masterpiece.
Your review sums up how games by The Chinese Room feel to me as well. They do a lot right, but the experience never feels interactive enough to really enjoy. It is kind of like they forget to include things in the games to make you feel a real connection and just expect you to empathize because "things happen." At least that is how I felt about Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Dear Ester (and Giant Sparrow's mega linear Edith Finch.) In comparison, I empathized quite a bit with the characters in SOMA and Gone Home, and I loved how those games gave you a bit of freedom to stumble about without getting lost, with the latter even allowing you to finish the game in only a few minutes if you know what to do. From your review it sounds like Still Wakes Deep does do a bit more to make you care about characters, which is a sign narrative design growth. And despite there shortcomings. this and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and this show some great potential and beautiful art, so I hope The Chinese Room can improve their overall game design going forward.
Glad you finally played this, Drinker. It's absolutely mesmerizing and as soon as I heard those Scots start speaking, I immediately thought of you. Cheers! 🍺
Agreed. SWTD reminded me of SOMA very much. Funny how The Chinese Room worked on Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs for Frictional Games a few years ago. An oh I do still love that game.
I haven't played this through yet but I had nothing but issues trying to set the graphics how I wanted them.... Tried FSR framegen to see how it worked because it's usually quite good and it didn't even seem to work at certain resolutions. Also changing between FSR and XeSS sometimes didn't seem to work right.
The Chinese Room def know how to attract with less gameplay but the script and the cast AND soundtrack ofc. We got it in Dear Esther, we got it in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture which is my favorite even nowadays. Some just have to realize what to expect from games like these. I love their stuff because when I wanna chill or to be a little sad, or melancholic I always get back to The Chinese Room's games. SWTD is their basic creation, but with better graphics and settings, and I did enjoy it too, it just feels like watching The Thing but at the same interacting with it.
Definitely looking forward to playing this; it's in my TBP queue. Part of my interest came from watching The Rig, and I'd love to get Drinker's take on that show!
I didn't expect a game so short and with such few mechanics to be one of my favourite games of the year but this made it real close to the top of my list.
This is by The Chinese Room, the same people that made Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. They're a studio whose titles up to this point are decently written but all detrimentally short on mechanics. Heck, Dear Esther basically doesn't have any. Each time they release something, it seems like they've finally figured out a concept the entire rest of the industry worked out decades ago: A Machine For Pigs had some actual puzzles, Still Wakes the Deep has some actual people in it to interact with. Give them another 20 years and they might actually create a game.
There's a massive, MASSIVE difference between linear and open-world games. When a game like this is criticized for being too linear, they're usually referring to the idea that the challenges and objectives in the game can only really be tackled in one exact order and one exact strategy. In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, there are several puzzles that you have to solve in one "segment" of the game to progress to the next area, but you can tackle them in any order that you prefer, and in some cases the order you do the puzzles can change the enemies that appear. I was 100% confident in the Cistern segment that the Kaernk absolutely DOES NOT appear, no matter how much the sounds of the water splashing made you think otherwise, but I think I did that puzzle last out of all the rooms in that area, and my Hard Mode playthrough was in for quite a shock when I decided to take a shortcut _through_ the water, but the splashes behind me didn't stop. Then the Kaernk's soundtrack started playing and I started taking damage. My entire world was turned upside down that day
This was a good game. It was linear and the enemy encounters are "throw stuff and move slightly," but they were genuinely unsettling. I'd recommend it. Loved the Scottish accents, too. Don't get to hear much of that in a video game.
As an American I enjoyed the fact that it didn’t take place in America for once. The voice acting was amazing and I actually appreciated the linear story.
This game was a lovely little piece of every phobia possible smashed onto an oil rig, even if it was rather straightforward. Also, I'm fairly sure it also made nearly everyone who played it speak with a scottish accent for weeks on end.
Its a work of art this game. It's pretty easy but it's like a movie that I can be in. The dialogue is amazing, storyline brilliant, graphics look really cool and the setting is unique. Yes it's linear but it's quite refreshing as some open world games are unnecessarily huge with no substance. I genuinely enjoyed listening to all the workers at the beginning
I also want to appreciate the game on a technical level. Under 10GB, no third party DRM, no separate EULA, reasonable hardware recommendations, no external accounts or launchers. Its almost as if those things that seem ubiquitous in modern games by AAA studios aren't helping and are just a blight on their customers.
I just love that this isn’t the same old American characters. Hearing a different accent and heavy slang was such a breath of fresh air! Also wasn’t it said to be more of an interactive story from the get go?
I loved the storyline and the authenticity of the characters, the linear gameplay is definitely its greatest flaw but it was still one of the most enjoyable games I played last year. Also it is clear the the game developers are massive fans of "The Thing" as this is essentially "The Thing" on an Oil Rig
I absolutely loved this game but expected to feel mid on it. Put on some good 3D headphones and crank up the volume and this game can scare the crap out of you. Its 100% linear and like a movie. But for some reason it was like 'The Thing' on an oil rig. And it worked really well.
I’m very happy you played this. Figured you would enjoy it! If you want another short burst oldie but goodie game check out The Thing Remastered. It’s an old school one from the PS2 era but manages to still hold up pretty well and has a great trust based system that keeps you on your toes at all times and pays a great homage to John Carpenter’s movie while creating a continuing story of it’s own.
Drinker, you should check out Epic The Musical. Its a modern take on Homer's Odyssey with great storytelling, a brilliant cast with amazing voices and banger songs all throughout
Number of oil drilling operations that have actually unearthed ancient alien life, Balrogs, zombie viruses, or have otherwise endangered humanity: ZERO.
I think REmake 2 is an excellent example of a survival horror game that has enough opennes. You can alternate open areas where you can indulge in and more imporantly, REWARD exploration with more linear sections that serve to move the story along. This might sound silly but im reminded of a piece of advice from Cesar Milan the dog whisperer about a chihuahua that was stressed out: the dog wanted to run around instead of being carried in a purse, but he advized the owner that the dog would apreciate being carried if she let her dog get tired from running about first. A lot of people seem to be growing tired of open world games. But some of them find a balance beyween open world exploration and linear sections. Stellar Blade did it well IMO. And Elden Ring's legacy dungeons were also a welcome diversion from running around on your horse.
Played this game in one sitting when it first came out, the storytelling and atmosphere is fantastic. Love The Thing style monster vibes and the voice acting is bang on.
There's enough "open world" games out there, so I appreciate the linear and tighter story-telling thus provides. It's like an interactive movie, in a good way.
I actually hate open world games, I am a sucker for a good story.
You can't really go an "open world" on a goddamn oilrig. Making an oldschool level design, with levels big enough to explore but not big enough for open world would've been great.
@@Dat_Jonx oil rigs are large but the interior isn't exactly expansive. My uncle worked on a couple and it always seemed a bit claustrophobic at times, especially since you couldn't go anywhere. Great setting for horror actually.
There's linear and then there is being a long cutscene where you walk in a straight line from scripted moment to scripted moment. This is not a "game" in any meaningful sense of the word.
And honestly most open world games are mediocre at best. There’s only so much you can really let the player do before you’re forced to pad the game with meaningless collectibles or repetitive side missions to “justify” the open world. Very few developers know how to pull off a genuinely good open world game
5:55 I love how the subtitles are different from the actual Scottish dialogue translating Scottish slang for non Scot players
I love the idea of having "Scottish" as a language option. 😂
I'm gonna need Scottish localizations more often from now on
@@CMCAdvanced It's ye fookin' civil right nae, innit?
@@coyoteone6197 im Scottish and have no idea what you just said 😂
@@coyoteone6197 "innit"? thats what a particular type from London say pal. Thats litteraly the opposite end of the UK 😂
I loved the linearity and non-combat of this game. The story and visuals were so good, the characters and situations so well crafted, I was happy to hang on for the ride.
yep, this game is not about challenging player, but to tell a story. This story would work in a book or a movie, but they chose game media. there is nothing wrong with that.
My brother in law is a structural engineer and was frequently flown out by helicopter to inspect abandoned oil rigs. Rusted cat walks, bad weather out of nowhere, and only two other people (including the pilot). Always sounded terrifying.
Yeah no id never want to do that.
yeah, back in a days inspecting old facilities on mainland was terrifying, and oilrig i think is just on another level.
It's not too bad these days... the games should've incorporated the crane and pressured lines
lol its the south park joke about BP "we are sorry" we unleash the great cthulhu
I immediately thought that's where they got the idea from and then realized just how good of a setting it rly is :D
worse, they unleashed Mauler
A lot of my family worked on North Sea oil Rigs from the 1970s through to the early 2010s, and I showed some of them this. They were impressed by the boss's accurate representation of being the same utter C|_INT of a boss, as seen in every other North Sea rig of the time.
The banter and dialogue in this is PERFECTION. When you hear people try Scottish accents and they're not raised in Scotland, you just cannot help but notice it, as it really stands out to us but in this game, I was pleasantly surprised by it.
Honestly mad props to you Drinker for covering this game. It was one of my favorite games of 2024 and it flew under the radar to the point I barely heard anyone of prominence talk about it. This game felt like a perfect dose of John Carpenter’s The Thing body horror mixed with a really cool out at sea setting. More people should definitely experience this game so it’s about fucking time this game gets some much deserved love, thank you Drinker!
The Boogie cut was diabolical 😂😂😂
Nobody can say it was inaccurate tho 😂
Body horror
oh god that had me rollin
Sound clip of the jump scare:
"TIPPLES!"
Can someone explain the boogie thing? He's been making a bunch of jokes about it recently, and I feel like I missed something.
This was my favourite game of 2024. Great memories of that one. I actually enjoyed the early part the most (before it all kicks off), just exploring the time period/environment. The ending was a bit of a tear jerker though. I like these "walking sims" being linear. Not everything has to be an open world sandbox. They are practically a movie/book. You are being told a story, with some interaction so you can live the experience.
This was good but Indiana Jones And The Great Circle was a masterpiece.
Its a good wee game, straight forward and I loved it. You can disable the yellow paint in the settings.
I did offshore for 10 years in the GOM, currently my wife and I work together on a land rig. We work opposite 12 hour shifts and live in our office trailer. We love it, neither of us would do this without the other here now. We even have out little dog with us. We did exactly 5 months last round. This round is only gonna be about 30 days thank god. I played this game and loved it, they have different names for stuff than i am used to, like "mud handling" we call the shaker house or pit room etc. The rig was a little sparse of employees being a floater however i did not work out there back in the 70s so that may be accurate. I have worked on older floaters and older jackups in the gulf though and even some inland barges. This one hit close to home for me for sure. I would say if you have not played this game, do so.
It's Christmas season in the game so most of the employees were headed home, the ones remaining on the rig are skeleton crew essentially.
tbh every game these days is open world and usually story suffers because of that if it is not done right. I am glad we have just story driven corridor, where the main focus was on scenery and story
I agree. I was just complaining to a friend how EVERY game has to be open world and so huge that the story and gameplay suffers because the devs spent so much time making it "immersive."
I recently started playing a very simple game with good gameplay and story, and I was shocked how hooked I was because it didn't waste my time, and it rewarded me for the hours I put in.
I just want a good old linear FPS.
but we have, we call them movies and books.
@@elenoe8 no, we call them narrative-driven games and it has its place in gaming world.
@@Thesavagesouls Look for Ashes 2063. Three mods that deliver the exact linear progression you want.
Well I hear that the pay while working on an oil rig is very good. Although apparently the working hours are brutal. It’s a job you should do while youre young and then get out when you’ve made your money
I have some friends who are considering it. basically 2 12 hour shifts, one shift works while the other sleeps. and when you sign on, you have to sign for at leas 6 months. If you die, your family is handsomely compensated, which says a lot about the job in itself.
Rig work is excellent pay, Think everyone had those kids at school who had every gadget and toys who ppl automatically went 'His dad works on rigs' to make everyone else feel better about just getting the one pair of trainers at Christmas
It was good,
Spent six months as a systems tech on a North Sea rig in the mid 90’s. Took some getting used to but after six months work, I could afford to take the following year off and go travelling on a very comfortable budget.
If anyone can enlighten me, how do you even go about getting a job on an oil rig to begin with? Are you expected to have already been trained or is like on the job training? Honestly, I’m curious.
I like how real Caz's reactions are. He's told to venture out onto a bridge 100 feet away from the rig to relight a torch?
"Screw that! You do it instead."
They then gave a reasonable in-universe answer as to why you had to play the game before throwing you out there again.
Edit: as for the yellow paint, (apparently) you can turn it off in settings. I can't fact check this but that's what I heard.
The game offers only two options, the normal amount or a reduced amount. Even with the reduced settings, the amount of yellow is very much present
@FazaPlaza Alright. Thanks for telling me. Still, I feel like this is the one game it is justified in for like equipment and whatnot (though I will admit the convenient paint spills everywhere do get grating)
Sounds like SOMA; also a linear walking game but the story, man...the oppressive and depressing atmosphere of that game made me go back to it after finishing it.
That ending was shattering.
SOMA is a hundred times better in my opinion.
More people should play SOMA, there isn't another game like it
2:08 - Gotta admire the commitment to OSHA. Dude has been horribly disfigured, still wears the earpro.
Still Wakes The Deep is the literal definition of an “interactive movie” but it is done VERY well that it isn’t really a problem for a game more or less meant to only be played once.
Still Wakes the Deep is what the Dark Pictures Anthology wishes it could be.
@@ZETH_27 Both games suck.
@ Still Wakes the Deep is masterfully made, showing passion and dedication in everything from story, to art, to sound.
This review was a long time coming. Happy to see it!
This reminds me so much of SOMA and I can't be more happy since both are amazing games. Thanks Drinker for showing of this game. AAA Developers live in fear once more because Drinker is here.
this looks not only like a very interesting concept, both the isolation of the rig, and the mystery of what you could have possibly dug up, as well as a very good execution of it. the monsters are realistic but terrifying, and the idea of becoming one yourself seems worse than death
I agree with you, I stood still and just looked around when I first explored the crew quarters. Everything from the rain hitting the windows to the way the light reflected off different surfaces was like nothing I've experienced before. Unreal Engine 5 has so much room to grow still, but this feels like the start of a new era when it comes to immersion in video games.
You absolutely should try SOMA! It’s a very similar game in terms of atmosphere and vibe. Once again you can’t fight but the variety of enemy’s and approaches (generally) offers a great experience. I sat down and played the game all the way through in one sitting.
Ah yes, SOMA. The Frictional game that has aged the best by a super wide margin. The story still prickles me to this day.
Exactly!... I loved SOMA... This gave me similar vibes.
Mauler has already told him to play soma a bunch of times
I did a bunch of animation on this (also added the Limmy reference in the credits). Glad you enjoyed the game!
Those developers are known for making “walking-sim” games, which have a market. I love several games in that genre, such as Journey, Virginia, Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter.
What Remains of Edith Finch is a banger.
Have you tried Firewatch or Gone Home? Both pretty solid, especially the former.
Oh man the Vanishing Of Ethan Carter absolutely blew my mind when I first played it. I remember just wanting to stop and take in the scenes/explore everything instead of progressing the story. And don’t get me wrong it was a good story too. That game finally made me enjoy walking sims
@@lens_hunter The fish scene made me so nervous in that game, was great though
@@GolfWhiskythat’s one I still need to play!
The voice acting was amazing in this game some of the best I've heard
Absolutely loved the atmosphere and story of this game. So glad to see the Drinker covering this!
There is a miniseries with a similar plot that came out in 2023 about an Oil Rig off the coast of Scotland drilling into a mysterious entity. It’s called The Rig, and beyond the similar premise it’s totally different. But it’s so weird that two separate media came out around the same time with such similar premises.
I remember Metal Gear Solid 2 being set entirely on an oil rig.
There we go! I was gonna write that as well
@@arealhumanbeing4651 MGS2 is virtually impossible on the hard mode.
And it was a boring slog of a game that failed to live up to the hype ..a colossal disappointment
@ The ending didn't make any sense whatsoever.
@@Johnboy6346I must have spent several hours on the first part of the game with Snake on the tanker just fucking around with the enemies and how much fun it was. This is the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life and I know that people will sometimes willingly eat fecal matter
Played this on gamepass and was very impressed with the setting and story.
Me and my friend played through this together over voice chat. We couldn't stop laughing at all the scottish jargon XD
Wish we could've saw ya stream it, but glad for the review none the less.
Could've seen, but at least you didn't write could of.
Having played and finished it myself late last year, I found it to be an atmospheric interactive story. It can be gross, and it can be beautiful.
Games set around the early 80s if I remember. Good times before the flood gates opened and ruined the UK
And even after you did your amazing little Brexit, your place is still complete dogshit. Who are you supposed to blame now?
In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming
Well, he was dreaming until someone drilled through his roof.
Nah, that's just Mauler.
Play SOMA man. You're gonna like it. I wanted to talk with people about it for days after finishing it. Cheers Drinker.
I originally heard about this game from Totally Pointless TV. Now that it's getting a review from the Drinker, I think I might have to give it a shot.
GAH the boogie jumpscare!! 💀
I would have waited an eternity for this
It's over, Prime
They've announced they're making a sequel to this called Still Wakes the Neeps set on a 30 acre farm in the North East of Scotland.
I loved this game. Played it through twice in a row - once with the Gaelic subtitles - and loved everything about it both times.
The game looks phenomenal, and the voice acting is some of the best I've ever heard.
Today I learned what a Chinese room actually means and it blew my mind.
I really really enjoyed this game. I appreciated the tight linear gameplay. Felt like a breath of fresh air to be just told a good story - and what a damn good story it was. Your criticisms are valid, but I never felt the detraction, I only wanted more.
Sadly the gameplay is a side effect of Chinese Room, the studio. Its how they make games, hell this is the most dynamic and interactive and explorable game they've done yet because of pick up and throw stuff mechanic.
Yeah its a low bar, and all their narrative stuff is generally really nice or good ideas, but ugh the gameplay...
The fact they do keep taking tiny baby steps foreward does suggest maybe like, 3-4 releases from now we'll get an actual game, but yeah.
Indeed, Chinese Room is renowned (and in certain circles, infamous) for betting all chips and their neckties on making walking simulators, trading their visuals and narrative off for as superficial gameplay as possible.
I wish they would make a Game like Cryostasis, which is pretty close in some aspects but had some fun gameplay but was overall a bit clunky.
the movie you mentioned was already made a long time ago. The Intruder Within is a 1981 made-for-TV horror movie about a creature found on an oil rig. The movie is about drillers who accidentally hatch prehistoric eggs and unleash a deadly creature.
Plot:
I honestly don't mind the whole "yellow paint" thing. When you see it, you know that's the way you've got to go to progress, and any other path is going to be side content for collectables etc
5:00 I dunno if I need to even play this game anymore since fifteen seconds of Tipples sperging out is scary enough already.
There was a book series like this that came out a few years back, "The Black"
thx for the review and keeping me cracking up throughout- you can actually hold my attention that’s pretty amazing in and of itself. great stuff dude your cuts are superb. i gotta practice my scottish accents
The opening had exactly the most predictable political bad person. I was done at that point.
This game sat on my wishlist for a long time until recently when I finally got it on sale. Boy was I pleasantly surprised, one of the most memorable horror style games I have played in some time
"No weapons"
And just like that, you lost me.
Why would they have weapons on a rig? There's no need for them. You think they should have them just in case a Lovecraftian entity should appear?
Anything can be a weapon if you're desperate enough & motivated enough. Think a little harder next time. The OP wasn't saying they wanted guns.
@@Secret_Takodachi Thank you! Exactly, in a real life scenario we would find ANYTHING to use as a weapon. Just the idea of having something to defend yourself actually makes the experience more scary because you think that means you have to actually interact with the enemies at some point, rather than a barebones gameplay loop of outrun monster (who has to be slower than you for gameplay purposes because you have no other way to deal with them) or hide from monster (which is incredibly simplified and braindead because, again, NO other interaction mechanics exist in the game to make sneaking around more involved or compelling). You don't even NEED the weapons to deal damage or have the enemies killable, Alien Isolation has deep gameplay and weapons and yet the Alien is 100% indestructable. Horror is THE WORST possible genre for walking sims and it baffles me that this developer hasn't tried doing anything else to make the game more engaging so that the horror has a chance to be effective outside of visuals. Even the Amnesia people gave up on walking sims (ironically after this developer got them into it) when they realized it wasn't working, and then made Amnesia the Bunker which is very gameplay focused and is quite possibly their best game, and a genuinely scary and tense game on top of that!
The best part of the game is honestly the dialogue and acting, especially from Caz's VA. Every reaction from him feels so disturbingly real. The banter and overall tone of the dialogue is amazing too, you can tell every member of the crew is horrified at what's going on but they still keep their banter with each other.
Thank you for the review, Drinker! I shall watch the playthroughs with a bucket of popcorn! Who needs movies these days when interactive stories easily keep player’s attention?
Drinker should do a review of the Darksiders games. Don't want that teaser they put out back in August to get forgotten.
I went to the Maritime Museum in Aberdeen, which has a bunch of fantastic equipment and scale models from the oil drilling industry and it was incredible. Seems as close to working on the Nostromo from Alien as I can imagine (no xenomorphs, but same amount of terror). After, I spent an hour nursing a pint in a pub watching a documentary on TH-cam about the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster. Presented right, it's an environment that you want to learn everything about that you possibly can, and then physically avoid for the rest of your life.
"Survival horror" is a bit misleading... this is a Walking Simulator. Still good tho.
Nah it's a Good Old Horror Game.
@@Neonvarun Barely a Game, good old horror Games are stuff like Nocturne, Undying or Condemned.
I genuinely don't know why these developers keep choosing to make horror themed walking sims, when horror is the WORST possible genre for a walking sim. If they added more gameplay, the horror would be more effective. If they stuck with walking sims, but used a different genre then the gameplay (or lack thereof) would be more effective. It baffles me that horror is the most common walking sim genre!
This is basically what movies are evolving into. Walking simulators that bring you from a crafted/scripted scene to the next. It's probably for the best, and yet another thing Star Trek predicted.
I reminded me a lot of Soma when I played it. The horribly mutated people and the isolated setting (a deep sea facility in that game), and a remarkably great narrative. I don't even mind the linearity, I want more narrative-based horror like this one.
Also, the Enclave in Fallout, like oil rigs
playing this in VR really amps up the whole experience.
Ngl I thought The Chinese Room closed its doors years ago after Everyone has gone to the rapture. Really enjoyed that game for what it was. Glad to hear they are still around. Might give this one a look. Thanks for putting it on my radar, Drinker.
The Poseidon Adventure meets The Thing with C bombs. As a Middlesbrough man with more kinship going North than South and a substantial family history with that sea and those rigs, this was a great experience. Loved Gaz as a character.
Check out Soma. It's a masterpiece.
Your review sums up how games by The Chinese Room feel to me as well. They do a lot right, but the experience never feels interactive enough to really enjoy.
It is kind of like they forget to include things in the games to make you feel a real connection and just expect you to empathize because "things happen." At least that is how I felt about Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Dear Ester (and Giant Sparrow's mega linear Edith Finch.) In comparison, I empathized quite a bit with the characters in SOMA and Gone Home, and I loved how those games gave you a bit of freedom to stumble about without getting lost, with the latter even allowing you to finish the game in only a few minutes if you know what to do.
From your review it sounds like Still Wakes Deep does do a bit more to make you care about characters, which is a sign narrative design growth. And despite there shortcomings. this and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and this show some great potential and beautiful art, so I hope The Chinese Room can improve their overall game design going forward.
Glad you finally played this, Drinker. It's absolutely mesmerizing and as soon as I heard those Scots start speaking, I immediately thought of you. Cheers! 🍺
Really good review. Well-written. Thank you!
Made me think of "SOMA" existential dread, being armless and all that
Agreed. SWTD reminded me of SOMA very much.
Funny how The Chinese Room worked on Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs for Frictional Games a few years ago. An oh I do still love that game.
@@xTigressStylex that explains why this game put me to sleep just like A machine for pigs lol
I'm an American with Western European descent, and I perfectly understood the Scottish dialect. Weird.
One of my favorites of 2024.
I haven't played this through yet but I had nothing but issues trying to set the graphics how I wanted them.... Tried FSR framegen to see how it worked because it's usually quite good and it didn't even seem to work at certain resolutions. Also changing between FSR and XeSS sometimes didn't seem to work right.
The Chinese Room def know how to attract with less gameplay but the script and the cast AND soundtrack ofc. We got it in Dear Esther, we got it in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture which is my favorite even nowadays. Some just have to realize what to expect from games like these. I love their stuff because when I wanna chill or to be a little sad, or melancholic I always get back to The Chinese Room's games. SWTD is their basic creation, but with better graphics and settings, and I did enjoy it too, it just feels like watching The Thing but at the same interacting with it.
Definitely looking forward to playing this; it's in my TBP queue.
Part of my interest came from watching The Rig, and I'd love to get Drinker's take on that show!
The oil rig looks very realistic, but you'd never get in the mess with your covies on.
Do more of these. After a few years Critical Drinker, I'm down for your gaming reviews
I didn't expect a game so short and with such few mechanics to be one of my favourite games of the year but this made it real close to the top of my list.
This is by The Chinese Room, the same people that made Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. They're a studio whose titles up to this point are decently written but all detrimentally short on mechanics. Heck, Dear Esther basically doesn't have any.
Each time they release something, it seems like they've finally figured out a concept the entire rest of the industry worked out decades ago: A Machine For Pigs had some actual puzzles, Still Wakes the Deep has some actual people in it to interact with. Give them another 20 years and they might actually create a game.
There's a massive, MASSIVE difference between linear and open-world games. When a game like this is criticized for being too linear, they're usually referring to the idea that the challenges and objectives in the game can only really be tackled in one exact order and one exact strategy. In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, there are several puzzles that you have to solve in one "segment" of the game to progress to the next area, but you can tackle them in any order that you prefer, and in some cases the order you do the puzzles can change the enemies that appear. I was 100% confident in the Cistern segment that the Kaernk absolutely DOES NOT appear, no matter how much the sounds of the water splashing made you think otherwise, but I think I did that puzzle last out of all the rooms in that area, and my Hard Mode playthrough was in for quite a shock when I decided to take a shortcut _through_ the water, but the splashes behind me didn't stop. Then the Kaernk's soundtrack started playing and I started taking damage. My entire world was turned upside down that day
Having worked in the North Sea, that rig is no where near accurate, needs way more rust, broken hand rails, cable ties and gaffer tape.
5:04 whew hope you are sending him some burn cream after that 😂
Who was that dude??
I absolutely love the premise for this reminds me of half life but better, love the fact that there isn't any weapons and makes the enemies fearful
This was a good game. It was linear and the enemy encounters are "throw stuff and move slightly," but they were genuinely unsettling. I'd recommend it. Loved the Scottish accents, too. Don't get to hear much of that in a video game.
The voice acting is really great, but as a non-native speaker, I appreciate the English subtitles. :-)
There's also a free demo/minigame you can get called Oil Strike '75.
As an American I enjoyed the fact that it didn’t take place in America for once. The voice acting was amazing and I actually appreciated the linear story.
This game is great to play in VR with the UEVR Injector.
This game was a lovely little piece of every phobia possible smashed onto an oil rig, even if it was rather straightforward.
Also, I'm fairly sure it also made nearly everyone who played it speak with a scottish accent for weeks on end.
The hardest part of the game is the parkour
Its a work of art this game. It's pretty easy but it's like a movie that I can be in. The dialogue is amazing, storyline brilliant, graphics look really cool and the setting is unique. Yes it's linear but it's quite refreshing as some open world games are unnecessarily huge with no substance. I genuinely enjoyed listening to all the workers at the beginning
I also want to appreciate the game on a technical level. Under 10GB, no third party DRM, no separate EULA, reasonable hardware recommendations, no external accounts or launchers. Its almost as if those things that seem ubiquitous in modern games by AAA studios aren't helping and are just a blight on their customers.
I just love that this isn’t the same old American characters. Hearing a different accent and heavy slang was such a breath of fresh air!
Also wasn’t it said to be more of an interactive story from the get go?
I loved the storyline and the authenticity of the characters, the linear gameplay is definitely its greatest flaw but it was still one of the most enjoyable games I played last year. Also it is clear the the game developers are massive fans of "The Thing" as this is essentially "The Thing" on an Oil Rig
I absolutely loved this game but expected to feel mid on it. Put on some good 3D headphones and crank up the volume and this game can scare the crap out of you. Its 100% linear and like a movie. But for some reason it was like 'The Thing' on an oil rig. And it worked really well.
I’m very happy you played this. Figured you would enjoy it! If you want another short burst oldie but goodie game check out The Thing Remastered. It’s an old school one from the PS2 era but manages to still hold up pretty well and has a great trust based system that keeps you on your toes at all times and pays a great homage to John Carpenter’s movie while creating a continuing story of it’s own.
Reminds me of both Plague Tale games. Linear gameplay and simple mechanics, but interesting characters, compelling story and poignant ending.
I'm currently playing it, my brother bought it for me for Christmas. Enjoying it so far!
Yeah, you could describe Boogie as an Eldritch, oceanic monster
Drinker, you should check out Epic The Musical. Its a modern take on Homer's Odyssey with great storytelling, a brilliant cast with amazing voices and banger songs all throughout
Number of oil drilling operations that have actually unearthed ancient alien life, Balrogs, zombie viruses, or have otherwise endangered humanity: ZERO.
I think REmake 2 is an excellent example of a survival horror game that has enough opennes. You can alternate open areas where you can indulge in and more imporantly, REWARD exploration with more linear sections that serve to move the story along.
This might sound silly but im reminded of a piece of advice from Cesar Milan the dog whisperer about a chihuahua that was stressed out: the dog wanted to run around instead of being carried in a purse, but he advized the owner that the dog would apreciate being carried if she let her dog get tired from running about first.
A lot of people seem to be growing tired of open world games. But some of them find a balance beyween open world exploration and linear sections. Stellar Blade did it well IMO. And Elden Ring's legacy dungeons were also a welcome diversion from running around on your horse.
Played this game in one sitting when it first came out, the storytelling and atmosphere is fantastic. Love The Thing style monster vibes and the voice acting is bang on.
"It barely even represents a challenge"
*a few seconds later*
6:45 😂😂😂😂 what even was that mate?! 🍻
The voice acting in this game is absolutely amazing