There’s something very special about Still Awakens the Depth. A , essentially Scottish from start to finish, with an atmosphere so tense that you could hear your heartbeat while exploring areas, it has the right ingredients for an unforgettable experience. In addition, it is made by The Chinese Room, the studio behind multi-award-winning titles such as Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. And yet, despite these advantages, it still falters when it comes to the basic facets.

Still Wakes the Deeps puts you in the shoes of Cameron “Caz” McLeary, an engineer working aboard the Beira D drilling rig, which is located somewhere in the North Sea. Caz, who has domestic problems, will soon experience it much worse, because what was originally conceived as a malfunction of the machine leads to something darker and more deadly. All of their colleagues know that something went wrong, but when they are stuck in the middle of nowhere, they really don’t know if help will ever come. What follows is a scary, tight romp where you’re not entirely sure if anyone will make it through the night. Imagine if this hits the Amazon platform – just replace the shiny spore capsules with real monsters, and you’re on the right track.

From the very beginning, Still Wakes the Deep immerses you in its surroundings thanks to a talented voice cast of Scottish actors. To be clear, I’m Filipino and I know almost nothing about Scotland, apart from the fact that characters like William Wallace and Drew McIntyre from WWE are from there. I loved it, though, especially when the characters started churning out regional slang after slang, some in the Glasgow dialect.

Admittedly, I had a hard time understanding thick accents and certain terms – for example, I was wondering who “Leckie” was, only to realize that it’s another word for electricity. However, this just shows the studio’s commitment to providing an authentic experience, and I really appreciated getting a little insight into a culture and dialect that I’m not familiar with.

I also found the design of the drilling rig downright fascinating. Yes, the facility consists of small rooms, narrow corridors and large decks, and I mostly visited the same areas again during my departure. However, a certain creative talent emerged when I realized how each area looked and felt different due to the events that occurred in the course of my progress. For example, previously accessible corridors could be flooded across the board, and open doors could be closed after, covered by a secret pustular growth. Interconnectivity also comes into play, especially with the floor maps pointing to my location when I reach new sections.

In addition, the game has a fair amount of context-sensitive interactions, such as using fire extinguishers, unscrewing the covers from the ventilation ducts, and removing the latches from the equipment. There are also several platform sections where you jump or hang from gaps or climb stairs, quickly pressing the event button to prevent yourself from falling. And yes, there are some places where you need to swim to a safe place. In general, these sections are simple, straightforward and indisputable, although they served as a welcome change to the central theme of body horror.

What attracted me in the first few hours after playing Still Wakes the Deep was the feeling of foreboding. As already mentioned, the malfunction of the machine on the drilling rig provokes terrifying nightmares, “awakening from the depths.”At first I could only see a few glimpses of what was waiting for me, such as a red, fibrous branch sticking out of the water, or a plonk-like object stretching down several corridors. Then it got darker and darker, and the tense atmosphere built up thanks to spectacular shadow and light effects.

Soon after, I heard the painful moans of a worker calling for help and the squeak rattling the markers of someone else who had gone crazy. And then he would see what had happened to them: words like macabre and grotesque are underestimated when he saw people crushed into fleshy lumps, faces frozen in a death scream. They have several limbs that rattle as they move while shouting Caz’s name. One of them is actually just a big head with small arms chasing Caz all over the facility. The designs of the creatures, as well as the people who are in mutations, are crude, vile and frankly impressive.

Unfortunately, the deep bungling still awakens the “survival” in “Survival Horror”  “The most awesome part of the game is that all these scary creatures, no matter how scary they seem, are dumber than a bag of bricks.

Since there are no actions or weapons, I relied mainly on secretly walking around the rooms where enemies crawl and sometimes throwing bottles to distract myself. If a monster saw me, all I had to do was hide under a desk, a sidewalk or a pantry, and they wouldn’t know. Those long limbs you have? They just click, they don’t click. Those sharp, jagged teeth and gaping mouths? They won’t bite you if there’s a structure over your head. They would see you, and then forget about you after a few seconds, or just move in front of you.

Apart from the chases, which were rare, there were very few that bothered me when met these monsters, when I realized the limitations of the AI. Coincidentally, blurred and mottled outlines appear on the edges of the screen when you stare at these entities and their otherworldly goo, although there are no other effects; it goes along the lines of including debilitating “sanity” mechanics, but since they’re not actually there, it felt more like a hoax.

Still Wakes the Deep is a relatively short game (I completed the campaign in less than five hours). The story is strictly linear, similar to some other The Chinese Room games, with no collectibles or secrets. While it is true that the game is based on the setting, atmosphere, tension and body horror, it rules out the most important aspect: the moments when you really face the creatures. It’s like the thing is “otherworldly”, but it’s revealed to be ET, because it’s so harmless. In the end, this romp through an infested oil rig may seem straightforward, but it overflows and slips when it matters most.