You're Caz McLeary, an electrician who gets into some trouble after a pub fight, and so, in order to avoid being arrested, swiftly takes a job aboard the massive Beira Delta oil platform in the North Sea. The story is set in 1975 when North Sea oil exploration was at its peak. Due to his problems with the law, Caz has a less-than-happy home life, but his hitch (spell on the rig) is about to end so he has to go home to face the music for his misdeeds, both with his irate wife Suze and the police.
Naturally things don't go smoothly during Caz's final shift, there is a massive explosion, the rig is critically damaged, all lines of communication to the mainland have been severed, the crew is scattered and decimated, and before long you discover that all possible evacuation procedures seem to be damaged or inaccessible. There's a helicopter on the rig's helipad but can you get to it in time? All that remains for Caz is to face the incomprehensible horror that’s come aboard–a mutating, parasitic organism seemingly unleashed by the explosion at the drill head, and maybe from the pits of hell.
From the off, the mountainous, stormy North Sea is graphically impressive, as are most of the physics of the game–scenery rattles and wobbles convincingly in the stormy weather. While we're talking about physics, Caz also feels like you’re controlling a person, and walks, jumps, climbs, swims and throws things like a person should–he certainly cusses and swears like a person who's an oil rig worker. Events aboard the Beira Delta are mostly linear and can be quite scary and claustrophobic, but you can actually hide in a locker, Solid Snake-style if it all gets too much for you. If you don't like heights or dingy underwater swimming then this isn't the game for you.
The monster is a pulsating, slimy mess that infects humans, and you never know what hideous mutation you'll see next. Nice touches like volumetric steam and smoke, and fluorescent light tubes and other light sources that flicker make the game very atmospheric, and being able to lean around corners with the ‘LB’ and ‘RB’ buttons is a simple game mechanic that adds to the game immeasurably. The lighting is very good, and darkness changing into glaring daylight as you emerge onto deck is very well done–Unreal Engine 5 doing its stuff.
Despite being stalked by hideous mutant monsters for much of the game, it's not actually that easy to die, which is ironic as there are several achievements for dying in certain ways. Talking of non-instinctive actions, this game has one of the most ridiculous achievements in Xbox history with "play the game through in Scottish Gaelic Language", which turns not only the subtitles into Gaelic, but the menus as well–which makes turning them back to English great fun! (We had to use Google Translate's phone mode to do it!)
Still Wakes the Deep is a relatively slow-paced survival horror story-driven game. There's no shooting or fighting, but there's a fair bit of sprinting, climbing, jumping and shimmying, and the odd slip can be saved by a QTE (Quick Time Event). Should you die the restart points are regular and intelligently placed–so no replaying vast sections just because you missed a QTE. It's also worth mentioning that you can play the game through on the lowest 'Story' difficulty setting, which doesn't deny any achievements/trophies, just makes the game easier to survive, and makes the QTE's dead easy.
Although the Beira Delta is a huge and complex structure, the game's path is quite linear, so you're unlikely to get lost, and there are some maps of the platform placed strategically along the way to help you get your bearings. The way forward is nearly always fairly obvious and marked by yellow painted surfaces or tarps, and the game is rarely difficult–apart from one tricky underwater section in which I managed to drown, the route of which is also marked in yellow, I was just being dopey. Close proximity to the monstrous mutant thing is always indicated by an effect around the edges of the screen that looks like a projector burning film-it’s a really good way of letting you know and puts you on your toes immediately. One thing I regularly forgot was to HOLD the Right Trigger when climbing ladders, because letting go literally makes you let go–Ooops!
Still Wakes the Deep deservedly won 3 BAFTAs in 2025, including Alec Newman's for his lead role as Caz McLeary. Play the game and you'll see why. It's an impressive, compelling game with an unusual, incredibly atmospheric setting, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Many thanks to The Chinese Room, Secret Mode, and PressEngine