‘Under the Waves’ is a sad but relaxing oceanic adventure

engadget.com:

Parallel Studio’s Under the Waves is a relaxing game. Between the cheers and jeers from Crash Team Rumble players (possibly employees) nearby, I was diving. Diving deeper and deeper into the inky blue, chasing a jettisoned shipping container as it bounced off rocks, spilling soft toys and revealing a mysteriously abandoned submarine hidden deeper still. While I might have been relaxed, I was a little unsettled.

First announced at last year’s Gamescom, in Under the Waves you play as Stan. And he doesn’t seem to be in a good place. My demo started on the third day of his placement at an underwater living pod, but I know (from the game’s synopsis) that he’s down there quite literally to get away from it all. He appears to be grieving the loss of his daughter, but it’s only lightly touched on during these opening parts of the game. Stan seems unsettled and twitchy in bed (and facially twitchy in general – hopefully, his face will settle down with more time in development).

At the start of the demo, Stan wakes with a piercing headache and picks up a call from what I assume is an offshore coworker called Tim. He reveals that the living pod’s oxygen mix is out of whack, likely explaining the sore head. Tim even added that a previous worker failed to flag his headaches, and by the time the rest of the dive team, the worker had started hallucinating. (And of course, Stan gets his own hallucination moments very soon after.

While you’re able to walk around your oxygenated living quarters, most of the game is spent in the ocean, either diving with a limited amount of oxygen (which can be replenished using oxygen sticks) or while steering your own deep-sea vehicle, which can cover ground quicker and help conserve oxygen.

Great deals on