Watch On
It’s a scientifically proven fact that nothing good ever happens underwater, and that’s especially true in videogames. Subnautica, SOMA, Barotrauma, Iron Lung, the list goes on: Basically, if you’re in a videogame and you’re underwater, you’re in for a bad time. Which brings us to Siren’s Rest, the newly announced DLC for The Chinese Room’s oil rig horror game Still Wakes the Deep: That’s right, it’s going underwater.
There are spoilers of varying degrees to follow, so conduct yourselves accordingly.
First, a brief recap: Still Wakes the Deep takes place on the Beira D oil rig off the coast of Scotland, which is struck by disaster in 1975—the sort of disaster that includes an “unknowable horror” that’s somehow made its way onboard. It’s a very good game: PC Gamer’s Elie Gould said it’s “one of the best stories I’ve played through in a very long time” in their 86% review, built on “the most traumatic dialogue and voice acting I’ve ever heard in a horror game.”
“If you can bear with the emotional toll and terrifying moments, then Still Wakes the Deep is an experience that I couldn’t recommend more highly,” Elie wrote. “Its unsettling monster and horrific setting are elevated by something that’s rare in horror games: meaningful relationships with other characters.”
Siren’s Rest follows 10 years after the events of the main game. The Beira D lies at the bottom of the North Sea, and the mystery of its disappearance remains unsolved. Which is where you come in: As the leader of a saturation dive to the rig’s wreckage, you are “a fragile light in the crushing dark,” sent to “uncover the fate of the crew and recover what remains of their passing.” As the trailer makes abundantly clear, the mission does not go smoothly.
It’s great to see Still Wakes the Deep getting some post-launch love: The game was critically well received and won a few BAFTAs, but I don’t think it was a huge seller, and all too often games that aren’t immediate big hits tend to be quickly abandoned. It’s also interesting because The Chinese Room, not an especially large studio, is developing Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, a much more high-profile project that’s currently set to come out in October but still doesn’t have a solid release date—and, notably, has been delayed multiple times previously, although most of that happened before TCR took over.
Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest does have a release date, though, and it’s very close: It’s set to arrive on June 18 and is available for pre-purchase now on Steam.
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