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Still Wakes the Deep Review: A Survival Horror Story on a North Sea Oil Rig

Still Wakes the Deep is a first-person horror game about escaping a failing North Sea oil rig. Here’s what its combat-free, traversal-led design offers.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Still Wakes the Deep is a first-person narrative horror game about surviving a disaster aboard a 1970s North Sea oil rig. Its official design is clear: explore, climb, swim and evade an unknown threat rather than fight it. That makes it a better fit for players seeking a story-led, pressured survival experience than for anyone looking for combat or a power-fantasy horror game.

What is Still Wakes the Deep?

Developed by The Chinese Room and published by Secret Mode, Still Wakes the Deep launched on June 18, 2024. The player is an offshore worker aboard the Beira D, a rig in the North Sea, when a storm and an unknown threat turn a routine workplace into a fight to survive. The official Steam listing describes it as the studio’s return to first-person narrative horror.

The setting gives the premise its particular shape: the rig is both the place you must escape and the environment you have to navigate. Store descriptions emphasize running, climbing, swimming and searching for crew as the structure fails and communications are severed. The threat is not framed as something to defeat in a conventional firefight.

How does the gameplay work?

The official Steam description puts the core limitation bluntly: “No weapons. No powers. Just your wits and determination.” That is promotional language, but it accurately signals the intended play style: traversal, evasion and survival rather than combat. Xbox’s store page also describes avoiding, distracting and sneaking around the threat.

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#1 Best Overall
Still Wakes the Deep - PS5
  • LIVE THE HORROR: An immersive disaster story aboard a stunningly realised North Sea oil rig, starring an authentic cast of Scottish actors. Experience the beauty and ferocity of the sea as it rips apart one of humanity’s strongest structures and its steadfast crew.
  • ESCAPE THE RIG: No weapons. No powers. Just your wits and determination. Struggle for survival on an unstable oil rig, where one wrong step could be your last.
  • FACE YOUR FEARS: Something has turned your home into a nightmare, where the familiar becomes threatening, and where a noise in the dark fills you with dread. Resist the urge to turn back. Confront the unknown.

This approach makes the rig itself central to the experience. Instead of relying on an arsenal, the player must move through a hazardous, changing industrial environment while trying to stay alive. If you want to fight monsters directly, the game’s stated design is a meaningful caveat; if you want a narrative horror game built around vulnerability and escape, it is a natural fit.

Is Still Wakes the Deep scary, and how long is it?

The setup is built for tension: isolation offshore, a failing rig, lost communications and an unknown threat. Whether that makes the game scary for you depends on your tolerance for narrative horror and evasion-focused danger. The available official descriptions establish the intended atmosphere and mechanics, not an independently verified judgment about how frightening, well-paced or effective the scares are.

Xbox lists six hours of gameplay. Treat that as a publisher-provided estimate, not a guaranteed or independently timed completion length; an individual run can vary.

Rank #2
Still Wakes the Deep - Compatible for PS5 - UK PAL
  • UK PSN account may be required for any online features

What options and updates are available?

Steam’s current description lists several features that change how you approach or revisit the game:

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  • Optional Story Mode: an option for players who want to reduce the threat.
  • Chapter Select: lets players return to individual chapters.
  • Yellow Markers toggle: an option affecting navigation markers.
  • Silver Screen filter: a cinematic visual filter.

The PlayStation listing reports 23 accessibility features, but its listing does not enumerate them in the available description. That count alone is not enough to identify which controls or accommodations are included, so check the platform page for current details before buying if you need a particular feature.

The Chinese Room also identifies Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest as an additional chapter on its game page. Product packaging and expansion availability can differ by platform, so verify the store listing for the edition you intend to purchase.

Rank #3
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Tettix Games, Deep Regrets the Board Game: an Unfortunate Fishing Game (Base Game)
  • Fish for increasingly horrifying creatures as you venture into the ocean in this strategic horror fishing board game, deciding which catches are worth pursuing and how much risk you are willing to accept for greater rewards
  • Manage your resources and fishing strength by rolling bespoke tackle dice at the beginning of each turn, then choosing whether to remain at sea for another catch or return to port to sell fish, buy provisions, and recharge your energy
  • Explore three depths and nine fish shoals by studying the sizes of shadows before committing your dice, then flip fish, spend your available strength, and add your catches to your growing collection while unpredictable abilities affect the game
  • Turn madness and Regrets into strategic tools as horrifying discoveries give you Regrets cards that increase your madness while providing additional dice and increasing the value of stranger fish, creating a constant balance between risk and reward
  • Play solo, cooperatively, or competitively as you pursue valuable catches, manage your mounting Regrets, and build your collection, with the solo campaign challenging you to catch and catalog the fish of the entire sea across dozens of games
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Where can you play it?

The official listings cover Windows PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. On PC, Steam lists Windows 10, DirectX 12, 8 GB of RAM and a specified minimum graphics tier; consult the live Steam page for the full, current requirements and language support. PlayStation’s official listing is for PS5. Xbox also has a separate Cloud Gaming listing, but cloud access depends on current regional and account eligibility; check Xbox directly for availability where you live.

Is Still Wakes the Deep worth playing?

Choose Still Wakes the Deep if you want a story-led horror game whose central appeal is being trapped in a dangerous place and trying to get out without weapons or supernatural powers. Its oil-rig setting, traversal-first premise and optional Story Mode make the intended audience and play style unusually easy to identify.

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Be more cautious if you expect combat, an independently established verdict on technical performance, or a verified universal completion time. Steam’s listing showed 6,721 English-language reviews at 88% positive, out of 10,220 reviews across all languages, on October 8, 2026; those are time-sensitive storefront figures, not a substitute for an independent review or a permanent measure of quality.

Steam also lists three BAFTA Games Awards for the game: Best New IP, Performer in a Leading Role and Performer in a Supporting Role. Those recognitions add context, but the strongest reason to consider the game is still the specific experience it sets out to deliver: narrative horror and survival on a failing offshore rig.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
Bestseller No. 2
Still Wakes the Deep - Compatible for PS5 - UK PAL
Still Wakes the Deep - Compatible for PS5 - UK PAL
UK PSN account may be required for any online features
$59.99

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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