Let’s find out together, in this dedicated review, what are the strengths and weaknesses of Under the Waves, the new Parallel Studio effort published by Quantic Dream available on PC and console
There are three types of people. The living. The dead. And those who go to sea.
Although the theories on the human mourning process are varied and multiple (and although the first that comes to mind is always that of the five phases of Kubler-Ross), it is undeniable that each human being faces the trauma of the death of a loved one as best believe. There are those who annihilate themselves, drowning their existence in depression, there are those who change their lives completely, reinventing themselves and finding new ways. And there are those, like Stan, who decide to hole up on the seabed to have some time for themselves. Welcome to our Under the Waves review.
Denial and Isolation | Review Under the Waves
Under The Waves is a title developed by Parallel Studio and published by Spotlight, the Quantic Dream label that mainly deals with indie-flavored titles and experiences. Recently arrived on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | Yes, Under the Waves proposes the narration of a man fleeing from the evil of the world above towards the silence of the sea abysses. Abysses that should help him process what happened to him, but which seem more like wanting to cushion the pain, rather than face it head-on.
Stan has therefore decided to spend a few weeks in an underwater station, on direct assignment from the oil company for which he has been working for some time, UniTrench. A highly automated station, despite the Parallel Studio title being set in our 70s, with some more modern technological elements. Mercury, this is the name of the house we are going to live in for a few weeks, is equipped with a long series of control systems governed by an on-board computer, which we will nickname Merc and with which Stan can have different sarcastic approaches, very often funny.
Anger | Review Under the Waves
Sarcasm and fun that we also find in the interactions with Tim, our upper floor supervisor (literally and figuratively), who will entrust us with routine tasks and missions to be completed in the daytime moments of the experience. All is well as long as it is day, because as soon as Stan puts his head on the pillow to go to sleep, the mood and situations change drastically. That ocean floor so calm, almost maternal, becomes a place of nightmares and pure terror for a Stan who is definitely on the road to recovery, but must only decide to voluntarily follow it.
The division between night and day is also purely playful. Over the course of the days, Stan will have to deal with the tasks entrusted to him by Tim and which will lead him to explore the seabed, every small ravine and every large structure that the company has built to extract as much oil as possible (this aspect is treated with marked sense environmentalist on many fronts). The daytime missions of our protagonist will be able to vary from repairing broken machinery and stations (for the most trivial problems, such as simple broken pipes or badly placed valves), the collection of materials useful both for scientific research and for a (very simple) crafting component and the search for new components to improve our equipment and the Moon .
Moon is our underwater means of transport, a small submarine with which we will have the possibility to travel in greater safety and without consuming Stan’s oxygen, or rather literally his HP. In fact, if we decide to explore the depths outside of Moon, Stan will have a limited amount of oxygen available (which can be replenished through the use of special cylinders, which can also be crafted), but also greater maneuverability and the possibility of accessing narrow spaces, which could contain treasures and collectibles.
Bargaining | Review Under the Waves
Essential, in the exploration phases, is the use of sonar, which you can use both on board Moon and when you go “on foot”. This will allow you to locate the various points of interest of the missions, but also the aforementioned collectibles and treasures of various types. Let’s take the HUD speech for a moment, while we’re at it: we have to admit that this aspect could have been managed much better. The various signals, especially at the beginning, may be decidedly too intrusive and a source of disorientation. Although the second sensation has obviously diminished with the hours of play (we completed Under the Waves in about 9 hours), the first has remained constant: all too intrusive.
Luckily, Parallel Studio has given players the ability to turn off the entire HUD with the press of a button. This, of course, to make you enjoy them more create an underwater atmosphere for this and which, it is undeniable, are of the most suggestive Under the Waves has to offer. Swimming in the ocean depths with sea creatures darting by Stan gives a sense of freedom like no other. The seabed itself, however, can often be hostile and anxiety-provoking enough to lead us, simply, to shun them.
Registry speaking, the excellent work of Parallel Studio helps even more to increase that anxiety-inducing charge that you breathe both in some moments of the plot, both in Stan’s dreams. The use, in particular, of the shoulder camera (which is so fashionable in recent years) is able to exponentially increase the immersion of these situations, charging both the events narrated on the scene and the gamer himself even more emotionally.
Depression | Review Under the Waves
We played Under the Waves on PlayStation 5 and, technically speaking, we have nothing particularly to complain about. The game runs pretty smoothly, with no software issues whatsoever, and rightly so. This because, albeit considering that Quantic Dream and a motion capture of a certain level are behind it, Stan is played in a rather caricatured way. The only problem that we have compared from this point of view are the swimming animations of Stan, often very woody, but never at the level of the Moon, which we found ourselves in various points having to maneuver in narrow spaces and not very suitable for its size , banging left and right to the sound of saints from the calendar.
Under the Waves is not a game that aims at photorealism in any of its parts, neither in the polygonal models of the characters nor, much less, in those of the settings. All of this, however, creates a general sense of wonder, expectation and a strong emotional impact. The Photo Mode is also excellent, which allows us to move freely with the camera to take a closer look at the various marine, animal and plant species, the damage caused by man and the wonders of nature. A wonder underlined even more by a truly impactful audio sector, both as regards the soundtrack (which alternates majestically free tracks with other much more anxiety-provoking ones) and for the ambient sounds, reproduced very accurately.
Acceptance
We have now reached the final stages of this review of Under the Waves. A “walking simulator” experience capable of giving, narratively speaking, many conflicting emotions: on the one hand, the great sense of freedom that exploring an ocean floor can give to the mind of an ordinary human being, who will perhaps never experience something like this . On the other hand, the sense of anguish and unease that that same backdrop conveys when compared to the life of the protagonist, Stan, in a dangerous balance between past and future, between acceptance and rejection of the traumas that life imposes. Despite some technical edges, purely related to the animations, and a HUD that is not exactly managed in the best possible way, we recommend Under the Waves to anyone who wants an impactful experience. Brief, certainly, but emotionally concrete.
Under the Waves is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S. Let us know what you think below in the comments and keep following us here, on techgameworld.com, for all the videogame and tech-themed news, guides and reviews! And if you are interested in game keys at advantageous prices, we advise you to take a look at the InstanGaming catalog!
Plus points
- Exciting narrative experience
- Simple and functional gameplay
- Beautifully crafted environments
- A real journey into the abyss of human pain
Points against
- Edgy animations, especially those of the Moon
- HUD too intrusive