Addair might well be the most stress-inducing enemy in Still Wakes the Deep. He appears exactly when you don't want him to. When you've got a lot of electrical equipment to reset and fix, and the last thing you need is a cosmic monster absorbing? you into its fleshy mass.

You'll meet Addair when you're trying to reset the rig's protective relay in Still Wakes the Deep. This is a little while after you've escaped Rennick, but the crawl spaces around the area should give you an indication that you're in for a terrible time for the next 10 minutes or so. First, Finlay will point you to a booth with a single switch to flip. Of course, that was never going to be ??enough, so she directs you to the generator room. It's a simple enough walk over there, turning off a couple of valves as you go. But that's when Addair arrives.

How to avoid and escape Addair to reset the protective relay in Still Wakes the Deep

Below, I've broken down how you avoid and escape Addair in Still Wakes the Deep from the point that you meet him in the generator room. He arrives a??s you do, right after Caz p?oints out the hut on the opposite side of the room, which is where you need to go.

Addair moves a lot like Muir. He patrols areas and will react to distractions when you throw objects. Unlike Trots, he'll head directly to the distraction but returns to patrolling quite quickly, so you've got?? to move fast th?roughout this encounter.

Step 1: Get to the hut

Your first objective is reaching the hut, but Addair makes that impossible without hiding. Head down the steps and then get into one of the crawl spaces. There are?? some on each side of the room that you can move towards the hut from, but you'l??l need to dart into the central crawl spaces too.

The way I did this was to get into a crawl space on the right-hand side, move up a bit, and then wait for Addair to move away before heading to a central crawl space. From there, you can pick up an object, head to the left-hand side, and throw it to distract Addair. This? will buy you enough time to move forward again and then hide in a new crawl space, slowly gaining ground.

Eventually, you need to be in the central crawl space on the opposite side of the room, facing the e?xit on the left-hand side, where you can see a ladder. Throw an object on the right-hand side of the room and aim for the back where you first entered this area. This should buy you enough time to climb the ladder and get inside the hut.

Step 2: Power up the rig modules

Inside the hut, there's a little puzzle to solve. You must turn the switches on in the correct order, or the??y'll all turn off. The correct order is 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, but some of the numbers are obscured or missing. However, you can use the correct order below because it ref??ers to the department above each switch. Addair should leave you alone after getting inside the hut, so don't worry about him for now.

• Engineering
• Processing
• Administration
• Deck
• Accommodation

Step 3: Restart the generator

Once all the switches are green, you need to restart the g?enerator. To do this, turn around and grab the key from the cabinet. You can't l??eave the hut without it, and I got stuck searching for it in the dark for an embarrassing amount of time.

With key in hand, use the inspection vent to get outside and over to the generator. Use the key to restart the device, but get ready to run and hide. Afte?r a brief reprieve, Addair is back and looking for you again. You need to hide an?d fast to avoid becoming a part of his new fleshy form.

Step 4: Reset the protective relay again

Your final job is to get back to the protective relay and reset it once more??. First, you need to get out of the mud handling area and back into the generator room. Climb back up the stairs to the entrance to this area and crawl through the tight spaces, throwing objects to distract Addair as you go to escape.

Addair will pursue you until you hit the point where you can see the glowing tendrils in a crawl space. It's a long way to go while remaining quiet and unseen, but it's possible as long as you keep throwing objects to?? distract him in the main open rooms.

The generator room is the worst of the lot that you must get through. There are two spots that block your paths forward, forcing you into crawl spaces and new ??pa??thways where Addair is patrolling. Keep throwing objects and move slowly to avoid him.

I go through this final room by throw??ing objects to the left-hand side of the room and moving over to the right-hand side. The room you need to get into is on the right-hand side at the end of this space, but it's got a low entrance you?? must crawl into.

Don't get ?this wrong. Sneak up to the entrance and crawl inside. You don't wan?t Addair to be chasing you here because you'll get caught. The cutscene that plays out will show him almost grabbing you, but as long as you're careful, you'll be fine.

Addair will now beat against the ??glass to get into the room, but he can't. Hit the switch to reset the protective relay, and you'll have completed the main objective. Your next task takes you into the rig's legs, where all sorts of darkness?? is leaking in.

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Still Wakes the Deep is an engrossing horror game, layering a choking atmosphere on top of genuinely terrifying moments. But it ain't no Resident Evil, and puzzles are few and not too challenging. But there is a more traditional puzzle in Still Wakes the Deep where you must restart a generator.

The generator puzzle appears appropriately deep into Still Wakes the Deep. Caz is tasked with delving into the oil derrick's lower depths to restart a generator and return power to the platform sometime after dealing with Muir and Trots. Per the norm, it's not as simple as flipping a switch. Nope, you have to flip several switches. Of cour?se, there's more to it in regard to Caz's task (plus there's that whole thing with the grotesque mutant hunting you down), but figuring out this puzzle is a key step.

Still Wakes the Deep: How to solve the generator power puzzle

To solve the generator puzzle in Still Wakes the Deep, you must flip the series of switches on in a certain order. On the Master Power panel, there are five switches which indicate sections on the derrick. From left to right, these are: Accommodation, Administration, Processing, Deck, and Engineering. Right above the switches are pieces of tape th??at once told you the sequence you needed to restart the generator. The only one that isn't worn off completely is the tape under Engineering, which reads "1." This is where we start.

Flipping?? the switches turns them from red to green. Normally, you will have to keep flipping them, turning them green until you're done. Flipping the wrong switch means starting over. For the sake of time, here's the order to turn the generator on and solve the puzzle:

Generator power puzzle order

1. Engineering
2. Processing
3. Administration
4. Deck
5. Accommodation

Once that's done, you'll need to grab the key. You can find it in a box against the wall behind you. After taking the key, e??scape the room by prying open the vent cover to the left of the power panel.

The rest is up to you! Good luck, and try not to get tentacled. T?hat came out wrong, but you know what I mean.

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Still Wakes the Deep is the latest story-driven horror game from The Chinese Room of A Machine for Pigs fame. Basically, if you like Amnesia-style horror, but you want to experience it on a crumbling oil rig in the mi??ddle of the North Sea, this is the one for you.

Having played Dear Esther and the aforementioned Machine for Pigs, I'd been holding out that the developer's latest release was going to tick my narrative-loving and terror-craving boxes. So far �for I'm still playing the gam??e �it's working out pretty well (save for the occasional quick-time event, but this isn't about that).

If you are interested in checking the game out, there are two modes you can select depending on how brave you're feeling. With that, here are the differences between Still Wakes the Deep's Story Mode and Standard Mode.

Brave but not stupid

The reason I wanted to talk about this is because it reminded me very much of my first encounter with a "story mode." This was in 2015's SOMA, and at the time, I?'d never encountered a game that would allow you to switch o?ff the hazards and enemies so you could just enjoy the narrative pace stress-free.

Given this, I absolutely expected Still Wakes the Deep's own Story Mode to offer a similar respite from the stalking monsters. If you select this mode when you play, there will be fewer s?cares and you won't be in as much danger. However, this does not include falling from great heights because you missed a button prompt (did I mention them already?).

Story Mode, however, doesn't remove the enemies. The game will still have the scares and tense moments, but there's more le??eway when it comes to running from and escaping the horrors that await. I must confess that I did start off on Story Mode, but eventually switched to Standard. Because I have a girlfriend to impress.

Standard Mode seems to be more for those who are used to these types of horror games. If you don't mind being a bit more cautious when something's around, such as avoiding the likes of Muir, then this is probably how you'll want to play the game. You can, of course, do what I did and switch partw??ay through the game. Ain't no one going to judge.

Also, if you're still on the fence about trying out Still Wakes the Deep, it's currently on Xbox Game Pass if that's how you typically go about ??your business these days.

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After you've made it past Trots in Still Wakes the Deep, you'll head outsid??e and hear a strange howling. That noise is coming from Mu??ir, another member of the rig's crew who has been tragically mutated by whatever the drill crew ran into, and he's lonely.

Muir is a towering creature who patrols a large area in search of any surviving crew so he ??can absorb them into his mass. When you encounter him, he quickly grabs Dobbie before you find Innes, another survivor who tells you where to go. The only way forward is around Muir, so you're going to have to get back to sneaking around and throwing objects to distract hi??m from where you're hiding.

How to get past Muir in Still Wakes the Deep

This encounter with Muir is split into a few stages. The firs??t stage requires you to take things slow and sneak around the deck, hiding at every opportunity. Muir moves around the area pretty swiftly, so as soon as he moves past your position, head over to the next area you can hide in.

You can see in the image above what the hiding places look like. Most are marked with yellow paint, but there's usually another hiding place close by. Muir is fast and will rush over to you pretty quickly if he sees you. To help avoid this happening, you can always pick up one of the objec?ts lying around the platform and launch it away from where you want to go next.

Unlike Rennick, Muir will just keep on patrolling the area. He's not going away, so no matter how stressed out you get, you must continue. When you reach the point shown in the image above, ??where Muir towers over the area and the fog blocks what's in front of you, throw something away from you and move into the fog. The??re's a large green container there that you can hide in.

Getting into the container triggers the next part of this encounter. You have to run from here, but Muir will definitely see you and pursue. The way I eventually got past him was to throw an object off to the left of the path forwa?rd, wait for him to move, and then run for the container straight ahead.

The next section is more of an environmental puzzle as you get around Muir and back into the area. Keep pushing on, cr??awling through the low spaces as you go u?ntil you reach the point where you find Innes again. He's stuck in a container, but you can both see the exit ahead. It's blocked by a lift, so you've got to move it.

Muir will join you both soon after Caz and Innes finish talking. This area is another one where you've got to follow the yellow? paint and move ?slowly between the hiding spots. There are loads of throwable objects nearby, so pick them up and create distractions to draw him away where necessary.

After dodging Muir enough, you'll reach the cargo hoist controls. This threw me a little, so pay attention. You must hit the red button first, then press the up button to get the?? cargo hoist to move up and out of the way so Innes c??an escape to the exit. Don't worry. He's waiting for you at the elevator.

Now that the cargo hoist is out of the way, it's time to run. Muir will aggressively search for you since the machine made so much noise. You need to throw an object to get him out of the way and then run for the elevator. Innes will help you in, but the ensuing cuts?cene shows that all the effort he put into avoiding the monster only served to help save Caz.

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Still Wakes the Deep takes the ?horror of the sea and dr??ags it into a virtual reality where you're small, trapped, and must try to escape an entity you cannot understand. It's brutal cosmic horror that borrows from some of Lovecraft's best work and manages to craft a survival horror game that I believe is going to be remembered by the horror community for years to come.

Developer The Chinese Room is perhaps best known for games like Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Dear Esther, narrative titles that do a great job of telling a compelling story through gameplay that's generally okay. Still Wakes the Deep kicks things up a notch. Set on an oil rig in the North Sea in 1975, you play ??as Caz, an electrician who took a job on the rig t?o get out of Scotland and dodge some police charges. While his past has caught up with him, it matters little compared to the monumental event that occurs on the rig right after his boss gets wind of them.

Still Wakes the Deep (PC, PS5 [Reviewed], Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: The Chinese Room
Publisher: Secret Mode
Released: June 18, 2024
MSRP: $34.99/£29.99

The opening to Still Wakes the Deep is dripping with atmosphere. You're introduced to a plucky crew around a rig that's barely holding itself together, a flawed protagonist whose past is less than glamorous, and a first-person perspective and movement system that's good enough to get ar?ound, but feels as clunky as a mi??ddle-aged Scotsman should.

Something that stuck with me from the outset and lasted all the way through is the exceptional visuals. At points, I struggled to understand how the game looked so real. The Ch??inese Room has pulled ??off some sort of magic with this game, and it makes the horrors you face all the more terrifying, because they seem to be bursting out of reality. That's quite appropriate because, soon after the muted introduction, the rig drills into something, an entity, and all hell breaks loose on the platform.

However, the visuals, like the movement system, aren't perfect. An update may fix this, but the logic of narrow wires in Still Wakes the Deep is, to put it bluntly, bonkers. It makes sense for enemies, but phones and other wiring will also go haywire and fly around in unnatural ways. Seeing these glitch in and out of existence or fly around for no reason broke my immersion, but at least ?they didn't break the game.

After being thoroughly thrown around, Still Wakes the Deep reveals its true colors. What starts out feeling like a walking simulator very quickly becomes a first-person horror game, and I adore it. There's a lovely split between environmental puzzles, things like switches an?d fires, platforming, and sneaking around or running away from colossal, impossible enemies.

The environmental puzzles are a lot of fun. They're all framed as fixing a system or finding an item that you need to help someone and progress, much like in the original Dead Space. Th?is gives you a sense of purpose and helps you forget the scary parts until they suddenly rear their head again. Mechanically, these puzzles are simple, but the way they're used throughout the game keeps it fres??h without anything ever feeling overused.

The enemies are where the real horror/fu??n is, though. Certain crew members have been altered by the entity the rig's drill ran into. They're bloated and barely human, but retain some level of intelligence and a few dangling limbs. The monster design is top-notch and grossed me out more than once. I even froze up a couple of times just because these creatures look like they were ripped right out of nightmares.

You're not fighting these things. Instead, you're escaping them, working around an environment, sometimes quite a long series of rooms, while throwing objects to distract them. Some encounters even have you activating system?s for the rig, which feels inc?redibly stressful when a giant blob of fishy human meat is moving around trying to absorb you.

If this sounds a lot like Alien: Isolation's Xenomorph encounters, that's exactly what it feels like to play. Where in that game, the environment and your arsenal changed how you explored and worked around your enemy, Still Wakes the Deep's environment? an??d enemy variety keep things from feeling dull. Even when you think you know how an enemy will react, it's going to surprise you and keep you on your toes.

It's not just how these things look and move, either; it's how they sound. Human voices have been distorted to sound like animals or certain personality traits that they had before being transformed. This debases them, but also makes? them feel scarily advanced, because you just don't ??understand why they've been twisted in such a way.

The sound design, in general, for Still Wakes the Deep is better than many AAA titles. Silence is used to devastat??ing effect, but the soundtrack, where used, is superb. Every footstep, creak of metal, or groan from something in the distance is done so well that this game can scare you with the controller on the table and nothing happening.

The Scottish voice acting is also just amazing. Most of my family is Scottish, and it felt almost h?omely to hear so many Scottish words used in passing that I'm sure a lot of people will miss. While some of it feels a little forced, the majority of the dialogue is stunning. It makes the game feel authentic, even though it's packed with dreadful monsters.

Lastly, there's the story. The real narrative in Still Wakes the Deep is told through flashbacks, your actions, and even the way the enemies look. In true cosmic horror fashion, the true nightmare lies within protagonist Caz's mind, not the rusty rig falling apart around him.??

Similar to how the horror community still analyzes, dissects, and discusses Soma to this day, I can see Still Wakes the Deep being a game that people find new ways to explore and explain for at least a decade. It's well-made and clearly has a strong vision behind it, which ?I'd say has been nailed.

I've always thought that the unknowable depths of the sea make for a terrifying realm to contemplate. We really have no idea what lies at the bottom of a large perc?entage of Earth's oceans. That's why it's? always seemed a little bonkers to me that we're so willing to drill straight down into the crust below and hope for the best when aiming roughly where we believe there's some oil.

Still Wakes the Deep blends this terror with genuine human flaws. Outside of Dredge, I don't know if a game has felt so uniquely Lovecraftian. This is a game that everyone should play just to experience once, and thanks to its deathless story mode, you can. It's not perfect by any means, but it's noteworthy and a game you're not going to stop hearing about for a long time, and it scratches the itch you'll have been feeling since playing Alien: Isolation.

The post Review: Still Wakes the Deep appeared first on Destructoid.

Once you're through the opening sequence in Still Wakes the Deep and have m?anaged to make your way back inside the rig, you'll encounter your very first enemy. Except, it's more than a monster. It's someone you know. This c?reature is Trots.

You'll find Trots in the laundry room. While this area was easy enough to get through before, it's since been turned upside down, and now a mutated Trots sits at its center, slamming a washing machine. He's incredibly angry about all the things on the rig that aren't working, including those making random noises around him. This is where Still Wakes the Deep teaches you the mechanics of how to get past its e??nemies, but it's far from simple.

How to get past Trots in Still Wakes the Deep

Unlike with other enemies such as Rennick, you've got to move past Trots in an open yet quite tight area in Still Wakes the Deep. the laundry room has one route around it, and Trots can move himself through every inch. However, he can't get inside the s??mall cabinets in the back right-hand corner of the room.

As you enter the room, stay low and work your way around the back of Trots. He'll keep smashing the washing machine until he hears something strange. You've got to hide i?n the cabinet at the back of the room to avoid being caught before moving into th??e cabinet on the right-hand side of the room. This is the cabinet closest to where Trots was hitting the washing machine.

To get around Trots, you need to pick up the cup or another object from the floor and throw it to the opposite side of the room. The noise will distract him and cause him to h?ead over to investigate it. However, he won't react exactly as you might expect. For me, he first came over to the point where the object was thrown from, right outside the cabinet, before going over to sniff around where it landed.

Throw the object, wait for Trots ??to move away, and then sneak out of the room. I did this a few times, and each time, Trots notices you as soon as?? you leave. In fact, he heads over to the exit because he's convinced someone is trying to get past him.

Run as soon as you get into the light. Run up the stairs and then get through the narrow passage to escape. Trots can't follow you here, so he'll turn around and retreat to the laundry room. You can con??tinue knowing that at least one monster can't get to you from this point.

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After you've successfully avoided being blown up by a helicopter in Still Wakes the Deep, the crushing realization that you're still trapped on an oil rig with all sorts of cosmic horrors will dawn on you. As you progress, things don't get much better, and yo?u discover that the lights are on the fritz and Rennick is on the warpath.

Rennick was a pain and somewhat of a tyrant on the rig before the drill hit an entity under the sea. He's been twist??ed and mutated into a giant head that haunts the Administration module, absorbing anyone it finds. His fury knows no bounds, and you're ??about to become the subject of it once more as you enter his domain. Luckily, he's easy to escape if you know where to go.

How to escape Rennick in Still Wakes the Deep

After entering the Administration module and moving through the only unimpeded path, vaulting over low tables for the first time in Still Wakes the Deep,?? you'll meet the new and improved version of Rennick. He's be??en patrolling these modules from the ceiling vents and underneath the floor, just like any good boss does to monitor their staff.

The sight of Rennick shocked me at first because he's just a giant head that moves wi?th wiry tentacles shooting around it. Don't do what I did and freeze up. Instead, run. Turn around and run away, launching over those low tables and into every open door you can see.

After going through a few rooms, you'll need to look for an opening ?low in the wall to crawl through. After you get inside, Rennick will stop pursuing you for a short time. The doorway will collapse once you enter the room on ??the right in the image above, blocking you from moving backward.

Keep exploring this area for a while. Rennick will be scuttling around above and below you, but he won't pop ?out until you reach a very specific point. That point, shown above, is the door with the green light above it. When you move towards it, Rennick is going to pop out and rush you.

Turn around and run. The floor will give way and drop you to the level below. After recovering, keep running forward. Look for another low opening to crawl through and run again. You need to g?et to the exterior door and leave before Rennick can reach you.

Rennick is fast, despite being a giant head?? with nothing but tentacles to move it around. If you linger for a second longer than needed in a particular place while running from him, you're going to get caught and need to restart. Rennick is the monster that gave me the most trouble i?n the game. Don't underestimate him.

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Who Goes There?

During yesterday's Xbox Games Showcase, publisher Secret Mode released a creepy teaser trailer for a new horror title, Still Wakes the Deep, which is currently in developm??ent for PC and Gen9 consoles.

Developed by The Chinese Room in Unreal 5, Still Wakes the Deep sees an offshore oil rig in the North Sea under siege by a mysterious and terrifying entity. It's 1975, a storm is raging, and something has come aboard the Beira D ri?g. With lines of communication severed and escape seemingly impossible, there may be no other? option than to face terror itself if you are to survive this horrific incident.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI74BV20B7g

The teaser trailer offers little in the way of gameplay and concept, but we do get to see some very impressive visuals, as well as catch a glimpse of the foreboding, isolating atmosphere of the title. It all feels very The Thing, which is obviously a more than suitable comparison for '70s isolation horror. The Chinese Room is no stranger to horror, having developed titles such as Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, and Dear Esther, and with the power of Unreal 5 in its hands, Still Wakes the Deep could eventu??ally prove to be the studio's magnum opus.

Still Wakes the Deep is currently in developm?ent?? for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X.

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