Still Wakes the Deep

Still Wakes the Deep is a 2024 psychological horror video game developed by The Chinese Room and published by Secret Mode. The story follows an electrician named Cameron "Caz" McLeary (Alec Newman), who is trapped on a damaged oil drilling platform in the North Sea in the 1970s, having no way to escape while being pursued by mysterious monsters under harsh weather conditions. Played from a first-person perspective, the game does not feature any combat system, and players must rely on stealth and solving simple puzzles to survive. As the player continues the story, the oil rig will gradually evolve and change, though the game itself is largely linear.

Studio co-founder Dan Pinchbeck first pitched Still Wakes the Deep as "The Thing set on an oil rig", and served as the game's director until his departure in mid-2023. The studio, which previously released Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (2013) and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (2015), announced Still Wakes the Deep as its return to story-driven horror games. While the game features a supernatural entity, the ocean was described as the game's secondary enemy, and the team felt that the setting would evoke a variety of fears, such as vertigo, drowning, and claustrophobia. The Poseidon Adventure and Annihilation both served as inspirations for the team. The team interviewed engineers who used to work on an oil rig, and viewed BP's documentary archives to ensure that the oil rig presented in the game was authentic and period-accurate. Scottish actors were also recruited, with Alec Newman voicing the game's protagonist.

Announced in June 2023, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S in June 2024. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the game's story, atmosphere, graphics, sound design, and voice performances, while criticizing its gameplay, linear structure, and overall length. Still Wakes the Deep received two nominations at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and eight nominations at the 21st British Academy Games Awards, winning three. An expansion for the game, titled Siren's Rest, was released on 18 June 2025.

Still Wakes the Deep is a psychological horror video game played from a first-person perspective. The game is set in December 1975, on an oil rig named Beira D in the North Sea. In the game, the player assumes control of a Glaswegian electrician named Cameron "Caz" McLeary, who must navigate through the oil rig following a catastrophic event, looking for a way to escape while surviving the harsh weather and evading the pursuit of creatures. The player character can run, jump, and climb ladders, though Caz may tremor when navigating through the rig's hostile environments, causing him to fall if the player does not respond in time to quick-time events. Caz is equipped with a flashlight, which can be used to illuminate otherwise dimly lit areas.

The game has no head-up display. If the monster is in close proximity to the player, colored floaters will appear in Caz's peripheral vision. However, the game does not have a combat system, and players have to rely on stealth (such as hiding behind objects and inside vents or throwing objects to distract enemies) and solving light environmental puzzles to progress. When the player is being chased by the monster, they have the option to quickly look behind while running forward. Still Wakes the Deep is a linear game, and the development team uses yellow paint on various surfaces to direct players towards their objectives. Players have to visit several locations multiple times throughout the game's campaign, though the environment will gradually change as events in the game unfold. The game also has a story mode, allowing players to play the game on a lower difficulty.

On Boxing Day 1975, Cameron "Caz" McLeary (Alec Newman), an electrician for the "Beira D" oil rig in the North Sea, is fired by his bad-tempered boss David Rennick (Clive Russell), who discovered Caz is wanted by the Scottish police for a violent altercation and evading arrest. Before Caz can board a helicopter bound for the mainland, a catastrophic drilling failure rocks the facility, knocking him and several men into the sea. Only Caz is rescued and, after coming to, discovers the rig is being overtaken by mysterious blood vessel-like tendrils that were brought up on the drill and contaminated the oil, which mutated numerous workers into bloodthirsty monsters. Evading them, Caz locates his diabetic best friend and the Beira D's cook, Roy (Shaun Dooley), who took refuge in the kitchen, before leaving to secure the lifeboats, only to lose them to poor construction.

Rennick orders an evacuation by helicopter, but he leaves without waiting for the others. However, the helicopter crashes into the rig shortly after takeoff. With the tendrils damaging the Beira D further, Caz helps his coworkers Brodie (Michael Abubakar) and Finlay (Karen Dunbar) stop it from capsizing. All the while, the trio are hunted by the monsters, whose presence causes them to hallucinate seeing and hearing their families. After preventing a gas explosion when the flare tower fails, Caz attempts to rescue Roy, but finds him dead from diabetic ketoacidosis. After Brodie sacrifices himself to float the rig, a despondent Finlay snaps and attempts to blow up the platform using a lighter that Caz had given her, but is crushed by falling machinery. Before dying, Finlay convinces Caz to do it to prevent the infestation from spreading to the mainland. Caz agrees and, in his last moments, relives memories of meeting his wife Suze (Neve McIntosh) and the birth of their children.

Back in Scotland, Suze, who previously sent Caz a letter hinting at divorce, writes a new letter to him; resolving to persevere in their marriage and wishing for him and Roy to come home.