To start things off, I copied a quote from the ‘About this Game’ blurb from Steam:
‘A serene and relaxing game experience; take your time to enjoy the sunrise and beautiful vistas, listen to the sound of the ocean, or observe the playfulness of the creatures that inhabit this place. There is only one pace in this game and that’s your own.’
The above statement pretty much sums up this game ‘Submerged’ from Uppercut Games Pty Ltd. It took away all the obligatory kill everything that glances your way, enemies and even death. Yes, you cannot die in this game, no matter what. Then again, some adventure games you cannot die too however that’s another story. So, if you took away all of these elements that conceivably makes video games fun then what has Submerged then have to offer with regards to the ‘fun’ factor? Again, it comes back to the above statement as its sole purpose is to make the player having a relaxing time exploring the world whilst doing a bit of searching for collectables along the way.
And now here comes the contradiction – the storyline. Yes, there is a story to this game however it really feels like as an afterthought; like Uppercut Games had this brilliant idea of exploring the world in your own pace without the fear of death yet need to string a story to make some sort of purpose build into it. The plot, in the most simplistic form, revolves around the main character (i.e. what you control) named Miku, and her brother Taku both arrived via a small fishing boat to the submerged city of unknown origins. The catch is her brother is dying and it’s up to you (Miku) to save him by finding supplies that’s hidden throughout this once bustling city.
Now here’s the contradiction – the game tells you to admire the scenery and soak up in the atmosphere; basically, take your sweet time doing what needs to be done to save your dying brother (?). I found this concept a little difficult to swallow as, and remarkably so, I felt a connection for the two characters even though Miku is almost a mute. However, as the saying goes ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ and this game Submerged is like viewing a silent movie where this time you control the pace (as opposed to a movie where it dictates the course of action). So, you have this sense of urgency build in (a.k.a. dying brother) yet the main character cannot die period. Crazy stuff.
In addition to this, I questioned the purpose of why the two (Miku and Taku) arrived to this city. Why on a fishing boat? What’s the story behind the city? Too many unanswered questions and immediately I thought what a pointless plot, just dumping you into this city and start searching. Then, as the game progresses, the plot does reveal itself via journals located throughout the city and finding cache boxes. Note that finding cache boxes progresses the story therefore explains the backstory of Miku and Taku. Locating the journals does not progress the story however enhances the backstory of this once glorified city. Yet fear not as if you manage to finish the game (a.k.a. located all of the supplies) you can continue the game under the ‘explore’ mode. Well needless to say, some of the developers also worked on Bioshock which had a similar storytelling style. I should of have picked this up early on – guilty as charged.
The journals are all displayed via drawings thus initially it will take a small while to get used to this idea however it’s quite a nice touch considering the picturesque images looks like crude yet very effective imageries. Speaking of visuals, the entire game does look very attractive with vibrant colours. Not too realistic however effective enough to suit one of the game’s main selling point - that is soaking in the atmosphere (regardless of the contradiction as explained before). There’s also a day / night cycle therefore the entire landscape has a nice dramatic effect when the sun sets over the horizon. The weather can also change from glorious sunny days to dark and gloomy rainy weather with the occasional lightning storm.
To control the character and boat couldn’t be any easier as it requires using the WASD keys, or customise it if you wish. Use the mouse to control the camera angle however I wish there’s a zoom option. Granted when scaling the buildings, the camera does zoom out a bit however it’s still locked. This can cause a little pain as sometimes there are two available paths when scaling however it’s not obvious until it’s too late, meaning you need to backtrack to take on the other path. Thankfully it doesn’t happen that often however it’s still noticeable regardless. Also, you cannot fall when scaling so it puts all the assassins in Assassin Creed to shame. Lastly, how strong is Miku as she must have superior upper body strength to perform some of the scaling feat! What the heck – it’s a computer game after all.
Navigation around the map (albeit a small map) can be improved. Granted you have a compass to indicate any crates located via your telescope however that’s about it. You can view the map by using the default tab key however it can be a royal pain tabbing every time to get a better view of your surroundings. A mini map is sorely needed as it’s missing from this game. Also when using your telescope, if you locate any of the supply creates / journals, it conveniently marks them on the map – the tab one as the compass (displayed on the top of the screen) only shows spotted crates.
Because there’s just one save slot, that’s not all too bad considering the nature of this game (i.e. you cannot die). However, the issue is when booting up from the save slot, the game always starts of which a nice sunny day then drops to night in no time. So, if you have a short attention span (meaning you can only play for a short period of time), expect to play the game during the night more than daytime. I wish the game is clever enough to save at the time of day instead as I witness plenty of darkness during my playthrough (thus defeats the purpose of admiring the scenery as this game portrays as one of its main selling points). As a saving grace, the entire day / night cycle lasts approximately 30 minutes of real time.
As the game encourages exploration, it can extend the life of this product. For me, it took around 8 hours to complete however I really explored every nook and cranny to locate every single item (for which I did – yet it will be great to have a little fan fair about this however it wasn’t the case). However, it’s not unheard of that others can finish this under 3 hours. The map is quite small considering however it was developed by an indie developer made in Australia – and being Australian myself, the Australian gaming industry is miniscule with little government support.
Yet to those achievement hunters, there are ten to collect and they are all achievable on your first run. Yet there’s a bug where the progression count for the collectables are not recorded in steam yet it does unlock when locating them all. According to the developers, they mentioned it has to do with the game engine itself (Unreal 4). I have no idea whether this is true though. Also, there are five collectable cards and they are all nice looking (and not some copy / paste garbage from other games that I won’t mention here). All five are concept arts from the game so that’s a nice touch.
With the asking price of $20 and an additional $10 for the soundtrack (for which I highly recommend as it’s composed by Jeff Van Dyck - Total War / Need for Speed series), I cannot recommend this game for that price. Honestly, it’s a really hurts for me to say this as I really enjoyed this game as it did suck me in until the end. I love the characters, love the idea of exploration and taking my sweet time doing so, love just sitting there soaking up the scenery however, because of the storyline involves a dying boy, it did add a sense of urgency. That’s not to say that’s a bad thing however it does contradict to the overall pitch for the game. Yet I even adore the storytelling montage and the uniqueness that brought it into the game. Also, I’m aware the lack of support of the gaming industry in Australia has that may have an effect of driving prices up. If the price was $20 that should include the soundtrack and not as a DLC.
Thankfully this game does go on sale from time to time and I even seen it at 75% off – that’s a total steal in my eyes. Also, because the game has a lot of evidence of love poured into it making this game wonderful, for this reason I can lean towards recommending it. So, you have on one hand a short, contradicting pitch (dying boy vs admire the scenery), missing mini map (that will enhance the gameplay), lack of zoom function (to view multiple paths instead of backtracking) and high purchasing price vs likable characters, dare to be different, beautiful scenery and decent backstory that plays upon real life scenarios (instead of you are the chosen one). I’m opting the latter thus giving my overall recommendation.
But take heed what I have stated.
6 / 10 (lots of love poured into this game however it does need some serious overhaul to the entire game).