Brighton-based developer The Chinese Room has earned itself a reputation for crafting startlingly original, narrative-focused games. Their breakout hit was 2012’s Dear Esther, a haunting elegy set on a deserted Hebridean island. The game popularised a new genre: the walking simulator, in which players must patiently traverse an environment while a story unfolds. Three years later, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture showed what they could achieve if given a healthy budget by Sony. Its vast, impeccably detailed depiction of a fictional 1980s English village told a compelling tale, heavily influenced by the work of classic science-fiction writer John Wyndham.

Still Wakes The Deep is a psychological horror set in 1975 on a damaged drilling platform off the Scottish coast. Taking on the role of an electrician, players must escape from the collapsing rig while being pursued by a mysterious creature. The original pitch was ‘The Thing set on an oil rig’ and, with its non-combat mechanic, it’s reminiscent of Frictional Games’ terrifying Amnesia: The Bunker from last year. The Chinese Room has worked with that developer before, on 2013’s narrative-heavy Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, so a little cross-pollination may be inevitable (and no bad thing). With its developer’s gift for creating tension, atmosphere and a real sense of place, Still Wakes The Deep has big potential. 
Still Weeks The Deep is released by Secret Mode on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Tuesday 18 June.