Hidden Deep‘s combat is oddly satisfying, considering how basic it is. Perhaps once Hidden Deep is out of Early Access some clear, satisfying answers will be available, but at the moment, the mysteries speak for themselves. There’s an almost Lovecraftian feel to the bizarre structures that turn up beneath the ocean – why is there a nuclear reactor down here? What purpose does this giant sphere serve, and why does it liquefy the bodies of anyone who gets near it? No answers are forthcoming.
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The lack of explanation makes a lot of dramatic sense, as players can decide for themselves how to react to the absolutely insane circumstances they find themselves in. This kind of oblique presentation would ordinarily frustrate me, but Hidden Deep does such a good job of using environmental storytelling to inform players that I ended up not minding that there aren’t any actual characters or more than a single line of dialogue that isn’t pure exposition. There are huge machines, mysterious crystals, and disgusting creatures scattered throughout the claustrophobic tunnels, and players have to determine for themselves exactly what’s going on with all of it, because the game has no interest in clearing things up.
Some professionals have been dispatched to the bottom of the ocean to investigate a mining and research facility that, by all rights, shouldn’t exist. While there’s almost no story to speak of, Hidden Deep‘s premise is established clearly enough. However, in the various challenge modes, two people exploring the depths together on a split screen feels like the most natural thing in the world. This can be quite difficult in the story mode, as the other characters have literally no AI and the player has to constantly swap between them. Engineers moving heavy machinery as the scout guns down the hordes of beasts that the noise attracts, for example.
While most of the missions currently available have the player controlling a single scout investigating the map, Hidden Deep‘s best moments involve juggling a number of tasks simultaneously. There are two character types for the player to control - scouts, who have a grappling gun that allows them to explore hard-to-reach places, and engineers who can work the various machines placed around the facility. Hidden Deep is all about making the player feel trapped and claustrophobic, and the close-in camera and limited light sources do a great job of pulling that off. Everything happens at a measured pace - there’s almost no light in the pit, so the player has to rely on flashlights that illuminate a small area and their hearing for everything else. While the various monsters are threatening enough, the main challenge revolves around navigating the crudely-hewn mines and the raw caves beyond. Played from a 2D side-view perspective, Hidden Deep has players controlling up to three characters as they investigate a crumbling undersea facility.
It traps players in bad situations and expects them to crawl their way out while dozens of flesh-craving monsters hunt them down, and when it works, it’s magnificent. Hidden Deep is about slow, methodical movement through unimaginably hostile environments. Never before has careful exploration felt this dramatically satisfying.
LOW If I’m clipped to the line, why can’t I reload while hanging? HIGH Rushing elements through a monster-filled cave to keep a reactor from overloading.
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