Submerged

'Submerged' is sometimes beautiful, what with its glowing nighttime algae, frequent thunderstorms, and colorful fauna. It is also sometimes unplayable, as the framerate plummets into the single digits whenever something remotely exciting happens, like a whale breaching near the boat. It has some nice effects with regards to water and lighting, but some of the textures are very aged. Neither of the humans depicted in the game have particularly advanced models or facial expressions.

The soundtrack is, like the game, exceedingly short. It consists mostly of breezy piano and some light percussion. I heard it loop quite a few times but didn’t really get tired of it, but nor is it very moving. The sound effects on the other hand are much better. The motion of the water, cries of the surfacing cetaceans, and tappy tap of the boat hull against nearby surfaces constantly reminded me that I was basically in an ocean, full of tiny little manmade islands. There is very little voice acting - the girl sometimes says what she needs to collect next, but it’s in a strange language.

'Submerged' is a special kind of game. I won’t go so far as to say that it is fun for all of its tiny runtime, nor will I say that it’s a half-baked mess of pretentious ideas. I did like that it offers a break from the zeitgeist of contemporary gaming in which bombastic, explosive shooters, faux-edgy action titles, and painfully difficult roguelikes seem to be all the rage. It’s not for everyone, but go in with an open mind and you may find something interesting underneath the surface.