Submerged, Hidden Depths Review

Publisher: Uppercut Games Pty Ltd

Developer: Uppercut Games Pty Ltd

Platform: Windows(Reviewed) X-Box-One/X, PS4/5, Stadia

Release Date: March 10th 2022

Price: $29.99

The first thing you need to know about Submerged: Hidden Depths is that it’s a combat-free game, just like the original Submerged from 2015. As a result, the pace is sedate, so you can just chill and like, look at stuff man. This isn’t a small thing; you will occasionally stop and just look around. The art in the game is fantastic and accompanied by the well done and soothing soundtrack. Neither the art nor the music is earth-shattering, but it’s appropriate and good enough that you will want to drift along just admiring the world for a bit.

Your point of view character is Miku, who inhabits a deleted scene from Kevin Costner’s Water-World, I mean the flooded ruin of a present-day city. Miku, accompanied by her brother, explores the ruins which have been overtaken by something called the “Black Plant”. The remains of the city’s previous inhabitants are still present in the form of root like statues that seem to be recreating the last moments of that person’s life as they were overtaken by the plant. MIku has a special power that she uses to find the seeds needed to heal the ruined city by Restoring? Curing? Appeasing? Whatever, the “Black Plant.”

How many “water” puns do you think thins guy is going to try and squeeze outta this review?

So Miku uses her plant-based power to locate the afore mentioned “seeds” large glowy balls, which have been removed from their usual places within the plants and used to power various devices from a victrola (old-timey record player) to neon signs and even something that seems to be a shrine to vacuum cleaners. (yes, I really passed on making a “suck” pun) Once the seeds are returned, the black plant turns green, and you can move on to the next one. Between each seed, you get a wordless cut scene between the siblings that advances the story a (very) little. This is perhaps a bit too subtle for some players, but it brings some needed depth to an otherwise minimal story. There is also a sort of subplot, told through photographic “diary” entries hidden throughout the world. These aren’t really integrated into the game play and come off more as a side quest which I found a bit shallow. Likewise, you can find ways to improve your boat and play post-apocalyptic Marlin Perkins by cataloging the local wildlife.

The controls are simple and straightforward and there are handy tool-tips to show your options, particularly with objects. Once you get wherever you are going, you fetch and carry the seeds to gratify the plant, find any diary pages or boat upgrades and that’s about it, you can’t even jump, the game will do it for you when appropriate. Everything, except your basic movement, is on rails making it impossible to throw your brother overboard. Your time is just sunk boating from one destination to another and playing fetch the seed when you get there. You can’t even get lost boating, as there are signs on buoys pointing you to your destination. And honestly that’s where this game goes under, there’s no combat, no puzzles the exploration is very basic and there isn’t that much of it. After about fifteen minutes, I was looking for the story as much as I was looking for the seeds. The whole game lasts four or five hours and that’s it. But “wait,” you say, what about the remains of the people, what about improving your boat, what about the diary and what about cataloging the wildlife? Whelp, they are largely irrelevant. Your job is to carry the seeds, the rest is either window dressing or simply giving you something to do other than play gardener.

Bottom-line Uppercut’s Submerged: Hidden Depths is beautiful, simple and not at all engaging. If you want something pretty to float along with for a few hours this might be the ticket, but if you want your adventure to have more… uh… adventure in it, this is perhaps not the best bet unless you are a fan of the original Submerged.

The Good:

Outstanding Artwork
Excellent Score
Relaxing time killer

The Bad:

Too slow for many
Poorly Executed Story
Poorly implemented gameplay

Submerged, Hidden Depths (PC) Review