Right out of the gate, Under: Depths of Fear is a stand-out anomaly in the published library of Globiss Interactive, a developer whose other work consists of more casual games featuring anthropomorphic animals and cats. This first-person horror game has you playing as a World War I veteran named Alexander Dockter who is aboard a ship that inexplicably begins to sink. As it does, and as you fight your way through the hallways and inner workings of the vessel, you encounter zombie-like soldiers who are hellbent on getting their revenge on you. Turns out, they're your former platoon, and you're responsible for all of their deaths.

If there's one thing that this title does well, and to be honest there is really only one thing that it does well, is that it easily elicits as panic response from the player. Throughout the 1-2 hour campaign, the game design incessantly rushes you; whether it's quickly finding your way through flooding waters, escaping from an enemy, or trying to get through rich darkness with your last on-hand match. Rarely do you get a break to enjoy looking around the environments, and when you do find yourself with a moment to catch your breath you still feel pressured to move quickly. This leaves very little time to absorb the information and plot given in notes, which is essential in understanding and enjoying the overall story that is attempting to be presented.

It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly makes Under: Depths of Fear so unenjoyable, perhaps it's the conglomeration of frustrating elements and mechanics that it features. It's almost as if the developer rounded up all of the most hated horror game mechanics and decided to shoehorn them in to one title; invulnerable one-hit kill enemies, stealth that doesn't quite work as intended, too few matchboxes that are never placed where you need them the most, a weapon that serves no purpose, notes that you don't fully get to absorb because the game doesn't pause as you're trying to read them, unforgiving checkpoints. Alternatively, maybe it's the fact that the majority of the gameplay consists of shoulder-checking dozens of doors to see if they'll open, and when they do you know that you'll either find a key or a note inside.

While Under: Depths of Fear isn't necessarily a bad game, all the factors that work against it to make it a frustrating experience become severely off-putting by its halfway point. If you do manage to speed read the notes and absorb the majority of the plotline then the ending is well worth working towards if you can stomach the overwhelming pressure to constantly move quickly, as well as the trial and error that it takes to get there, while having the patience to restart from far away checkpoints. If that doesn't sound appealing to you then, well, you're not going to have a good time here. To end on a positive note, the sound design in this release is spot-on and it creates a very immersive experience; the buzzing from the lights, in particular, is an outstanding touch.

The Horror Network Curator | Group Click for Gore

Right out of the gate, Under: Depths of Fear is a stand-out anomaly in the published library of Globiss Interactive, a developer whose other work consists of more casual games featuring anthropomorphic animals and cats. This first-person horror game has you playing as a World War I veteran named Alexander Dockter who is aboard a ship that inexplicably begins to sink. As it does, and as you fight your way through the hallways and inner workings of the vessel, you encounter zombie-like soldiers who are hellbent on getting their revenge on you. Turns out, they're your former platoon, and you're responsible for all of their deaths. If there's one thing that this title does well, and to be honest there is really only one thing that it does well, is that it easily elicits as panic response from the player. Throughout the 1-2 hour campaign, the game design incessantly rushes you; whether it's quickly finding your way through flooding waters, escaping from an enemy, or trying to get through rich darkness with your last on-hand match. Rarely do you get a break to enjoy looking around the environments, and when you do find yourself with a moment to catch your breath you still feel pressured to move quickly. This leaves very little time to absorb the information and plot given in notes, which is essential in understanding and enjoying the overall story that is attempting to be presented. It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly makes Under: Depths of Fear so unenjoyable, perhaps it's the conglomeration of frustrating elements and mechanics that it features. It's almost as if the developer rounded up all of the most hated horror game mechanics and decided to shoehorn them in to one title; invulnerable one-hit kill enemies, stealth that doesn't quite work as intended, too few matchboxes that are never placed where you need them the most, a weapon that serves no purpose, notes that you don't fully get to absorb because the game doesn't pause as you're trying to read them, unforgiving checkpoints. Alternatively, maybe it's the fact that the majority of the gameplay consists of shoulder-checking dozens of doors to see if they'll open, and when they do you know that you'll either find a key or a note inside. While Under: Depths of Fear isn't necessarily a bad game, all the factors that work against it to make it a frustrating experience become severely off-putting by its halfway point. If you do manage to speed read the notes and absorb the majority of the plotline then the ending is well worth working towards if you can stomach the overwhelming pressure to constantly move quickly, as well as the trial and error that it takes to get there, while having the patience to restart from far away checkpoints. If that doesn't sound appealing to you then, well, you're not going to have a good time here. To end on a positive note, the sound design in this release is spot-on and it creates a very immersive experience; the buzzing from the lights, in particular, is an outstanding touch. [h1]Rating: [b]2.0/5.0[/b] - It's not awful, but it's not great.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore