Ciarán O’Donoghue
Still Wakes the Deep is a 2024 horror video game set on a 1970s oil rig in the North Sea. The game has some particularly scary moments and is pretty masterful in its use of body horror. It has a pretty on-the-nose political message about the disregarding of the safety and welfare of workers by bosses in their pursuit of profit.
The game follows ‘Caz’ McLeary, an electrician on the rig as the crew accidentally unleashes an ‘eldritch’ creature dwelling deep in the North Sea. For the sake of the avoidance of too many spoilers, this article will only briefly discuss the very beginning of the game, before the accident.
The player can talk to other crew members about their work on the rig. The player overhears a conversation with ‘Trots’, the rig’s union rep, discussing planning strike action due to how dangerous the rig is.
One of the secondary antagonists is the manager of the rig, Rennick. Rennick prioritises profit over safety and throughout the game the consequences of his mismanagement of the rig become painfully clear.
The political messaging of the game is very commendable and one could also say frighteningly relatable. Although our bosses hopefully won’t inadvertently unleash lovecraftian horrors through their pursuit of profit and disregarding of safety, it is a story that is based in the all-too-familiar everyday experience of workers across the world.
