Pass the Controller | Latest news, reviews and reviews in video games
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
>

Song of the Deep | Xbox One

15/7/2016

 
Picture

Song of the Deep is quite a departure. It’s a small-scale project from the exceedingly busy developers at Insomniac Games, as well as a first for US retailer GameStop and their new publishing arm. Though there are some obvious cracks in the foundations, this venture ultimately proves fruitful, producing a beautifully warm and whimsical nautical adventure.

Picture

by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: GameTrust
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Players: 1 
A 2D Metroidvania-style game with layered backgrounds that add depth, Song of the Deep tells the story of Merryn, a young girl that shares a love of the sea with her father. When he fails to return from a fishing trip one evening, Merryn builds a ramshackle submarine and embarks to trawl the depths in aid of uncovering his fate.

Siobhan Hewlett offers a soft-spoken narration to the introspective story of perseverance. The narrative is presented with a fittingly child-like wonder, dour moments overcome by determination paving the way to a predictably happy ending that we wouldn’t have taken any other way.
​

Similar whimsy permeates the design and makes exploring Song of the Deep’s gorgeous subterranean world an absolute treat. Environments are drenched in cascades of colour, occupied by fantastical creatures with charmingly twee animations, and filled with innumerable hidden treasures to collect. Occasional realms of sharp, jutting rocks and pitch-black trenches are efficiently suffocating by comparison.

Areas encircle one another to create an interconnected and cohesive world, comfortably accommodating the gear gating that comes hand-in-hand with the Metroidvania genre. You’ll frequently acquire items that grant abilities used to unlock new parts of the map, perhaps most significantly a diving suit for Merryn, allowing her to leave the sub and squeeze into tight spaces.

The items also help in solving puzzles, which can grow tiresome due to a lack of variation and abundant iteration of the same few concepts. The exact same can be said for the game’s combat, whereby your arsenal is bolstered - twofold when upgrades purchased with treasures are taken into account - yet most additions fail to evolve the system in significant ways, feeling superfluous as a result. We almost exclusively bashed the antagonistic schools of fish, crustaceans and invertebrates with the grappling hook from beginning to end.
We met Song of the Deep with an immediate fondness that was, at least in part, slowly chipped away.
Picture
One constant seal of quality persists in Jonathan Wandag’s stellar musical score. 
Boss encounters don’t do much to enliven combative proceedings, the three present simply serving as arenas in which you fight waves of the same standard enemies in their place.

Unfortunately, a number of tedious mechanics further hamper the experience. Naval mines awkwardly dangle from chains and escorting them routinely ends in disaster; this is frustrating in itself, but travelling back and waiting for another to spawn each time intensifies the feeling. The sub can be crammed into corridors that it isn’t keen on coming out of, pressing B to leave the map or pause screen will activate sonar and can scupper your progress during puzzles, whilst one particular chase scene is inexcusably bad. Enemies that can’t be combatted spawn atop you, executing insta-kill grabs from ludicrous distances as you wrestle with the controls that, in this instance, lack the necessary precision. 

One constant seal of quality does persist in Jonathan Wandag’s stellar musical score. It’s simultaneously magical and heavy with sorrow, mirroring Merryn’s internal struggle. It firmly anchors the player to the world and ensures it’s one they’ll want to stick around in, despite the issues.
Picture
​​Reminiscent of favourites Child of Light and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, we met Song of the Deep with an immediate fondness that was, at least in part, slowly chipped away. A beautiful story, an enthralling world, lovable characters and outstanding presentation don't excuse the fact that numerous gameplay elements - the area that matters most - simply aren't much fun to engage with.

Pros

  • Touching story
  • Charming characters and narration
  • Beautiful visuals and soundtrack
  • Strong world design
  • A proper Metroidvania

Cons

  • Weak combat
  • Repetitive puzzles
  • Annoying design decisions
  • Some upgrades aren’t much good
  • Bosses are rubbish

Score 7/10
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    READ MORE

    News
    Features
    Videos

    Comment Here

    Categories

    All
    Action Adventure
    Adventure
    Air Combat
    Arcade
    Family
    Fighter
    Hardware
    Horror
    Indie
    Multiplayer
    Narrative
    Open World
    Party
    Platformer
    Puzzler
    Racing
    Roguelike
    Roguelite
    Role Playing
    RPG
    Shmup
    Shooter
    Sim
    SoulsLike
    Sports
    Stealth
    Strategy
    Survival
    Virtual Reality


    Archives

    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Community
About

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
Find our reviews on:
  • OpenCritic
  • vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2022 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.