Submerged

 PC
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 69
  3. Negative: 28 out of 69

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  1. qrpiech
    Mar 7, 2016
    6
    Short, but very emotional and relaxing indie game created by former developers of Bioshock. The setting is similar to Enslaved, but more depressing - the world is flooded, only parts of the highest buildings are visible above water, all covered in plants and seaweed. Your brother is seriously wounded and you need to gather some medicine and rations for him from the roofs of the buildings.Short, but very emotional and relaxing indie game created by former developers of Bioshock. The setting is similar to Enslaved, but more depressing - the world is flooded, only parts of the highest buildings are visible above water, all covered in plants and seaweed. Your brother is seriously wounded and you need to gather some medicine and rations for him from the roofs of the buildings. To get there you use your boat and telescope (to locate interesting objects and mark them on your map). Then you climb up and search for hidden stuff.

    Submerged combines TPP exploration and some light platforming elements, though no skills or good coordination are needed, as it is impossible to fail here. You don't jump, you just move across ledges, pipes and branches and try to get all the secrets on your way to the top. What is more - there is no combat or violence in this game, but it contains some minor scares and sad moments - think of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons or Journey. The story is told without any words - the only text you see is your objectives.

    There are no technical issues with the game and it's optimized well, but you can feel the low budget. The world and character models look fine, but animations are unrealistic and jerky and platforming elements seem too easy and repetitive (thus boring for hardcore players). Soundtrack is lovely, though, as well as the atmosphere.

    If you like exploration games and simple, but touching stories - try it, you should not be disappointed.    … Expand
  2. PaleMimic
    Aug 20, 2017
    7
    Submerged is a game created by Uppercut Games Pty Ltd, three gamers who set it upon themselves to make fun games for most if not every platform currently out there. In fact check out their website to find out all about the trio and support them, if you want: https://www.uppercut-games.com/ .Submerged is a game created by Uppercut Games Pty Ltd, three gamers who set it upon themselves to make fun games for most if not every platform currently out there. In fact check out their website to find out all about the trio and support them, if you want: https://www.uppercut-games.com/ .
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    Enough about the developers though. Submerged is a game without combat or death or voices for that matter. Every moment of the game is framed by music from award winning composer Jeff van Dyck, who some might know produced the music for Alien: Isolation, several Total War titles and, one game I myself enjoy, Hand of Fate. The soundtrack that plays throughout the game is beautifully calm and brings about a sense of wonder as you travel and explore the sunken city. The city itself is wonderfully detailed, with vines climbing the sides of the submerged skyscrapers and landmarks, and various creatures swimming beneath the water. There is a sense of mystery about the city and a constant question that you will ask every time you travel out on you small boat; “What happened here?”. As you progress you can find boxes and notes dotted about the city that will give a brief hint about the goings on before you came to the city. Collect every note and you will uncover the truth.
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    Mechanically the game flows fairly smoothly. There aren’t all that many complex or difficult things to get your head around, which is great seeing as the game is more or less purely focused on exploration. You, as Miku, can climb the various structures in the sunken city and travel to the very tops of skyscrapers, and take in the beautiful view. You travel around in a small, but stable, wooden boat which make you almost feel like your playing The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. As you speed through the waves you’ll come across various creatures that have been changed by the strange aura that seems to surround the city. Huge, moss covered whales will swim past you, launching jets of water into the air and green and blue dolphins will leap out of the water whilst chittering and squeaking. Everything feels natural and calm, along with the music it’s a great atmosphere.
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    Story-wise, the game, doesn’t really have a huge in-depth plot line. Apart from gathering resources to save your ill younger brother, there isn’t really all that much to it. Granted the cities story is a fascinating mystery to uncover, making you almost want to play until you unfold the entire tale.
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    To conclude, I’d say Uppercut Games have created a beautiful and original exploration game. With wonderfully detailed graphics, a huge sunken city to explore and a fantastic soundtrack there’s little to not love about Submerged. Good Day!    … Expand
  3. Nebular_Echo
    Nov 13, 2021
    6
    Я буквально уговорил себя не ставить отрицательную оценку. Я очень хорошо воспринял тот потенциал, который заложен в игру, но он остался нераскрытым абсолютно. Тут есть интересный мир, потенциально трогательная история, неплохой визуал, но авторы будто не хотели всем этим пользоваться. У нас есть дети-беглецы в трудной жизненной ситуации, затопленный город, населенный экзотическимиЯ буквально уговорил себя не ставить отрицательную оценку. Я очень хорошо воспринял тот потенциал, который заложен в игру, но он остался нераскрытым абсолютно. Тут есть интересный мир, потенциально трогательная история, неплохой визуал, но авторы будто не хотели всем этим пользоваться. У нас есть дети-беглецы в трудной жизненной ситуации, затопленный город, населенный экзотическими существами, тайна и наша лодка, но сделать мы должны что? Залезть на 10 вышек. Это всё.
    Да, игра не для хардкорщиков и не для искателей глубоких сюжетов, они могут спокойно проходить мимо. Это игра для тех, кто просто хочет немного поплавать по руинам города, поглощенного океаном, почувствовать печаль, одиночество, а за ними доброту и надежду. Геймплейно игра является лайтовой и мирной версией "Assassin's Grind. Black Flag". Такое же плаванье по южным водам среди буйной тропической флоры и фауны и такое же лазанье по стенам в поисках хабара.

    Недостатки:
    - Плохая анимация персонажа, особенно рук и плеч. Скольжение по канату голыми руками. 2д-орнаменты на зданиях.
    - Абсолютно отвратительная механика неба: солнце и луна движутся навстречу, дождь идет из чистого звездного неба, очень кстати размытого.
    - Если вернуться на одну из вышек второй раз, то игра запрет тебя там, т.к. был только один выход - через сюжетный сундук.

    За эти недостатки можно было бы смело ставить 1 балл, если бы не спасительные черты.
    Атмосфера игры хороша, графика приятная, прекрасная озвучка природы. Игра весит каких-то 2 Гб, а выглядит получше всякой дичи гигов на 20. Самым невероятным образом общее впечатление остается хорошее, вспоминать вы будете не ограничения, а вот этот океан и лодку.
    Тронуло, как авторы сумели рассказать историю с помощью одних лишь схематичных рисунков, практически наскальной живописью. Ни слова не сказали, а я всё понял. Это было сильно.
    Кроме того в этой игре нет никакой гадости: я не встретил багов, у меня не возникло ощущения, что разрабы в очередной раз не были знакомы друг с другом, тебе не затирают леволиберальную пропаганду, тебя не оставляют с клиффхэнгером к следующей части, ставя тебя на паузу на 10 лет, тебе не пытаются впихнуть покупку каких-то левых dlc, скинов. А вот просто взяли и сделали, один раз, чтобы чисто и красиво.

    В патче 1.1. дальность прорисовки увеличилась, текстуры стали четче, лодка стала взаимодействовать с бОльшим числом препятствий, а не проплывать насквозь. Но дополнение Hidden Visions, в котором ты должен просто искать бонусы на карте – это полная шляпа. Авторы увеличили количество тупого гринда, будто его тут было мало.    … Expand
  4. blubberguts
    Aug 17, 2015
    5
    I had seen screenshots and was looking forward to this game, but it was a disappointment.

    The start is good, city looks pretty, and your boat lands. You lay your brother down and start off to explore the city...what ? I can't jump? I can climb like goat but can't jump? Feels weird. So you explore the city....which consists of finding boxy buildings with bits of moss you can climb,    I had seen screenshots and was looking forward to this game, but it was a disappointment.

    The start is good, city looks pretty, and your boat lands. You lay your brother down and start off to explore the city...what ? I can't jump? I can climb like goat but can't jump? Feels weird.

    So you explore the city....which consists of finding boxy buildings with bits of moss you can climb, and "bumping" into them. The game takes over and puts you on the wall. Hmmmm... you cannot fall. Also, there is only one path to climb each building. No enemies either. And my brother just lies there. All I can do is boat around and climb a preset path. Excitement is rapidly fading. This isn't a sandbox game it's just a game full of big boxes.

    There are three kinds of rewards: Climb the building completely and get rewarded with a look through the telescope to the next kind of building. Also, each building may have a box of health for your brother. It also may have little books on pedestals - if you get one it tells a "story" by showing you a single, brightly coloured heavily stylised image of something, and some grunts in an unknown native language. So what's the story? I don't know; the language is unintelligible and the pictures are so highly stylised I couldn't understand what they meant.

    So. No enemies. No way to die. Only one thing to do - explore. No-one to talk to. (Even your brother just lies there). No rewards except books I can't understand and health kits for my brother that don't do anything - you just "collect" them. Only one path up the buildings, apart from a secret area where a book or health kit might be.

    This game is pretty and that's it. It's kind of fake; what looks like a big city teeming with life turns out to be full of empty buildings (most of which you cannot climb) and nothing else.

    Oh man it was boring. Deleted and uninstalled. Let it submerge back into the depths from which it emerged. It's a terge.    … Expand
  5. esxdri
    Aug 5, 2015
    5
    I was really looking forward to playing Submerged.
    Well, is it good or bad? I might even tell you everything about this game, because it lacks so much content.
    The graphics are nice and I like driving on a boat in the ruined city and finding unusual structures, but that is pretty much everything I like about this game. You spend most of the time climbing half-sunken buildings to look    I was really looking forward to playing Submerged.
    Well, is it good or bad? I might even tell you everything about this game, because it lacks so much content.
    The graphics are nice and I like driving on a boat in the ruined city and finding unusual structures, but that is pretty much everything I like about this game.
    You spend most of the time climbing half-sunken buildings to look for medical supplies that your brother needs and it is highly repetitive and boring.
    This game will take you about 2-3 hours to complete and I am actually glad that it is not longer, because I never felt so bored hoping for the game to end in a long time.
    If you want, you can look for collectibles that reveal the city's story, but that is just more building climbing for a piece of picture. You can also find boosts scattered on the water that help you sail faster.
    5/10 - Visually nice, but repetitive and boring.    … Expand
  6. SuperkenGaming
    Aug 4, 2015
    6
    Submerged
    I’d rather submerge myself before playing this game again
    Submerged is a non-combative exploration game as you can see here, this game looks pretty dated. You start the game out in a submerged city with your little brother The objective to the game is to heal his wound You do this by going out into the city to find supplies on top of various buildings and you get to the    Submerged
    I’d rather submerge myself before playing this game again
    Submerged is a non-combative exploration game
    as you can see here, this game looks pretty dated.
    You start the game out in a submerged city with your little brother
    The objective to the game is to heal his wound
    You do this by going out into the city to find supplies on top of various buildings
    and you get to the top by climbing prince of Persia style, minus the fancy flips and jumps
    And that’s it
    This is the game.
    When you find supplies you are rewarded with a chunk of the origins story, of why what happened happened to get you to the point in the story you begin with
    Its up to you to decipher and this mystery story is actually pretty dark
    also along your journey you’ll find boat upgrades that increase the amount of time you can use a speed boost, you’ll find a handful of creatures and you’ll find the cities secrets which much like main story is finding these cave like paintings of the cities story.
    So there’s 2 stories here, but oddly enough the stories seem pretty parallel
    and neither of the 2 are worth the effort to learn about
    I went into this game excited and left disappointed and cheated of my time
    There is no fun, no pay off.
    The ambient music is good, but really that’s it
    for what it is
    Adventure game:
    6/10
    Overall
    5.5/10    … Expand
  7. Cyber_Angel
    Sep 4, 2022
    5
    Extremely basic, who knew that "Submerged" is a game about climbing. With beautiful graphics, passable animations and emotional music. But the gameplay is as basic as it gets. There is no skill involved. No reason for exploration apart from meaningless collectibles. No danger to the player, no real meaning to the boat upgrades. The girl just happens to find exactly what she needs soExtremely basic, who knew that "Submerged" is a game about climbing. With beautiful graphics, passable animations and emotional music. But the gameplay is as basic as it gets. There is no skill involved. No reason for exploration apart from meaningless collectibles. No danger to the player, no real meaning to the boat upgrades. The girl just happens to find exactly what she needs so there's no strategy or planning necessary. This is the closest to a technology demo as you can get.
    The ending just throws away everything you experienced without explaining any of it.
    The character cannot even jump over 1 meter wide gap, but instead climbs over half of the building to get to the other side. It just sad.
    You can find games that are better in every field this game tries to dabble in.
    Enslaved: Odyssey to the West has better design of the world and better climbing mechanics, not mentioning a great story.
    Windbound has better sailing and sense of exploration.
    The Last of Us has better worldbuilding and a reason for explaining how it happened.
    Sable has better exploration and requires thinking on how to overcome obstacles.
    I could go on and on. Just not worth the 2 hours of your time.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
47

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 12
  3. Negative: 6 out of 12
  1. Riot Pixels
    Oct 29, 2015
    37
    Submerged is just not worth two hours of your life.
    Read full review
  2. SpazioGames
    Oct 28, 2015
    55
    Disappointing. This could have been a truly poetic title centered on discovery and exploration, but the technical problems, bad level design, and weak storyline destroy the experience.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Oct 17, 2015
    55
    Good exploration game should have a fascinating world and an above average storytelling – or at least one of these elements. Submerged has the direction right but doesn’t push far enough with it. [10/2015, p.67]
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