New Scottish Horror Video Game ‘Still Wakes the Deep’
Where would developers even set a Scottish horror video game? In the middle of the North Sea on a remote oil rig in the 70s, of course! Still Wakes the Deep is a terrifying concept.
The game takes place on the Beira D oil rig off the coast of Scotland in 1975.
When a creepy, oily organism from the depths below climbs onboard, everything takes a turn for the worse. A group of workers find themselves trapped and stranded, and picked off one by one.
“This is also probably the most Scottish game you’ll ever play, right down to a staggering amount of swearing.” – The Guardian.
And we can confirm, after playing the game all the way through, our own accents grew thicker and we somehow felt even more Scottish.
As this is a Scottish horror video game, the team made it their mission to bring the Scottish accent to the forefront. They recruited voice actors from across Scotland including Isle of Skye, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Some of the main characters you encounter are voiced by Scottish actors Alec Newman, Neve McIntosh, and Karen Dunbar.
This Scottish Horror video game really represents
Brighton-based games developer, The Chinese Room, interviewed a number of retired North Sea oil rig workers and used British Petroleum’s documentary archives as a reference for the game’s oil rig design.
The team’s primary focus was to create an authentic experience that was as accurate as possible for the time period.
John McCormack, the game’s art director, is a Scot himself. Having lived in Scotland in the 1907s, he was more than qualified to advise the group on the game’s overall aesthetic.
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- Attention to detail successfully paints a picture of Scotland in the 1970s.
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- Gamers will experience the cabin fever and dangers of working on an oil rig.
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- Real-life oil rig workers informed the game design.
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- Sea mist is a permanent spooky fixture of the game’s aesthetics.
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- The gloominess of being stuck at sea over Christmas is made apparent.
A new Gaelic language option has been added to the Scottish horror video game
Players can now experience the creepy narrative of Still Wakes the Deep with full Scottish Gaelic subtitles over the original Scottish voice acting. Translations will also be seen in menus, tooltips, and text box popouts for interactive objects.
By completing the game in Gaelic, you will win the ‘Bheir an cuan a chuid fhèin a-mach’ achievement.
“As a narrative studio, communicating with the audience authentically through language and character is core to what we do,” says John McCormack, Project Creative Director on Still Wakes the Deep, told Gamepress.
“Our latest project, Still Wakes the Deep, is a uniquely Scottish story and, while it is set in a relatively contemporary period, there is something ancient and powerful at the heart of it. After listening to ‘Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann’ for the first time, it was clear that the game experience wouldn’t be complete without a full translation deeply connected to the history and people of Scotland.”
Flora MacNeil from Barra.
Glasgow-born singer, Maggie MacInnes, sings ‘Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann’ in Gaelic for the Still Wakes the Deep soundtrack.
When developers stumbled across old clips online of Maggie’s mum, Flora MacNeil, singing in Gaelic, they felt inspired. Flora MacNeil from Barra was known as the “Queen of Gaelic singers”.
Developers approached her daughter Maggie MacInnes, who is also a singer, and she agreed to rerecord ‘Fath Mo Mhulaid a Bhith Ann’ for them.
The song has been released as a single in the singer’s name and also features in the game.
Available now on PC, Xbox and PS5.
