6.8 /10 1 Votes
6.8/10 IGN Publisher(s) Uppercut Games Composer(s) Jeff Van Dyck Developer Uppercut Games Genre Adventure game | 9/10 Steam 47% Metacritic Director(s) Ed Orman Initial release date 4 August 2015 Engine Unreal Engine Mode Single-player video game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Platforms PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Microsoft Windows Similar Beyond Eyes, The Swindle, Samorost 3, QUBE, ABZÛ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submerged is a third-person exploration, post-apocalyptic indie game developed and published by Uppercut Games for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC Windows in 2015.
Contents
Gameplay
The game involves players exploring an archipelago of half-sunken buildings, climbing up ruins and traversing the spaces between using a rowboat. The game focuses on exploration, and features no enemies or combat, and the player is unable to be killed.
Plot
Set in a dystopian future where global warming has flooded the world. Siblings Miku and her younger brother Taku drift in to a city partially submerged within ocean water with only the tallest buildings protruding from the sea.
The two have fled home from their father following his descent in to alcoholism since the unfortunate death of their mother and his violent actions towards them that have resulted in Taku becoming seriously injured.
Taking refuge within the top of a clock tower, Miku begins to explore the city in her fishing boat equipped with a motor, in search of supplies to treat Taku. She scales the buildings, locating relief crates that had been parachuted in during the crisis.
The whole time she is observed by aquatic beings who are revealed to be survivors of the city that have undergone a complete mutation to better thrive in their new environment. Miku also realizes to her shock that she herself is now mutating in a similar way.
Eventually she locates the final crate and Taku makes a recovery. They are then confronted by the mutants who perform some ritual that completely purges Miku of her mutation, making her human again.
The siblings then take their leave and move on from the city.
Development and release
Submerged was made by a team of former BioShock developers and was chiefly inspired by Journey and Shadow of the Colossus. Additional inspirations included a Grand Theft Auto IV mod that submerges the game's Liberty City in water. The director Ed Orman said: "It was unintentional at the beginning, but the setting we’ve chosen is pretty topical with global warming, sea levels rising and people ignoring that problem." Originally slated for 2014, the game was delayed for a 2015 release. PlayStation Plus, Xbox Gold members, and Steam users were offered discounts at launch.
Reception
IGN awarded it a score of 6.8 out of 10, saying "Submerged is a non-violent, sometimes beautiful exploration adventure set in a strange, mysterious future."
