‘Submerged: Hidden Depth’ is the sequel to the 2015 released game ‘Submerged’ developed and published by Uppercut Games, also known for their games ‘Epoch’ and ‘The City of Brass’. Following on from the first game, the journey of Miku and Taku the brother and sister who fled from their father to try to find a new home must now embark on an adventure to reclaim the city from a mysterious black substance that engulfed the local vegetation.

In this post-apocalyptic water world that seems like global warming affected, this submerged world clearly was once a thriving civilization. As you traverse this beautiful world, you uncover the history and relics of the past and piece together how the world has changed to this watery landscape and how these black roots have taken hold of its people and what remains of the dry land.

You play as Miku and Taku collectively, as you alternate between the two at various locations around this water. You are tasked with retaking the world by planting special giant seeds that repel a mysterious black substance that has taken hold of the local vegetation.

The game itself takes a non-combat approach to the gameplay and rather stimulates your wits by traversing many obstacles to reclaim areas. Whether you are jumping, climbing, or exploring the world in your small boat, you can come across various wildlife to examine and relics to collect.

There are also collectibles to unlock new outfits and skins for your boat and upgrades that help you explore much easier in this post-apocalyptic world. Outfits and boat upgrades are not the only detail that is carefully paid attention to.

The game’s open world really shows the game’s beauty. From the changes in weather to the sparkling blue ocean on a sunny day, and how the environment lights up with flowers when your go-to plant the special seeds to unlock an area; it is gorgeously put together.

Those little details make the changes in the environment really shine, even seeing dolphins and whales swimming in the ocean like free spirits all add up to the game’s charm when exploring this magical world. Full disclosure, the fact I had my setting running at 1920×1080 on an ultra setting running on a GeForce 1070, made it all the better.

The game does support a controller, keyboard, and mouse but both are comfortable as the controls are not overly complicated to navigate. As for those aspects of the game that are very familiar to many gamers, the beautiful graphics and its calming soundtrack will have previous players return. All of it plays an important part in how the game is felt and played as the narrative presents players with unique storytelling.

It actually plays out less in verbal narration and more in sound ques and pictures. Developers, Uppercut Games, have done a terrific job with the game’s soundtrack, composed by BAFTA-award-winner, Jeff van Dyck, who also worked on the first Submerged game. You can really tell that great detail was taken especially in the game’s cutscenes to express the emotions of the characters.

Overall, Submerged: Hidden Depths is a perfect example of a game that shows games do not have to have violence to be entertaining and engaging. Exploring this beautiful world takes time, but so do many things that stimulate and engage players not just visually but also audibly. In turn, opening up your mind and senses on many levels. This game is perfect for players that look for a game that breaks the traditional norms of the shoot ’em up or hack and slash titles and takes a road less traveled.

Written by: Simon Hayward