Review: Song of the Deep

Platforms and action adventures in the genre Metroidvania are always very popular, and those that are devoted to water and underwater procedures, almost invariably become cult - remember  Aquaria or a unique series of Ecco the Dolphin , in which a reasonable dolphin protects the Earth from aliens and travels in time. Song of the Deep was created with an eye for these games. It is clear that the famous studio Insomniac Games , responsible for the Spyro series , Resistance , Ratchet & Clank and the daring action film Sunset Overdrive , had all the possibilities ...

Song of the deep tells how the girl is looking for her father, a fisherman who did not return from the sea one day. After waiting for him on the beach day and night, she decided not to despair, at home made a submarine and went in search of the pope. And there, under the water, things are no less amazing than the shipbuilding girl - talking mermaids, merchant crabs ... 

However, let's drop the excessive irony - the writers really came up with a touching, remarkably written and delivered story that does not leave indifferent. And the artists and sound engineers did everything to make it perceived at the level of a quality animated film. Graphics, design, music, sound are extremely pleasing, immersing us in the atmosphere of this underwater adventure.

In her quest, the heroine not only examines the coral reefs and scares the schools of fish. She finds the cemetery of the lost ships, the flooded ruins of some cities and temples, swims in pitch darkness in underwater caves, meets strange aggressive creatures (an explicit reference to Vortex from Ecco the Dolphin ), communicates with mermaids, fights jellyfish and huge waterfowl spiders. 

All this is accompanied by stylish drawing introductions and offscreen comments by an invisible storyteller (immediately recalled by Bastion ), and everything is subordinated to one goal - to find a dad. For this, our girl is ready to trade with crabs, and help the sad mermaids. 

Mechanics Song of the deep is standard for the Metroidvania genre. The girl in the submarine freely explores the underwater world, fights, solves puzzles, collects coins, searches for secrets, treasures and special items, allowing, for example, to improve the submarine's armor. And, of course, it opens up new abilities that help solve problems, overcome obstacles and traps, and, most importantly, penetrate previously inaccessible locations.



First we get a hook, which can be fired at enemies, grab for something (for example, for the lever opening the door) and cling objects. Then our little submarine will learn to accelerate, illuminate the neighborhood with a flashlight (scares off some stubborn jellyfish) and even shoot torpedoes that use special energy. 

After that, the same torpedoes can simply be blown up by stone walls and doors, which previously prevented swim to the next treasure. Finally, at some point, the girl will find an artifact that allows her to get out of the submarine and swim freely under the water, so, for example, to get into places impenetrable for the submarine.

For the collected coins from the above-mentioned crab-traders we buy "upgrades" of abilities - we increase the power and duration of acceleration, the damage caused by the hook, add the traps to the property of peculiar traps and so on. 

Rate:7/10