Phobias are fears that defy all explanation. When paired with something that cannot be understood, you can create a horror that surpasses all comparison. All this can create an experience that not only truly scares but also instills a feeling of dread. With a Setting under the sea, bringing out the sensations of thalassophobia and claustrophobia. In my Beneath review, I dive, pun intended, into this very case. In this retro-inspired horror FPS, which dabbles in the Lovecraftian.

I honestly think that my words may surprise you. So if you wanna know about my experience with the game, check it out below!

Spoiler Warning: I will be going into quite a bit of detail about the story, so do read at your own discretion.

Story:

The Story Starts off with our Main character, Noah, looking for an old submarine on the ocean floor. Deep in the middle of a dive. The only thing around him is the deep chilling sounds of the ocean, and his daughter and fellow scientists. However, a few strange things start to happen while he is in the middle of a dive. He hears strange noises, only to realize that the ship is being attacked.

More than that, he finds himself seeing hallucinations and strange visions, and he seems to be losing chunks of time. However, his time is focused on the ship. Upon returning to the service, he finds the crew killed and everything destroyed. Focused on finding his daughter, who can’t be found, he hears that beings came onto the ship from the water. After signaling an SOS, an army shows up, saying they are there to help. However, they are actually attempting to kill Noah. Shortly after the helicopter attacks the ship, causing Noah to fall into the ocean. A giant tentacle rises and destroys the chopper, causing the ship to blow up. He hears the voice of his daughter calling out to him as he falls deeper in the water. Only to awaken in a facility in the middle of the ocean, and no recollection of how he got there.

Upon entering the facility, it is clear that they were looking into something. They were looking for something and creating disturbances in the area. However, with only the goal of surviving and saving your daughter. Noah discovers that something dark was happening here. With a private security force killing survivors and unspeakable creatures, what unravels is a dark story of horrific truths and a deep-seated conspiracy.

While this all sounds great and has an interesting setup, what plays out is a bit of a lackluster B horror movie. Which in itself isn’t bad, as some can be enjoyable, which this one is. But it doesn’t have a lasting creep factor, nor is the story just gripping enough.

Audio:

The Audio design of Beneath is one that leaves a lot to be desired. Mainly, this is due to the fact that the sound design is rough. While this is a game that was made by a team of two, it doesn’t excuse some of the glaring issues, especially with this. A lot of this is due to the constant sounds cutting out as well as desync. Not to mention the voice acting sounds rough.

Now that’s not to say that it isn’t enjoyable, it’s just a very polarizing approach. The characters sound robotic, and the enemies sound off. There is no clear sound direction, which is fine. While the guns sound more like paper airsoft guns than weapons of war. Which is truly sad, as when the sounds hit, they are well done. Just often broken and mistimed, or just non-existent.

Visuals:

When it comes to the aesthetics it has a way of inspiring both emotion and feelings that the creators want to convey. The look in Beneath is not bad by any means. It just doesn’t instill the feelings of dread or fear that one would expect. The ocean views are truly nice when underwater; however, when on the ship, it didn’t have the same feeling.

And when you’re on the base, there is plenty of destruction and death, but nothing that made me feel scared. The monster designs, as well, look almost like putty monsters rather than zombies and eldritch horrors. Same with the environment, there is plenty of black goop and vines, which create a creepy feeling. But none of it really left me feeling worried. It wasn’t close to the feelings of Dead Space, or even Doom 3.

There was so much potential with it being in the ocean to create such an isolated area, especially underwater, to make one scared.

Gameplay:

Now, the gameplay is always the key to any game. With Beneath, the gameplay is weird and, honestly, extremely rough. The mechanics of the game almost feel like a mishmash of different games and styles, so that it almost feels like there is no pure identity. Take the FPS nature of the game. You find several guns throughout the game, all taken from armed soldiers acting as security. With plenty of ammo lying around because of them. It doesn’t feel scary when I’m walking around with a shotgun and a fully loaded SMG.

Not to mention the very awkward ragdolling of enemies. The fly when shot in one of the most hilarious manners when the fall over. This is mixed with a rather clunky UI, especially with the way you interact with the environment. All of the info is listed in an inconsistent style, with your health listed on our watch. It almost looks like Dead Space or any other horror game that has a readily visible health UI. That’s on top of the fact that the inventory is a transparent window while trying to make you appear to be looking into an inventory-type view. Instead of being a pure separate window or more immersive.

The other major issue, for me, was the massive number of bugs I ran into. From game-breaking bugs that left me falling through the world. The constant pop-in of assets within two inches of a door or entrance. There were plenty of collision issues. Finally, that pales in comparison to the AI of the game. The enemies didn’t feel very dangerous or like a threat. More like bullet sponges blocking my path. Even on the highest difficulty, there were times when I could rush an enemy and be standing chest to chest with 5 soldiers, and they were often unable to kill me or be wildly all over.

I often find myself unafraid of human enemies and able to find large amounts of ammo off them. while the zombies and monsters don’t feel as terrifying or a major threat.

Overall, the gameplay is just a rough mishmash of things that try to create something cool, but it comes out as a Frankenstein of awkward themes.

Closing Thoughts:

Overall, my time with my Beneath review was a rough one for sure. That’s not to take away the fact that the game was fun at times. However, it feels more like a cheesy B-movie than a serious horror experience. That’s not to say it was a bad experience at all. The game itself has quirks and some appeal, and is enjoyable to a certain extent. However, it just feels incomplete as it is and almost like a prototype. So that makes it hard to recommend the game.

We wanna thank the team at Wired Productions for providing the key for the game. Thanks to them for allowing our Beneath review.

If you wanna check out the game, it is currently out and available on Xbox, Playstation, Steam, GOG, Epic Game Store, and Xsolla store. Be sure to also read our other reviews right here on the site.

-Jess (Bloodieknux)

Hey everyone hope you enjoyed my thoughts and breakdowns in the article above. You can keep up with my thoughts & shenanigans by following me on all my social media: Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, & YouTube.