Cold Abyss: Director’s Cut has developed an excellent premise: fixing cables underwater, obviously, in the abyss. That’s the most layman’s we can get with this, and if we unpick it, a hostile, ominous presence is perfect. To say it’s disorientating is somewhat of an understatement, as there isn’t much in the way of light in the lower depths of the ocean, nor is the wi-fi particularly good.
That eerie, prolonged vibe sets the tone as you hear about how your predecessor disappeared and probably didn’t have enough oxygen. Comparing the dangers of deep-sea exploration to being confined to an apartment block when it collapses is a very, very juxtaposed situation, and when you first hear it in the intro, you don’t make the connection between the two. The bottom line is this: being under the sea with limited oxygen is nothing like your fully furnished 2-bed condo equipped with Netflix. I know which one I’d pick.
After Cold Abyss: Director’s Cut’s ominous cinematics (which certainly outstay their welcome with long pauses), you find yourself in your bunk with an old-school telephone blasting in your shell-like. Unsurprisingly, there’s a fault with the infrastructure, and you’re tasked with exploring the seabed for wonky cables and patching them back up. Another cutscene follows, loitering on a seemingly never-ending lift, then bing! you’re at your destination, and it’s time to stock up on oxygen before embarking on your wired adventure.
My first fumblings with Cold Abyss: Director’s Cut after getting it to actually work (played on the Steam Deck, though I couldn’t adjust the screen ratio to see some text), I had to reboot a couple of times as the screen would go black despite still hearing some distant sounds. Let’s do a recall back to the intro and remind you that there are no Philips Hue lights down below, nor can you shout out to Alexa to brighten the place up. I’d effectively wandered off without switching on my flashlight. Silly Billy. It was an easy mistake as the key bindings were different to those displayed, and you can only have one tool enabled: your blowtorch thingy and the light. Anyway, you lock onto a distant cable and then walk/swim/drift to the location and patch it up before returning to the base for the end of the demo.
Again, the atmosphere is pretty decent, but as you might expect, there’s not much to do on the seabed. There aren’t any lifeforms (in this preview), but there is random architecture, with some nods to the publisher and a hint as to what happened to your predecessor. Naturally, there’s not a lot on offer, and the only carrot dangling is the apparent radio chatter emanating from the exposed cables, yet nothing revealing. Aesthetically, it’s very pleasing to my tastes, making quick comparisons to games like Paratopic, Mouthwashing or How Fish Is Made. That comparison is for the visuals, mind, the gameplay is simply locating a new cable, fixing it for a few seconds, then heading back, hoping something special might happen. There are hints of it, but nothing presents itself. It is a demo after all. Nevertheless, Cold Abyss: Director’s Cut has potential, and this underwater creeper might just be on to something. We’ll have to wait and find out.
