Static Dread: The Submarine

Не думал, что по мотивам поговорки «Куда ты денешься с подводной лодки?» кто-то сделает игру

as a fan of [i]Static Dread: The Lighthouse[/i], which led to me falling in love with the whole genre, this was a must-buy right when it came out, but after experiencing all the content the game has to offer i once again wish that steam had a "Neutral" recommendation. don't get me wrong, i'd still recommend trying this game out for yourself and forming your own opinion of it if you're a fan of the series and/or genre, but for me, the game missed the mark quite a bit and i simply can't recommend it. not to sound overly negative - [i]Static Dread: The Submarine[/i] definitely improved upon the previous game in the series in many aspects - the voice acting was pretty nice, the interior of the titular submarine was really well done and the submarine crew management and sonar operating parts were quite fun. unfortunately, in my opinion, the game could've been so much more than it is. while i appreciate the multiple endings and different paths we can experience, it still doesn't make up for the fact that the game had an opportunity to go a bit deeper into the lore behind the events of both of the games. to me it seems that it just barely scratched the surface, while also underutilizing the [spoiler]submarine's Mainframe[/spoiler], making it a passive actor throughout most of the story, with the [spoiler]"mind transfer" part revealed at the end[/spoiler] not really being expanded upon in any meaningful way. my biggest disappointment was the writing of the characters and their stories. the first game, in my opinion, had a much better balance when it came to its characters and choices. the decisions you made felt meaningful because they were tied to the characters and their circumstances, while the consequences of your actions actually carried some weight - [i]The Submarine[/i], on the other hand, seems to put more emphasis on trying to develop deeper characters and relationships, but doesn't give the player enough meaningful choices to actually influence them. i often found myself wishing the game would let me make more choices that actually shaped the crew and our relationships with each other rather than only a few main decisions. lastly the unfun minigames, one of the main weaknesses of the first game - either they were quick, repetitive and painfully easy (press "E" a few times), fetch quests where you have to run around the submarine looking for crewmates, or something like the emergency submarine drone repair, which in its current state is just a slog. loading an autosave and making it back up to that point can be significantly faster (where applicable). overall, it pains me to leave a negative review (for now) on something that i really believed i'd love, but i wholeheartedly believe that the devs can learn from its shortcomings, no matter how small, and hopefully show us their full potential in a future, truly polished third installment in the series. this is in no way meant as hate towards the game or the developers - i genuinely want to see [i]The Submarine[/i] succeed and reach the potential i believe it has, so for now i’ll let it sit for a bit and i'll revisit this review in the future.