Posted in: Games, Review, Video Games | Tagged: Echoplex, game review

The Depths Of The Sea And Storytelling In 'Anoxemia'

You don't get a lot of games about people diving in the sea collecting samples. That's about as good of an intro as I could muster for this one because Anoxemia is a unique title that doesn't really have a basis for comparison beyond it's genre. That's both a good and bad thing as it sets the game apart from everyone else to a degree, but then you're getting judged off what you created alone. So we turned on our PS4 copy and gave the game a spin to see what it had in store for us.

Anoxemia is a side-scrolling adventure set underwater. You're a deep-sea diver for the navy who just had everything that could possibly go wrong happen. You're on a mission to collect samples and all you got with you is your suit and a helpful little drone called ATMA. Technically, you control the drone and the diver follows you around wherever you go, which includes all the features like sonar and scanning. Essentially, you have to guide the human narrator through the underwater terrain and achieve your missions, all without being killed or suffocating to death. Seems simple, right?

The drone is an interesting little thing when it comes to the gameplay. You have sonar which tells you about things in your immediate area but nothing too far ahead. You can get a little bit of speed but not much, so being put into danger is going to be hell. You can upgrade items and get additional features, like a harpoon to snag items and bring them to you from areas you can't reach. The drone is running missions on a timer of breathable air as well as a power gauge that will show you what you've got left.

The annoying aspect of Anoxemia that will get to you real quickly is that you have no control over the human. You can tell him what to do and he's there providing exposition, but he's dumb as rocks when it comes to danger. Far too often will I be maneuvering around a mine only for him to suddenly float up and trigger it. Do be working around an enemy only for him to catch it's attention last minute from a jerky motion. Speaking of the exposition, after a whole it just becomes a chat with grandpa about things you're int interested in. Oh, this hasn't been used since the war? You mean like… everything mechanical we're running into down here? Tell me more as I have to navigate your stiff upright body around these caves.

The art is pretty cool as they use the blues and grays in the background to make the world stand out in pitch blackness. It reminded me of Batman: The Animated Series, where they created the show on black paper so that the colors popped and Gotham looked much more menacing. There isn't much to say for the sound, a lot of what you'll be listening to are sound effects and only a little bit of exposition, not much for music or anything to set the tone beyond atmospheric sounds. It works effectively in creating a cold world for you to maneuver through, but it also creates a lot of dead space in moments where a music track could have helped.

Anoxemia has some good things going for it, but there's still some bugs to the system that make me cringe, including moments where you can be separated from your diver randomly. It gives you a nice set of challenging area puzzles as well as objectives that aren't impossible to solve, so there's a great system in play to giving you something to overcome. I'd say give the game a shot, but it isn't going to be everyone's favorite when it comes to side-scrolling adventures.

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