Aquanox: Deep Descent (PC) review

Reviewed on: PC

Aquanox Deep Descent, developed by Digital Arrow and published by THQ Nordic, is an FPS dressed as a flight simulator, but in this case underwater.
At first, the game’s controls are introduced slowly, with the tutorial holding your hand every step of the way and, after this first impression, you assume that controlling the submarine is intuitive, but the course of the game is more complicated than that.

It is impossible to shake the feeling that the game puts you in a certain sluggishness of response, quite possibly because of the underwater theme. However, the events that unfold in the title’s story, in the hope of making use of the space around the player and the ability to bring events from every direction, are at times faster than you feel or than the reaction speed of the controls allows, bringing an effect of limited freedom.

The dystopian story is interesting and the underwater visuals are stunning, but the immersion (accidental pun) of the game asks you to get used to a form of movement different from the one your mind is used to. Once this barrier is passed, you can enjoy the experience, but it may take a few tries, and a few defeats, before understanding that, in this open environment, opponents and obstacles can come from all sides.

Aquanox is a bold title, and I would add, a niche one, but it is innovative in the aspects it tackles. Enjoying the panoramas, every now and then, will be the high point of your playthrough, but the repetitiveness of the missions can make the experience, which already has the aquatic slowness, tedious.

Played on PC with an Xbox 360 controller.