Aquanox: Deep Descent

« Duking it out underwater is a lot of fun in this game. The visuals are well-done, it plays well, and the story is quite strong too. Very much worth a look for anyone intrigued by its premise. »

« A very solid entry in the genre by Digital Arrow that narrowly misses on true greatness due to some small missteps. A bit more attention to detail, better enemy AI and higher production values would have hugely benefited an otherwise very enjoyable action/simulation game. »

« Aquanox Deep Descent is a very welcome return for an underrated series. In this era of modern re-imaginings, this game delivers in introducing Aquanox’s world to a new generation of players. The movement may be slightly cumbersome and things may get a bit hard, but it always manages to be engaging and fun. The world and story, combined with the solid multiplayer elements for both PvP and co-op, make this a well-rounded experience and essential purchase for fans of six degrees of freedom-type shooting games. If you’re interesting in dipping your toes in its waters, swim on over here to check it out. »

« Submarines, Bionts, Dystopia and shooty shoots, what’s not to love? Buy this, slap on your cowboy hat, and stick some Linda Ronstadt on as you drive “every kind of rig that’s ever been made” in the deep blue. »

« With its interesting setting, engaging story, great combat mechanics, and tons of customization options, Aquanox Deep Descent is a more than worthy new entry in the classic series. Bland mission design and a repetitive structure does damage the experience a bit, but all those that enjoy dogfighting games, no matter where they take place, will find plenty to like in the game. »

« Despite the lack of polish the game is actually quite good, the story is still interesting and the game play is just ‘ready to go’. There is no need for learning a complicated control system, or hours of investment to identify how to identify the tactics to fight enemies, just load it up and start shooting. This game can offer a great escape for anyone who wants to spend the casual 30-60 min gaming session at the end of a long day of work without using any brain cells. The repetitive nature of the battle system and scenery will make most players feel like they have mastered the game play very quickly and the story element breaks up this monotony enough to sustain most players attention. »

« Aquanox: Deep Descent continues a journey into the depths of the sea started in 1996 and proves blowing things up underwater is more fun than the Bends. »

« As resurrections of near-20-year-old franchises go, Aquanox Deep Descent is a very solid effort that, with a few tweaks and a bit more polish, could potentially be special. Here’s hoping that THQ Nordic gives Digital Arrow the opportunity to make another one. »

« The game itself is one of the most prominent in 2020, no matter we have a lot of critics. If you contextualize the game, this is not planned to be AAA nor the publisher had that kind of approach. So, for the AA its very good, playable and enjoyable game. I think its going to be underestimated title but it found the way into my heart, for sure. »

« I think this game captured the original charme of the games from the early 2000s pretty well. Just the nano-fauna and how they can't be locked on are pretty annoying, especially when you're using slow weapons. Solid though. »

« Great game, unusal as the only submarine shooter. I loved the atmosphere and the story telling. Even though "old school" graphics in story telling, the game graphics are really nice with the Unreal 3 engine. Loved the pace, sometimes moody and slow, then very quickly dangerous. Great job making this from a Kickstarter project without a big budget. It is good fun, please make the next one longer! »

« I'm sure people reading reviews can get confusing, so here's my take. I'm giving this a top score because I love it. And I'm sure some will hate it. It's clearly not trying to be everyones favorite and that's a good thing imo. I'm neither a super huge fan of the old games, nor am I going to compare this game to them. People wanting to play a compare game will either be happy or disappointed because we all remember the old games differently. It's a good game and a great move for the genre forward. I love the vibe, the style of shooting and in general how the game feels for me. I guess the story is not important to me and might not be good for some, and for me that doesn't play a major role. I love the combat and how it pumps me to be good at it. That's probably the main thing that wins in this case. »

« [Aquanox Deep Descent: Jacques-Yves Cousteau simulator. And, surprisingly, real Jacques-Yves Cousteau is more fascinating] Pain. That is the only feeling I experienced while playing this game. Every aspect of Aquanox is excruciatingly painful, from gameplay, especially combat-wise, to plot. In fact, I have not found a single feature that this game could be commended for. First, game mechanics. To better understand what this game feels like, try to imagine an incredibly boring and, at the same time, unreasonably difficult side mission in an otherwise good game. Like searching for minerals in Mako-truck in Mass Effect 1. Now, imagine that someone played this side mission and said to themselves: “Wow! That is so perfectly useless and anticlimactic! I should make a whole game out of it!” As a result, Aquanox Deep Descent was born. Nominally, the game positions itself as a shooter but it is anything but. “Doom” series are exemplar shooters: apart from the fact that there is fire everywhere, they are fast and captivating. On the other hand, watery Aquanox is a complete opposite of those: the game is slow and depressing. In addition to lame combat-regime, the submarine interface is extremely inconvenient. I mean, for real deep-sea explorers such an interface might be perfect. However, for a player it is extremely annoying to do a 360-turn every time they need to find the objective or strain their eyes to discern the remaining level of oxygen. Then, Aquanox has a plot. Or, well, it is said that the game has a plot. In fact, the story is a combination of endless loose ends that, even if they are tied up in the end, do not spur the player to beat the game. For example, the surface of the Earth was destroyed. How? Why? Who is responsible? What is more, while at the very beginning of the game, I was interested in such questions; 5 hours into the game the only problem that bothered me was “how do I not die of boredom?”. Besides, the main characters of the game are as stale as the plot. First, there are four of them. Having multiple protagonists is not a bad idea of itself (remember “Heavy Rain”), but in that case, they need to be equally well-developed. Conversely, in Aquanox, the main characters are not interesting at all. I did not know their past but I cannot say I cared about their future. Plus, the dialogues in the game are so pompous, pretentious and, at the same time, mostly meaningless that I do not want the characters to speak ever again. Like, a person asks the ship captain (sic!) if the fauna is dangerous, but the latter answers with a pathetically meaningful intonation: “It is different from what you experienced before. You will see…” I am off to a dangerous mission, you drama queen! I need an appropriate brief! To recap, painful gameplay and the atmosphere of pompous boredom are major flaws of Aquanox Deep Descent. There are numerous smaller shortcomings but the ones mentioned are already enough for me to advise not to play this game. After a 5-hours walkthrough, I could not force myself to go further. 3 out of 10 »

« I have never played the original Aquanox or the Archimedean Dynasty games so I can look at the game without nostalgia tinting my glasses pink. If what you're after is some fun shoot-em up arcade action with a beautiful underwater aesthetic and a catchy soundtrack then I believe this will fit right up your alley. »

« I've been following this game since the Kickstarter. Can't say I've played the last two titles as religiously as everyone else but it lived up to my expectations and I'm overall fairly pleased. The fps part of the game is refined to the max and the UI tells me everything I need. The atmosphere of the levels is on point, it easily makes me feel claustrophobic and conveys the feeling of being in an underwater sub perfectly. Overall; I don't have any gripes with the game, its a fun experience worth every penny. »

« I hope this hidden gem gets enough attention, if it got your interest, you should just try it »