You start on what looks like a private jet—and you can guess what’s next. Stranded Deep starts like many other survival games, and you’d be forgiven for thinking at first it’s very similar to The Forest. Despite sharing similarities with Subnautica and Raft, Stranded Deep strives to establish its unique identity.
Soon after the plane crashes into the ocean, you swim to a raft and head to the nearest tropical island. Set in a tropical archipelago, this first-person survival experience was sometimes a joy to see. Indeed, graphics are some of our favourites, and we enjoyed watching the ocean and islands.
The first few minutes work as a tutorial showing you the basics of survival: build a shelter, build a fire, kill a crab and cook it, skin a cocoon, and make a shiv—you know, the standard things you ‘re doing on a trip to the Isle of Wight.
Despite that, you’re home. There’s a storyline with a clear objective, which we really enjoyed. Rather than just survive, you must make it to the map centre and rebuild a plane. That said, it was a little strange that you couldn’t make a shiv at the outset, and then you’re Tony Stark, but somehow we didn’t matter much.
Let’s think about the stuff we really liked: we enjoyed the variety of things you might do, from buildings and beds to rafts. We liked that you get better and unlock more options as you level up. We enjoyed the fact that the biggest threats were water sharks and land snakes.
Yes, we had to know pretty quickly that once bitten, a certain plant must cure the toxin, or you actually die. See, the venom eats you away, but the only way you know you’re dying (from venom or perhaps heat exposure) is through your fancy watch, which seems smarter than an iWatch.
The controls were functional, and it seemed natural after a few hiccups. Killing a crab was a little frustrating because they seemed to travel so quickly, but maybe that’s how it is in real life (with little experience killing crabs, it’s difficult to say).
One thing we hadn’t expected was boss fights. You see, when you have to grab parts for your plane, creatures, including a megalodon, go into territorial control. Yup, you ‘re reading right.
Such encounters were powerful, adding more to the whole experience. In reality, some of the hardest moments were when you had to jump on an island, never knowing whether you would make it without hitting a storm, sleeping, or starving to death.
Some things may have been handled differently. We thought the islands were too small and never had the resources to create a base. Since we were continuously travelling, we rarely felt like erecting significant constructions. Why establish an island-hop base?
It was disheartening to find a trailer feature deemed unnecessary. Of course, you have the option to construct a farm and a rain catcher, but neither the desire nor the encouragement to do so was ever present. Diving, exploring shipwrecks, and finding new locations was one of our favourite game portions, even though survival was the main focus. That exploration introduced us to the game’s scary sharks—another favourite. The only disadvantage was that the music changed as they approached closer, which broke our concentration and would have been delightful as a surprise.
One thing we loved when playing The Forest was multiplayer, but Stranded Deep currently doesn’t have that functionality. Yes, it evoked a sense of loneliness and contributed to the stranded atmosphere, but beyond that, it feels like a lost opportunity, and we believe it would be significantly enhanced by player cooperation or some form of PVP.
Stranded Deep is fun and will keep you entertained for a few hours. There’s a lot to do, though some features are missing, such as multiplayer support and larger, colonizable islands. It’s a good survival experience with plenty to deliver, but it could have been better with a few additions.
