Review | Freediver: Triton Down | THE SHIP IS GOING DOWN AND WE NEED TO ESCAPE
57Join the Pack! ➤ https://bit.ly/2C8V0mE
Full transcript of the review below:
Triton was a Greek god, son of Poseidon and messenger of the sea. He was a total badass and a master of the oceans.
In Freediver, Triton is a ship that absolutely fails to live up to its namesake. One semi-large wave and whoopsidaisy suddenly the entire ship is upside down. Not quite the master of the ocean.
In a normal game, this is where our story would start. But Freediver: Triton Down decides that escaping a sinking ship as bodies float around and air tanks explode isn't enough. So what would spice that up? Aliens. The only answer is aliens.
So rewind a bit and you start the game discovering some alien ruins and then a pretty cool creature named Emme that's part stingray and part sporebat from World of Warcraft. With Emme on board, we start our expedition back home which leads to the sinking ship. From there, it's a frantic race to escape without drowning, burning, or getting chopped up.
GRAPHICS
This game switches between absolutely stunning to relatively basic quite a lot. The water looks great and some of the environments are extraordinary. But if you look closer, you'll see a lot of 2D effects and bland textures. As a whole, it works quite well and most people will consider the graphics excellent. But those looking for it will wish they had detailed certain things just a bit more.
GAMEPLAY + IMMERSION
Everything in Freediver revolves around swimming which might lead you to think this is a tough experience to handle. It's actually not and the controls are done quite well. Much like armswinging to walk, you press the triggers in each hand and then pull away from the direction you want to head. So basically you're just doing a breaststroke the entire game but it works. My 7th grade swim school teacher would be really proud. I never could do that stroke well.
You can also use the grips to grab onto any surface, which is useful for moving in fast currents, or any object, like pulling switches or smashing locks with an ax, something I definitely could not do underwater in real life.
The game is fairly linear and doesn't feature many puzzles, it's mostly trying to get you from point A to point B. There are obstacles in the way but solutions are glowing and fairly obvious. Nothing too difficult here folks.
But what the game does succeed at is immersion. Because the swimming controls are solid, you actually feel like you're escaping a sinking ship, even as you stand there flailing your arms like a dumby. The interactions are good with water physics working well, especially on the dead bodies. Tee hee so much fun.
There are certain parts of the adventure that really give you a claustrophobic feel, so much so at times that I had an actual breath of relief when I was able to surface for a brief moment. As an asthmatic, I can hold my breath for like, 10 seconds, so I felt like the amount of time you can hold your breath in the game wasn't realistic. Except that it is. The world record for holding your breath is 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Holy moly. The average healthy human can hold their breath between 1-2 minutes but playing as someone who specializes in diving long distances with no air, the game nails it.
FINAL VERDICT
What's in the game is really well done. The swimming is spot on and you really feel the adrenaline rush of trying to escape this ship. But my biggest issues lie with what's not in the game.
From start to finish I beat the entire game in about 36 minutes. The game costs 9 dollars. That's a quarter a minute. Now, the replayability is there because of achievements and it's something cool and different to show your friends. But in my opinion, there's still just not enough. The game just feels incomplete. It has this whole alien story line and it basically never comes into play. The ending is abrupt. I wanted more.
So if you put the game in a vacuum, I'd give it an 8/10. But with the current length and available content, I have to give it a 6/10. It's a good game, but wait for a sale.
#awolfinvr #virtualreality #freediver