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The ocean is an awe-inspiring place. It is incredibly powerful, calm, beautiful, and mysterious. We have yet to discover every secret it holds, and I don’t believe we ever will. Therefore, I understand why it lures so many people to explore it. Whether it is sailors, swimmers, surfers, or divers, they all love the dangerous and alluring nature of the great blue. I adore the sea, and I love anything that uses it at its core. Therefore, when I saw Deep Diving Adventures, I knew I had to play it.
Developed and published by Jujubee, this is an underwater adventure title. Played exclusively from the first-person point of view, you quickly become immersed in the gameplay. Alongside this are the realistic sound effects, a whole plethora of sea creatures to witness, and some beautiful yet haunting environments. In short, it will appeal to many gamers.
Deep Diving Adventures is realistic, in-depth, and touching.
The blurb for Deep Diving Adventures claims that this is “one of the most immersive diving simulators to date”. Now, this is a big claim, especially as I have played and loved Beyond Blue. Therefore, I wasn’t hopeful that they’d live up to their word. However, I was surprised by the ultra-realistic movement, the environment, the detail on the animals, and the sense of fear. What’s more, the missions are educational, informative, and touching.
The story is very loose and plays second fiddle to every mission you undertake. Effectively, you are a rookie diver who is hired to find treasure and clean each location. As you explore, you earn new equipment, dive deeper, and encounter an array of deadly predators. Accordingly, there is a sense of foreboding whenever you enter the water. Alongside this, the developers have captured the uncomfortable claustrophobia of cave diving as well as the freedom of open water exploration. Consequently, you experience a range of emotions while feeling uncomfortable and on edge.
Different goals and interesting DLC.
Though I loved exploring and the sensation of weightlessness, I appreciated the missions more. Every level has a unique environment with dangers and obstacles to overcome. Alongside this, you must complete different goals to progress. You’ll be asked to collect treasure and rubbish, clear fishing nets, shoot mines, heal fish, and stay away from predators. Accordingly, each task will test you and you must have an eye for detail and quick reactions.
As you complete each task, you’ll be awarded XP. Furthermore, as you level up, you’ll unlock new and upgraded equipment. This is essential if you wish to explore every map to its fullest. After all, diving is dangerous and running out of oxygen is a genuine risk. If this happens at any time, you lose everything for that dive. Now, this was heartbreaking, especially as predators deplete your O2 at an alarming rate. Subsequently, you must be clever, lucky, and not greedy.
The inclusion of the DLC was refreshing. So many developers use this as an excuse to enhance profits. Luckily, Jujubee are different. The Adventure pack allows you to try out new equipment in some risky environments. You’ll explore caves, use explosives, and experiment with the best gear.
Deep Diving Adventures looks amazing.
Though Deep Diving Adventures isn’t ultra-realistic, it still looks amazing. The almost real-to-life imagery transports you to each varied location. Whether you are cave diving, swimming through ancient monuments, exploring a wild west town, or more, you won’t tire of it. Furthermore, the animations are smooth, realistic, and very lifelike. Alongside this, I loved the finer details and the lighting effects. The shadow work and vivid colours are both exciting and relaxing. Then there are the dark and seedy areas that fill you with dread. These locations are made worse because of the first-person perspective and the tight spaces. On top of this, every predator will make you shudder.
No matter how rough the sea is, I always consider it to be relaxing. Deep Diving Adventures has captured this feeling perfectly because of its audio. The emotive soundtrack combined with animal noises works spectacularly. Then, there are the minor-toned warning sounds. Every time a predator is near, daunting music blares out. This simple idea works well, as it keeps you on edge throughout.
The swimming is great, whereas the shooting mechanics are poor.
Navigating each level is a wonderful experience. You can cut through the water with ease because of the excellent controls. What’s more, selecting tools and gathering resources were easily achieved. What wasn’t great, however, was the hitboxes for the guns. It didn’t matter how much I practised, as I believe luck and no judgement play a major part. It was infuriating that many other aspects were great. However, this key element was woefully abysmal.
There are so many missions and collectables that completing Deep Diving Adventures is no mean feat. You’ll have to spend hours searching high and low, or using your sensor to speed things up. This was incredible as there is some depth to this great title.
Deep Diving Adventures is both interesting and challenging.
With a large selection of missions to tackle and masses of creatures to encounter, this is both interesting and challenging. What’s more, the array of locations keeps you on your toes, while keeping the action fresh. Subsequently, I loved what I saw, and I recommend you to buy it here! Will you find valuable treasure, or will every predator be too much?
