Beneath

I love a good corridor shooter, and do thoroughly miss them. For those not in the know, a corridor shooter was the prime sub-genre of the FPS, often being the milestone and go-to for it. From Half Life, DOOM 3, Prey (2006), F.E.A.R., and for most of the 2000s, the FPS genre was inundated with tightly woven, claustrophobic, nail-biting action that was direct, in your face, and brutal. Times changed, FPS titles varied from military shooters, to looter shooters, to military shooters again, but I always hoped corridor shooters would make a glorious return, and of cours,e the indie scene is stepping in with Beneath!


What is Beneath?

Beneath is a deep-sea, Lovecraftian horror game that focuses on resource management, action, and madness. We take on the role of seasoned diver Noah Quinn, as he does everything to save his daughter from an ancient evil at the depths of the ocean. Players will venture to the depths of a massive underwater complex, diving deeper and deeper into chaos, bloodshed and madness, pulling off vibes and the style of an early 2000s corridor shooter. Nightmarish sights, sounds and monstrosities await in Beneath, a passion project of two brothers and their game design ambitions.


What lurks Beneath

Now, Beneath does take me back some 15 or so years ago for both good and bad. I’m an avid fan of the linear and compelling corridor shooter, especially a horror one, and Beneath has all the right notes of that era. Opening with a neat, if not overly long, underwater sequence, that sees Noah take a stroll to a downed submarine. When the radio goes silent, Noah decides it’s time to head back to the ship to check on his crew and daughter, and upon reaching the surface, it seems like all Hell has broken loose.

Creatures have risen from the deep, killed Noah’s crew, and after what seemed to be an attempted rescue turns out to be a covert clean up with no survivors, Noah is taken by the sea. Soon, he washes up at a complex in the middle of the ocean, and from here delves deeper into the madness.  With a lurking dread, his daughter suffering from a sickness, and a covert cover-up happening with Noah right in the middle, we have all the right elements for the great corridor shooter plot.

And in many respects, Beneath does nail the beats, with all the drama and action being delivered by great voice acting if you ask me. But the familiar beats are just that, with the pacing of the narrative being either too rushed or too slow. There were plenty of moments where characters are introduced, and exited within mere minutes, or plot threads and devices being rushed out the door, just to introduce new ones, with much of the first half being filled with long stretches of fetch quests and minimal payoffs.

It does take some time before the cosmic horror elements really kick in, and these are quite interesting, adding a nice layer of tension and mystery to the story. But again, it’s all too familiar. As I said, the voice acting is top-tier, and I give a lot of credit to the artists for bringing about some truly magnificent cosmic elements to life. But a large portion of the presentation is just all over the place, with rough edges, bloom and lighting so hideous at times it hurt my soul, and just many other things which were “off”, like having vents with big yellow crosses on them …

There was a lot wrong with the world, and I never managed to feel immersed by the poor lighting, clunky controls, the lack of an FOV slider is just ridiculous, especially when the guns are held right up to the screen, and other things, such as 10-second-long audio logs, just added confusion and needless padding overall.


Somethings should remain below …

The first couple of hours stuck with me for Beneath, as there were signs of a promising adventure, but what came to be a long-winded and often tedious journey. And when the action kicked off, it was bare bones to say the least.

Again, all the right elements are here, and towards the end of the game is where the gameplay loop revolving around survival and intense FPS action thrives, even if there are still rough edges. But what comes before, for the most part, is sluggish if I’m being honest. Like I mentioned before, the presentation is all over the place, and many of those gripes don’t help the action. Movement and shooting is a clunky affair with a PS5 controller, and the actual shooting itself is not a whole heap of fun since much of the enemy roaster is lacking, the impact of weapons just underwhelming, and much of the level design is just dimly lit maze-like environments with empty rooms, invisible walls, and spawn points everywhere making enemy appear from thin air to give you a cheap shot in the back. 

There are some neat skirmishes with the undead, and cosmic beasts, yet most of them move slowly, and the lack of variation in these enemy groups just means you’ll be playing for a couple of hours fighting, or just plainly shooting the same type of zombie over and over, with little interesting set pieces, platforming sections, or bosses that truly leave their mark. As I mentioned, towards the end, things do pick up a little with a nice change of scenery, and a big boss battle that is the best-looking part of the game by far! But it’s not enough to save the entire game.

I do appreciate the claustrophobic nature of the world that scratches on your nerves, the ammo consideration and item management is quite ruthless at times, especially on high difficulties, and some enemies are nicely designed and fun to kill, but not on repeated instances and in grimy, dull, and lifeless environments.


Overall?

I do give a lot of respect to the duo behind the creation of Beneath, and seeing their game come to life is an achievement I wish many more inspiring designers had. Beneath has all the right elements, and the heart for a great throwback, corridor shooter that could scratch that itch I’ve had to replay games like Doom 3 and Prey 2006. But when it comes together, Beneath is a disappointing and underwhelming experience, sadly, due to the lacklustre shooting, combat, tedious level design, and rough presentation.

I wish Beneath had won me over and sparked a fire that reignites the corridor shooter subgenre to the mainstream once again. But I think Beneath is best left in the darkness of the ocean.


+ Interesting concept
+ Good voice acting
+ Some neat moments and cosmic horror elements

-- Controls and shooting are clunky and tedious
-- Presentation is generally unpleasant
-- Action is overall, not a lot of fun


The publisher kindly provided a review copy of Beneath