Dead Sea (XBLIG): "Horror-Survival At Sea"

When I got Brave Men Game's request to do a review early this morning I was very curious as to what they had in store. I think it was earlier this year that I had reviewed their game "Hell's House", so I was expecting something similar. What exactly that was going to be I wasn't sure though. For some reason I expected some sort of apocalyptic game, but I was very wrong with that guess. After viewing the teaser trailer I had some serious doubts about the game, as you too will likely have. Even so I decided to do the review. Without further adieu I give you my two cents worth on this oddly interesting indie game ...

Dead Sea could easily be described as a horror/survival game at sea. The game itself begins with a highly unpolished CG animation sequence that tells the tale of a couple, and their romantic outing on a boat. During their brief encounter the man onboard the small speed boat proposes marriage to his female acquaintance, and gives her an engagement ring within a red heart shaped box. After accepting the proposal without hesitation the two love birds find themselves in a horror story very reminiscent of the movies "Jaws", and "Deep Blue Sea". After diving overboard the lucky man finds that he is not alone in the water, and in a cliche turn of events is dragged under to an untimely demise. When the girl on the boat realizes her fiancee is not joking she panics, and finds herself in the water as well as the boat she is on is capsized by a monstrous shark. This is where the intro ends, and the real gameplay begins.

Before I get started on gameplay details I'd like to mention that the game looks a whole heck of a lot better after the intro sequence, and plays quite well ...

As the gamer you take on the role of the girl who is now stranded out at sea. After the girl is launched into shark infested water during the intro sequence you will have help her reach the surface through some simple button mashing. When you surface the first thing you'll notice is that there is a vast expanse of ocean all around you. You'll also notice that not far from you in the same water is a school of sharks. Your goal is to swim through the water from point "A" (Floating Sea Marker) to point "B" (Boat) & "C" (Ship) without attracting the sharks' attention. Swimming is done by alternating pressing the (Left & Right Triggers). You can also look underwater to see exactly how close the sharks are in comparison to you. Looking around can be done by using the (Left Thumbstick).  If you do attract the sharks (via movement) while venturing out further to sea you will be thrust into an interactive button mashing fight for survival. When you encounter three of these cutscenes the game will end in a bloody mess.

When, and if you make it to the three checkpoints in the game you will face a sort of boss fight that will have you dodging the attacking shark. This is done simply by playing a button mashing mini-game similar to the ones in the previous cutscenes I mentioned. The only difference is a sequence of buttons will need to be pressed in a quick manner in order to dodge the possible grisly outcome. There are a total of three of these boss fights, and each one gets progressively more difficult with the last encounter requiring a multiple button input sequence. If you you survive until the end you will be rewarded with a final CG animation, and some end credits.

Survival in "Dead Sea" does require some attention. At your disposal you have an onscreen compass that will point you in the direction you should be heading. You'll also need to look for the floating objects off in the distance as a means of guidance. Aside from that there's also an onscreen swimming gauge that lets you know when you are about to run out of energy, and drown. As the CG intro will tell you the main character in this game is a bad swimmer. As such you will need to make it from point "A" to point "C" without attracting the sharks' attention, and do so within a short amount of time. I was able to make it through the game with few survival cutscenes after learning exactly what it was that I was supposed to be doing. Once you get the hang of it it shouldn't be that difficult for you to understand either.

When it comes to judging this game it's kind of hard. I think the game is actually fairly decent when you get into the actual gameplay. The CG animations, and dialogue on the other hand are rather bad. I should also note that the game is not all that difficult, and that it is quite short in length. This is likely due to all the animation that was involved in making the title though. If I were a site that actually gave ratings this game would get a "5 out of 10". It's just mediocre when it's all said, and done. In light of that judgment I can't honestly recommend buying this game.