Debris Reviews

I very much enjoyed this game and I highly recommend. I am going to go over everything that I think needs going over and highlighting pros and cons. Controls- The controls of this game are almost exactly like that of Subnautica, and if you have played any successful underwater game you should have no issued moving around in the Debris environment. The FOV of this game is locked in place but I think that it is set to an acceptable size, seeing at the entire game is underwater with a mask on. Graphics- I think that the graphics of this game are beautiful for an underwater game in the highest settings possible and the game makes it easy to determine which settings are best for your computer. However, even when put on these "optimal" settings I was still not able to get above 40fps, either having a optomization issue or some other reason I think that in order to have the graphics specified, a much beefier computer might be needed. Keeping in mind that I had a consistient 40fps throughout the entire game, so if you aren't a freak about having max fps possible then this isn't an issue. Additionally the game still looks appealing without being on max graphics. Atmosphere- The atmosphere is definitely that of a horror game, and quite frankly this is done really well. The mixture of fogs, underwater lakes, lights, darkness, and sounds all come together to give the player a sense of "void" in some areas while in others pure claustrophobia. It allows the player to completely fall into the shoes of the main character and experience what he and the others are going through. Even when you are just told what's happening in another tunnel. Voice Acting- The voice acting in this game are easily my favorite because, asside from simply wandering this underwater cave system, it drives the plot. The way things are said, the way that some characters cut eachother off is all planned to help bring the ending together, as well as tie up potential loose ends. Additionally, the voices just sound like real people. The actors themselves and the dialogue put infront of them is both well written and well executed. Story- The story of this game is based on choices. There are four main choices that each playthrough provides the main character and the descision made determines the rest of the game and how the characters get to the ending. However, the ending is the exact same every time, so the way that you got there is different. Although the whole "what does it matter if the ending is the same" would usually be present, such as in Mass Effect 3, that is not the case for this game. It completely changes what you notice and everything develops and then the very end just blows it all up in your face to leave you in your chair saying "holy shit." Replayability- I actually urge anyone who plays this game to play it through at least twice. This is because once the ending is revealed to you, you will go back and notice things you never noticed, things that were said that you didn't hear, and noises you heard but never understood.

My opinion on this game definitely changed after the ending, but I'm not gonna spoil anything. Apart from that, the atmosphere and environment were really strong and it felt oddly soothing to play despite the tension. The voice acting and music/SFX really added to the whole experience and if you like atmospheric games where you actually have to do things (there are some more actiony sequences with shooting and dealing with creatures), I would definitely recommend it. Overall, a unique and interesting game that's made even more interesting with the ending. I'm still thinking about it.

A sci-fi-ish [strike]walking[/strike] swimming simulator with a couple of action-y elements, marred by bugs, glitches and weak nonsensical plot/ending. Somehow has a co-op mode; I have no idea what its point is, or how it would even work - narratively or mechanically - in this game. Judging by all the complaints, it rarely does even start properly and is very, very buggy. [u][b]PROS: general visual, sound and music design, atmosphere[/b][/u] Initially, with its narrative and aesthetics, the game is presented like it's something akin to James Cameron's The Abyss, or Peter Watts-style black smokers ecosystem exploration mystery. It does have a similar vibe, deep ocean is just alien like that, but the story/gameplay/idea is unfortunately almost entirely unrelated and not fleshed out at all. Still, the devs succeeded in recreating the right mood and atmosphere. Gameplay is slow and somewhat tedious, but can immerse you in a trance-like state because of the sights, the sounds, the movement, the snippets of music. Ambience is great, environments feel appropriately oppressive and hostile, though often beautiful; movement is fluid - as it should be, if a little slow - but has some decent momentum. The game is very linear - you can try to explore somewhat, but are constantly struggling with the current; locations are mostly barren; and you're on timer. The timer is not too tight, just psychologically uncomfortable. Also, it's almost impossible to get lost - even when standing still, you are always being gently nudged in the right direction. Main mechanics is straightforward and simple. Your charge is respectively your timer, health and ammo. It's restored and maintained with the help of your companion, but it's sometimes tricky to make it notice and pick up the needed collectibles (which you can't pick up yourself). Or, on the opposite, it insists on collecting them when there is no need to, and charges into enemy groups. Or wanders off, or gets stuck somewhere across the map. [u][b]CONS: dialogues, story, level design, bugs and glitches[/b][/u] The writing is barebones, as are the characters. Actually, voiceacting is decent, though the lines often feel disjointed and disconnected from what is happening; the fact that they were recorded with varying sound quality does not help. Sometimes they overlap and become a broken mess if you move too quickly. Characters have a nasty habit of talking over each other with subtitles being incomplete and not always catching on. Collectible "audio" logs are not voiced (except the very first one), which is explained with "audio log is corrupted, continuing with transcript only" - definitely to save on voiceacting. So you are just standing in one spot doing nothing, waiting for the next line to appear. The game is riddled with bugs and glitches. Numerous holes in terrain and floating assets, enemy and companion AI acting up, gun shutting down between levels. There is not much of actual content, elements and challenges repeat over and over; it just drags on. The whole game is at least twice as long as it needs to be, and thus fails in creating suspense. The narrative is weak and somewhat nonsensical, but the worst thing by far is the ending. Not spoiling it in this review, but... what?.. That's... not... how it works... at all. This depiction is disjointed, simplistic and amateurish at best, despite claims of working with "professionals". Aspects of what it claims to be about are conveyed so poorly, that I hadn't had a single glimpse of suspicion of what it really is, despite playing literally dozens of games with similar themes; I just thought it was a haphazardly written plot, and nothing more. You can't just stick such things to the ending and leave it like that, ruining the story as a whole. It's abrupt and anticlimactic, no plot threads are really resolved. That's just disappointing. [b]Conclusion[/b] The game does have the right atmosphere for the setting - ominous and haunting; it does a pretty good job at delivering appropriate trance-like experience. Recommended, if you desperately need your deep ocean fix, are easily enthralled by the views and the flow, and wish to experience that state; otherwise just play Narcosis instead - a much better game dealing with similar topics in similar environments. [table][tr][td][code]If you like games with similar themes and atmosphere, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44239617-empty-places/]follow my curator: [b]empty places[/b][/url][/code][/td][/tr][/table]

Debris is a cool game, but you will absolutely hate it and find it terrifying, if you are someone, who is scared of the ocean and/or possible creatures in it. I'm not one of these people, but I definitely had a bunch of "NOPE!" moments. I generally liked the atmosphere, animals, voice acting and sound effects, but damn, that game had some parts that took forever to get through and some of them were really repetitive. I am sure, it could have been shorter and still achieved, what it wanted to achieve. Some people compare it to Subnautica, but it's not even remotely like that and it's not supposed to be like that. It reminded me more of a mix between Iron Fish and Hellblade. You can probably finish the game in 3-4 hours if you rush through, which I can't recommend. Is it worth 20 bucks? I wouldn't say it's completely overprized, but it's a game, that probably only a few people will play more than once. Most of them will most likely watch the other endings on youtube. It also has some performance issues, which get worse towards the ending. These include freezes every few minutes and in the last chapter I had to restart the game, because it completely bugged out. So I would rather say: Wait until it's on sale again. I enjoyed the game, but due to the issues and the repetitive gameplay/annoying chapters, I would give it a "mixed" rating, if that was possible.

From the outset, Debris focuses on creating a sense of atmosphere and intrigue, expecting that sense of mystery to propel the player forward as they navigate through obstacles and dodge hazards. The game opens with the player getting caught in a maze of collapsed rock and thawing ice, and doesn’t let up with the darkness and sense of being trapped. The game itself does a reasonably good job building that atmosphere, with the timer counting down oxygen serving as a constant reminder of how tenuous Ryan’s connection to life actually is, and what the stakes are as he explores the cave system. Its snippets of dialogue further build the mystery, forcing the player to think more deeply about their surroundings, and the effect mining has had on the environment around them. User tags for Debris on Steam label this as a walking simulator, and while that label is incorrect - there’s too much actual gameplay for me to classify this as a walking simulator - I can understand why it’s been attached to this game. While there are side passages to explore, much of the game is linear, with Ryan moving from obstacle-laden cavern to obstacle-laden cavern. There is a path to the surface. He will follow that path. Along the way, the sound and visual design of the world do a good job furthering that sense of obstacle, filling the player’s ears with odd thumps and clicks, and creating a general sense of unease. I hesitate to call this a walking simulator, however, specifically because it does have gameplay. That gameplay is, ultimately, what sinks this game. Early in the game, the player is given a gun and a companion, and with these two tools in hand, is expected to move through the caves, fighting enemies and exploring the mystery of what makes these caves what they are. Mechanically, the gun works by deducting time from the player for each shot; a flare deducts one minute, while a spear deducts three. In theory, this ought to instil a sense of caution in the player, forcing them to think strategically about when to fight and when to run. Indeed, a mechanic like that would further the horror atmosphere, creating a real sense of tension in fights, and making the obstacles that require a fight feel more meaningful when finally encountered. Instead, the game undermines both its horror atmosphere and its survival mechanics with the addition of a companion dumber than the rocks entombing poor Ryan, thus stripping any real sense of agency or strategy from the player as they scramble to rescue their companion from their own poor decision-making. The game’s mechanics and atmosphere suggest to the player that they should think strategically about how and when to approach the guarded groves. If each shot costs energy, and taking damage costs energy, then the energy gained from the grove should outweigh what’s spent to harvest it. Indeed, the game’s plot also suggests that the player should be thinking critically about how to engage with the groves, as everything suggests the more that’s harvested, the worse the consequences for their health and chance of survival. This is not, however, how the game actually plays. Instead of thinking strategically and skipping groves or sniping at guards from a distance, the ROV companion makes the decisions for the player, barrelling into the middle of a group of guards, then complaining when the player doesn’t immediately rescue it from its predicament. More times than I care to count, I successfully slipped past a guarded grove because I was nearly full on energy, only to get hit notifications because the ROV decided to harvest energy we did not need. Other times, after clearing a grove, the ROV would refuse to fully harvest, leaving me with less energy than when I started. All sense of strategy or agency went out the window, replaced by frustration and a sense that this companion was either willfully stupid, or actively sabotaging me, and knowing neither was actually canonically the case. However, calling out the misery of the ROV companion still doesn’t fully capture why this game fundamentally does not work, and why I had such a miserable time with it. Even without considering the companion, the level designs themselves create a poor gameplay experience that is in and of itself immersion breaking. To understand that, it’s important to look back at the level design and the gauntlets themselves. The game’s gauntlets function as obstacle courses, with the player being haphazardly shunted past monster after monster. At some points, it feels less like a level in a video game, and more like a haunted dark ride, complete with spooky, clanking music telling the player how they’re meant to be feeling at that point. At other points, the lack of true control meant that I was running the same gauntlet over and over again, feeling like it was just up to chance as to whether or not I made it. As an example, one gauntlet features worms that leap up from the floor to attack the player. Firing the gun triggers them early, allowing the player to swim past them. However, the gun’s flare travels faster than the player, meaning the worms could be triggered and reset before the player could safely swim past them. The flare also keeps travelling after the player dies and restarts, making the timing once again nearly impossible to control. What should have been an action set piece instead became an exercise in memorisation and prayer as I struggled to get the timing and slow swim speed to actually line up. Debris should have worked. Its visual and sound design are, by and large, excellent, and its story is one that can easily draw a player in. Instead, the game ends up serving as a masterclass in game design that alienates the player. The conspiracy throughout centres around what the activities of the megacorporation have been and whether they can be trusted. I’d argue, however, that this story is sidelined the moment my companion wanders off to pet a fish. The question I have is what I did to the devs to deserve this, and why their game’s design is such an act of self-sabotage. If you enjoyed this review, please check out the [url=https://jannekeparrish.com/reviews/debris] full version [/url] and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44626948-Loons/] my curator page. [/url] Thanks for reading!

[h1] ENGLISH [/h1] [h1] Debris is an intense dive into the Horror of the Oceans [/h1] [h1] Rate 767/1000 [/h1] [b] Debris [/b] was an very interesting Experience. I loved the Underwater setting and the story was really amazing and surprised me at the end. [b] English Review on top. German review below [/b] [h1] PRO [/h1] [list] [*]Interesting Story [*]Good Graphics [*]Co-op [*]Good Athmosphere [*]Nice voice acting [*]Mutliple endings [*]Decisions in Dialogues [/list] [h1] CONTRA [/h1] [list] [*]Sonyas AI dont always work perfect [*]you can easy lost you orientation [*]Often Troubles with starting Co-op mode [/list] I can recommend this Game to everyone that like the mystery of the dark ocean and Horror games with a Science fiction setting. I don´t Recommend it to people with claustrophobia. You can see my Playthrough here: (ITS GERMAN) [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJzZr7OXi2lhUZm0ojk-Np76s8wWF6vSr] Let´s Play Debris Co-op [/url] ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ [h1] DEUTSCH [/h1] [h1] Debris ist ein intensiver Tauchgang in den Horror der Tiefsee [/h1] [h1] Wertung 767/1000 [/h1] [b] Debris [/b] war eine sehr interessante Erfahrung. Ich liebte das Unterwasser setting und die Geschichte war sehr interessant und hat mich zum Ende sehr überrascht. [h1] PRO [/h1] [list] [*]Interessante Geschichte [*]Gute Grafik [*]Ko-op [*]Gute Athmosphäre [*]Gute Stimmenvertonung [*]Mehrere Enden [*]Entscheidungsfreiheit in Dialogen [/list] [h1] CONTRA [/h1] [list] [*]Sonyas KI ist nicht immer Optimal [*]Man verliert schnell die Orientierung [*]Probleme den Ko-op zu starten [/list] Ich empfehle das Spiel jeden, der fasziniert vom Ozean ist und auf Horror Games steht. Ich empfehle das Spiel nicht an Menschen mit Klaustrophobie. Ihr könnt meine Videos dazu hier sehen: [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJzZr7OXi2lhUZm0ojk-Np76s8wWF6vSr] Let´s Play Debris Co-op [/url]

Watched the trailer a few months ago, thought it looked awesome, the voice acting sounded really good and I thought the premise had potential. I come back to check on it and to my surprise it's already released, so I immediately buy it. After the download is finished, I am excited to play it. It was cool the first ~15 minutes, a few cheap spooks here and there, but it was good enough. It then slogged on for an entire hour, doing nothing more than these few steps: 1. Pilot through bland and uninteresting tunnels 2. Find debris 3. Kill fish 4. Let Sonya harvest the debris for 5 seconds each 5. Repeat Occasionally you'll see a new enemy or different environment every now and then, but the only enemy that really scared me was the [spoiler]worms[/spoiler], those things are freaky. Pros/Cons; + Looks excellent + Great voice acting + Good story, interesting ending, did not expect it - Too low FoV, cannot be changed - No way to pilot up or down, felt difficult to maneuver around the fish due to this combined with the low FoV - Very repetitive gameplay - Just two modes for the Tool, which both feel unsatisfying. Almost never found myself using the flares, as they seemed useless with the ROV existant, just felt like a waste of power - Not enough enemy types - Fish that are supposed to look 'alien' don't really look alien enough. Could be excused as mutations, but come on, how did those [spoiler]massive worms[/spoiler] get there? If they are mutations, what the **** did they mutate from? Overall, a good story, but the gameplay itself is boring and repetitive. Not worth $30. Just go watch playthroughs on youtube.

Several months ago, I discovered this game through a popular YouTube channel and became excited to see where it was going. I thought it would be somewhere along the deep sea survival/horror genre. In some ways, that assumtion wasn't wrong, and in some ways it was -- but I wouldn't say in a negative sense. Debris has a fairly good pacing, maintaining the need for power and survival while not always keeping you in a state of tension. The ambient sounds and the music do a very good job of causing the needed spikes in anxiety, which can sometimes cause you to take risks. This is a game about team work, though it can sometimes feel like the partner AI can make things a little bit easy. Unless it's against sharks. You're on your own there. It does feature some jump scare moments, but I wouldn't classify it overall as a scary or spooky game. The atmosphere is incredibly well done, however, and can definitely be said to lend to the overall pressure felt by being stranded under glaciers. I particularly enjoyed the voice acting! The cast was very well chosen and everyone performed their parts exceptionally well. The other great thing I took away from this game was the psychologial impact of survival and certain conditions. There's a great twist at the end, just stay tuned. I finished my playthrough in four and a half hours, roughly, but the Devs said it could be a game with 5-10 hours of content. I think there is some decent incentive to replay the game, and I'm looking forward to what features might be added with Co-Op (which is coming soon). The thing I was disappointed with this game was that I didn't get to see the Jellyfish ROV in my playthrough! Do we ever get to see it? Is it as cute as the squid?! I suppose I'll have to play it again to find out. See you under the ice!

I'll be honest, I just beat Subnautica, and was looking to scratch that story-driven, survival, underwater itch. This is not Subnautica, this is an underwater walking simulator with some pretty decent voice acting, a serious message in the end, and an incredibly boring gaming experience. I'm all for what the devs are doing, but the game just wasn't compelling. Weapon was unsatisfying to use, AI was buggy, lots of repetitive areas, lots of copy and paste. For a game like this, you need time to build atmosphere and tension, but every time any animal life showed up, it killed all the atmosphere. The AI controlling your partner wasn't particularly good, and honestly, you never felt like you were going to run out of air, it was just always replenished by the AI, I suspect co-op might be better because neither of you will know where you're going. If you removed the AI partner, and just had the voice over the radio, it might've been a stronger experience. I also had technical issues and stuttering, but I won't talk about it, as it wasn't crippling. Overall, it's a great concept, with the voice acting being the saving grace for the game. I just wished they spent a lot more time on polish. You know, deep water diving, and especially cave diving, is terrifying as it is, and comes with so many challenges risks. There's a great opportunity to do something great here, but this isn't it.

Yes and No. I honestly have mixed reviews on the game. The price seems acceptable, if not a little on the high end, for a game such as this. As people have stated, this is not an underwater survival, like Subnautica. This game was never meant to be like Subnautica. I don't know where people got that idea. Pros: + Enticing story + Unexpected ending + Visually appealing + Interesting character development + Voice acting done well enough Cons: - Short playtime: 3.5hrs got me the first ending - Poor partner AI - Inability to adjust cursor acceleration - Lack of certain movements necessary for a zero-G game - Limited resolution ratios This game is linear. Chapter to chapter. Survive from point A to point B. There are no real enemies in the game aside from the fish and sharks. The main priority is managing resource management; keeping you and your partner with enough energy to survive. Knowing when to let her scavenge and when to keep her close. Your partner AI can be horrendous, especially in later chapters. They will travel out to interact with a node and then stop well away from it and not actually interact with it. Frequently disengaging from you to explore/scavenge and getting themselves killed. The other con is cursor acceleration. I say cursor and not mouse, because this issue exists when using controller rather than the mouse as well. I understand the devs point here where they purposely made it "floaty" to simulate underwater conditions, but it is too much. An option to turn it off or turn it down would be nice. OR. Having a separate difficulty where all aspects the devs wanted to implement were in and nonchangeable; developer difficulty, if you would. No vertical controls? No up/down? Why not? Finally, the severely limited amount of resolution ratios. There's not much to say here on this. Overall, I did enjoy the game. For the first playthrough, I thought the story was going one way and then was totally thrown for a loop with the ending epilogue notes. Then I went through in my head with all of the information I knew from the game and connected it all together. Rather neat. I wouldn't give it extremely high marks, but I would say it is worth playing. Let's say a solid 7/10 Recommended to play, but nothing you should rush to do so.