BE NICE TO KNOW WHAT THE HECK YOURE SUPPOSED TO DO IN THIS GAME!

As a fan of Aquanox (2001), I've been looking forward to playing this for a while. I probably should have heeded the 'mixed' review status.

Graphically, its quite beautiful. With details cranked, it runs silky smooth on my modest gaming rig. The look of the game creates a nice atmosphere that is fitting for the world of Aqua. The cockpit view modes are especially cool here. As you take damage you start to see cracks form in the cockpit and water spray in.

Unfortunately that is mostly where I run out of positive things to say about Deep Descent. The sound design is bad on multiple levels. Moving around the world of Aqua sounds ok, though its a far cry from games like Subnautica, or even the original games. The soundtrack is weak and completely forgettable. The music tempo tends to raise and lower as enemies are within range; this can happen multiple times within a few seconds and can be annoying.

The worst crime committed here, however, is the voice acting. Truly awful...among the worst I've ever heard in a game. The writing does it no favors either. The original Aquanox had excellent VA and is one of its redeeming qualities. I can't put into words how disappointed I am with Deep Descent in this regard. The difference in ambiance (versus the 2001 game) is notable as well. There are also audio glitches; sometimes the voice lines just don't play during a conversation sequence (perhaps this is a positive given how bad the VA is).

While the ships HUD design is nice, the UI / menu system while docked is bland and uninspired. It's basically as generic as you can get, with the context menus being especially unintuitive. Combat is average... not great, not terrible. I wish I felt a bit more impact with the weapons. Enemy variety seems low, but I'm only five missions into the game.

I really don't have much to say about the story except that I don't feel invested in it. Bad VA and writing is probably the primary factor here. There appears to be no cut scenes...even Aquanox had an intro movie. I'll update this review if I ever finish the game. Based on what I've seen thus far, you'd be better of playing Aquanox (2001) or Archimedean Dynasty.