18 months on from the creepy liminal space maze adventure of POOLS, a different developer has tackled a similar theme with AQUARIUMS. This first person single player walking simulator is all about atmosphere and subtle (and some not-so-subtle) lighting and shadow puppetry. Sadly, it’s not-so-subtle moments undermine some of the hard work invested in building up an atmosphere.
AQUARIUMS explores thalassophobia – the fear of wide expanses of water. It is something the developer struggles with, and along with shark and aqua wildlife attacks, the game places you into liminal, empty spaces surrounded by water. Sometimes you’ll be wading through water or running around it. Other times, you’ll be walking beside aquarium-like windows and tunnels as shark or whale shadows scurry by. You’ll also encounter scube divers who wander around like zombies of the void. They are designed to make you jump, and are probably the better of the jump scares AQUARIUMS insists on providing.
Jump scares somewhat undermine all the atmospheric buildup because of how random and wooden they are. The problem is that the camera jerks away control, and you can spot the telegraphing of something in advance. Less is more when it comes to creepiness, and having a shark pop out of the water like it’s doing a synchronised swimming splash looks more comical than scary. What’s more effective is watching the shadow puppetry of aquatic life or scuba divers being pulled under the waves as the ceiling creaks and water pours in. These are more unsettling and, at times, incredibly beautiful in their own sterile, macabre way. I appreciated the addition of real-world footage of animals kept in captivity attacking their handlers. Each of the “levels” in AQUARIUMS features a room full of TVs that replay an attack with narration over the top. These videos form part of the narrative, which also includes moving through various body bag rooms full of sharks and dolphins, colouring in the idea that sharks are revolting after being kept in captivity.
It is difficult to talk about AQUARIUMS without discussing or comparing it to POOLS. AQUARIUMS is linear. It is room-to-room and corridor-to-corridor. That removes the lost hopelessness that POOLS did so well with its maze-like level design. AQUARIUMS does more from a narrative standpoint, and has some great ideas with atmospherics, only to add in jump scares and undermine them. It feels like the developer may not have been confident in just the atmospherics selling the creepy nature of the game. I’d have personally preferred an atmosphere-only liminal space experience. I’d have also liked some options in the menu! AQUARIUMS has no options menu, and the main menu is just a couple of icons that are difficult to decipher. I couldn’t capture the game properly as there are no graphical settings, and the frame rate is all over the place without the ability to control it. In turn, this means that as new assets pop in, you’ll get some freezes and occasional audio clunks. It feels like an odd omission.
Fans of liminal spaces will find things to enjoy about AQUARIUMS. Your mileage will vary depending on jump scares and technical issues. I hope a patch smooths things out a bit, so it lets players enjoy the experience at its best.
Review copy provided by the developer. AQUARIUMS is out on PC.
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