During the Gamescom in Cologne 2022 we had the opportunity to chat with the team of Parallel Studios, that is, the developers of Under The Waves, new adventure published by Quantic Dream. During the Opening Night Live the first trailer of the game was revealed - which we invite you to recover - which will be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One de Xbox Series X | S. If you don't know it, this is a single player narrative adventure set in the depths of the North Sea. We will take on the role of Stan, an experienced diver who is on site for a long submarine mission, isolated from everyone.
In addition to having it tried with our hands on the event, we asked a few questions about the game a Ronan Coiffec, Game Director di Under the Waves, e a Nicolas Bredin, co-founder of the studio, composer and Audio Director.
Under The Waves, oceano in metafora
Clearly our first questions to the team related to the game as a whole, on the its purpose in addition to entertainment, and to tell a story:
RC - “We want to give a strong message who will play our opera, especially from ecological point of view. We worked hard to create a story that best expresses the role of man on the ocean and beyond. The main message wants to emphasize the fragility of ocean life, that's why we wanted to create gods connections between Stan's story and the ocean in many scenes. Let's say the whole story of him was created as a great metaphor. "
Intrigued by the demo that we were able to try with hand, we asked Nicolas about the his creative ideas in the audio field, linked above all to the atmosphere, to the setting proposed in the game, and to the message what it wants to convey to the player:
NB - “The idea was to create an audio language that still managed to be coherent and reach the player, because based on reality, being underwater, the frequencies are different. This is why I wanted to give importance to immersion, I have used many reverberations, so as to create a lot atmosphere, making players feel like they're in another universe, in a way. Also for this reason from the point of view of the music we wanted to create something minimalist, for empathize with the loneliness and mood of the main character, simple and easy to memorize melodies. We also wanted to give a vintage touch to the game, as you have also seen from the graphics. "
Introspection and the message
After talking about the adventure in general, we moved on with the focus on the protagonist Stan, as both guys on the team during our chat often stressed how he is himself at the same time the story, the metaphor, the message. We asked for some explanation on his base station, the one where Stan can spend his free time, and above all what ways we have to get to know him better:
RC - “We wanted to create a kind of home for Stan, underwater, because he's really alone, and it's a place where he can just be himself. A very introspective place for him and the player. During non-working moments Stan will also be able to explore the ocean and find some collectibles, perhaps inside caves or other particular places that we do not anticipate: you can bring all this into your home, not only for collection but also to see yours. history evolve. The house is therefore a place that reflects Stan's progress in the adventure. "
We then moved towards the only contact of Stan out of the water, theoperator which gives him instructions from the outside. A collegue? a friend? Are there other people too ?:
RC - “In this case we touch one of the metaphors we were talking about. The connection with the outside is very difficult both for the depth and for the solitude. The fragility of human ties is very exposed, including that with Stan's wife. " We avoid giving too many details for spoiler reasons.
Behind excellent characters, especially in narrative adventures, there is always a need for a vocal acting interpretation who knows how to give the maximum, in intensity and emotions, and from here we asked our new question:
NB - “We cast the actors together, and we quickly agreed that for Stan we would need one introspective voice, as if it were the voice of a narrator, in which the players could reflect themselves. For the operator outside instead we wanted to give as the idea of one you father, which was of comfort to Stan and that at the same time it was a link with Stan's family. "
We also had confirmation that Under The Waves will be available in Spanish.
Finally we indulged in a simpler question, prompting them to open up and tell us why players should experience Under The Waves, and what is the fundamental message:
NB e RC - "We put a lot of ourselves into the game, thoughts, memories, we wanted to create something authentic, that would excite, an introspective journey towards realization. We stress again that it was very important for us to work on ecological part of the game: in this case we are collaborating with the Surfrider Europe foundation, a real foundation, helping the preservation of the ocean, and we will bring Surfrider's message into the game. This is one thing we go to very proud, video games are a very strong medium, which can bring strong messages to people just by playing. For example with Stan you can find scraps and use them for create new items, giving new life to something that was destined to pollute. "
After our chat with the guys from Parallel Studios we are even more curious to find out what Under The Waves has in store for us, all its twists, and all the emotions it will be able to bring us. We do not have an official date yet, but we will not fail to update you on the game as soon as we have news.
