Under The Waves on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Stan, a professional diver in the North Sea, is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss during an extended mission underwater. Stuck in his self-imposed solitude, he starts to experience strange events and will have to make the most significant choice of his life...
Under The Waves is a adventure, underwater and exploration game
developed by Parallel Studio
and published by Spotlight by Quantic Dream.
Released on August 28th 2023 is available only on Windows
in 21 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Arabic, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America, Thai, Traditional Chinese and Turkish.
It has received 1,344 reviews of which 1,044 were positive and 300 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.5 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 6.14€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified Under The Waves into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i5 4th Gen/ AMD Ryzen 3 4100 4 cores 3.8 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB/ AMD R9 290 HD 4GB
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 10 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Sometimes there are games that are so intense that you sit there for a long time afterwards and ask yourself what you have just experienced. Games that manage to create tears and carry you along. Games that are so beautifully designed that you forget everything around you and just dive in. Welcome to UNDER THE WAVES. You are playing Stan, In slightly altered alternative 1970s, you are Stan, who has experienced something very tragic and tries to process it by going to the depths of a submarine station to work for his friend Tim. But is it processing or an escape. UNDER THE WAVES is an incredibly beautiful and intense game set on the bottom of the sea. On the one hand, it tells a very exciting story and on the other hand, it points to the great marine pollution, with which humans destroy a lot of habitat. UNDER THE WAVES has beautiful graphics and a beautiful soundscape. When you play in the dark and have headphones on, you really feel like you're in another world. This atmosphere is really fascinating. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3469737857 In the third person, you steer the diver Stan through this fascinating underwater world. You have a submarine at your disposal and fulfill missions, but also have enough room to explore the surroundings. The story unfolds slowly but darkly and intensively. If you still suspect at the beginning what has happened to Stan, it slowly becomes a certainty through his nightmares, in which he is also controlled. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3469738285 The game is divided into days. You play individual days and at some point there is a time jump and from there it continues. During this and at key points, it saves automatically. You can't save by yourself. Therefore, you should pay close attention to when you stop. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3469738550 There is a lot to discover, you have small loving things like certain animals to photograph. There are wrecks and boxes with useful contents but also a lot of garbage to discover. Garbage is needed to make useful items such as diving tanks. Because when you leave your mini submarine, you have to look at the oxygen gauge. A joypad is recommended for gaming, but the control of mouse and keyboard is also very well done, which is why I didn't feel restricted. As already mentioned, UNDER THE WAVES is a very intense diving adventure with a story that really touches the heart and deals very sensitively with a heavy topic that can affect us all. And by the Way. I didn´t Encounter NO Bugs and NO crashes. I would especially like to highlight the German dubbing, which is really very well done. A synchro that doesn't need to hide from the fantastic synchro of VALLEY. If you like a gripping story and want to lose yourself in the beauty of the underwater world, this is the place for you. I've played a lot of games in my more than 40 years, but UNDER THE WAVES is in my TOP 15. Thanks to the Developer creating this very rare Pearl in the Ocean of Games. And thank YOU for reading. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26335619-Adult-World-Gamers/] This review is presented to you by the Claws of the Wyvern for the AWG Curator! We would be happy if you visit and follow us. You`re always welcome. and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/5010274/] This review is presented to you by the Meoooowww of the Wyvern for the LOVE, FRIENDSHIP AND KITTEN Curator! Maybe you like to visit and follow us. You`re always welcome.
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If you are fond of a) the sea and b) solitude, this is the game for you. It is a realistic Subnautica, not at all exciting in terms of gameplay, but subtle and mundane - the kind of mundane you can find working as a warehouse boy in Shenmue. The story is not something entirely new but really evolves to something deeper towards the end. The ecology aspect gets a bit "on your face" occasionally, but you can't really argue with the message. It is not a perfect game, but it is a special game.
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Thank you to the Developer Parallel Studio and Publisher Spotlight by Quantic dream for providing a game to escape, explore and learn. My Steam rating: Very Positive Under the Waves is a simple third person story driven game that excels in almost everything it sets out to accomplish. Despite an oddity or two in the story and some QoL omissions the game is an absolute diamond for the genre and easy to recommend. In the game you play as Stan, a professional diver who has returned to his employer after a tragic family event to basically escape from everything. Stan believes this isolation will help him deal with this event though 3 yrs have now passed. You are not totally isolated as you will make a few phone calls to your wife and each day you will talk with an old family friend(also an employer of the Co.) who will give you daily Co. tasks and other story missions to follow. The game is perfectly paced as if only doing what is required would be around 6 hrs(guess) but to 100%(all the collectibles/crafting) takes 12-15 hrs. The only issue I have with the story is the game covers only 17 days and the ending where you are given a choice which was not needed. The story from the writing, voice acting and music are all incredibly done. But beware this story is not for everyone as it is about loss and even with a choice at the end, there is no happy ending here. One thing I wanted to highlight for the story was this game was sponsored and/or funded by the Surfrider foundation which is an environmentalist group who is battling to protect the ocean for all to enjoy. This is how awareness to a cause is done right in a game. All of the group's causes are in things found(collectibles) or during loading screens with facts and not a distraction in any way. I was aware of some of the information provided but I learned more info on the continued effects from the garbage we dispose of into the ocean. *The story, atmosphere, sense of loneliness and isolation reminded me of the movie Moon(great movie). I do not know if the dev team were ever aware of this movie but your minisub you travel in the game is called Moon. The game covers 17 days(there is a 10 day fast forward after day 3) where you will be given missions daily that are basically restoring power, fixing or cleaning equipment, all tasks to make sure the Corporations machines keep drilling. There are also collectibles to find, photographs to take and a crafting system to upgrade your mini sub and your gear. Luckily the game was not gamified and what I mean by that is air, gas, damage and there is no combat like in a lot of survival games. The main goal here is to experience the story and world and I appreciated that design for this game. In order to complete your daily tasks Under the Waves is somewhat of a scuba simulation game. Each day when you wake up you will make a cup of coffee, retrieve your daily task and go into the deep blue travelling in your one man mini sub called Moon. As you travel you will hit a sonar that will highlight items or locations to explore. These will provide crafting materials and collectibles which also provide a lot of backstory for the game. I highly recommend searching out a majority(some are on your path to a mission) as they provide a lot of information on everyone involved in the game and story beats that paint the whole picture. The crafting system is pretty basic where you will gain bonuses to your mini sub and your gear. However, there are enough items scattered about and the upgrades really are not necessary, just makes some things a lot easier. Under the Waves is a beautiful heartbreaking narrative story. It is not really a game as it is more of a simulation of stepping into the shoes of an underwater diver and trying to deal with a tragic family event. It does that while bringing awareness to a cause I'm sure we would all agree is sad. It does a great job by not prolonging the game with slogged out survival mechanics but trying to simply let you immerse yourself into the deep blue sea. Positives Beautiful detailed underwater world Story, writing, voice acting, music Exploration is awesome Choice to NOT gamify the experience Environmental information not forced into the narrative Negatives Choice at the end Barebone settings, KB controls excluded No true ultrawide 21:9 setting
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I have no idea what the mixed reviews are about. This is a little gem. A beautiful game with a well written story about drifting apart in a breathtaking underwater environment. The sound design is absolutely amazing. The visuals are great! The sense of being underwater is spot on. Played the whole thing on a Steamdeck OLED. 10/10 definitely recommended.
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It's a very nice and heartfelt title but bear in mind that this is mainly a *NARRATIVE* game beyond anything else, the survival and exploration elements being extras. It's immersive and has gorgeous visuals but is (very) slow paced, to the point where I'd argue it's essentially on rails, even if you have the freedom to swim in apparently whatever direction. After having finished it I'd recommend just following the prompts and not deviate too far from the path to enjoy the story and not waste too much time gathering stuff that is ultimately useless.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Under The Waves is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.
Under The Waves is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 29.99€ on Steam.
Under The Waves received 1,044 positive votes out of a total of 1,344 achieving a rating of 7.45.
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Under The Waves was developed by Parallel Studio and published by Spotlight by Quantic Dream.
Under The Waves is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Under The Waves is not playable on MacOS.
Under The Waves is not playable on Linux.
Under The Waves is a single-player game.
There is a DLC available for Under The Waves. Explore additional content available for Under The Waves on Steam.
Under The Waves does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Under The Waves does not support Steam Remote Play.
Under The Waves is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Under The Waves.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 07 June 2025 23:04 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 12 June 2025 10:49 |
| Steam price | 14 June 2025 12:48 |
| Steam reviews | 13 June 2025 23:57 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Under The Waves, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Under The Waves
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Under The Waves concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Under The Waves compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
6
Developer
Parallel Studio
Publisher
Spotlight by Quantic Dream
Release
28 Aug 2023
Platforms
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