Under The Waves

Under The Waves is a third-person PC narrative adventure set beneath a techno-futuristic North Sea. Developed by Parallel Studio and published under the Spotlight by Quantic Dream label, it follows Stan, a professional diver isolated underwater during a long mission. The game combines submarine travel, free-swimming exploration, salvage, light crafting, environmental storytelling, and a psychological story about grief.

The current PC storefront name remains Under The Waves. No verified Steam, Epic Games Store, or publisher rebrand or replacement edition has been identified, so players searching for the original title should find the current game under the same name.

Underwater exploration with a narrative focus

The core loop alternates between piloting Stan’s submarine and leaving it to explore the seabed in his diving suit. The submarine provides the quickest way to cross open areas, while swimming lets you enter tighter spaces, investigate wrecks, inspect underwater plants, and reach points of interest that cannot be approached directly by vehicle.

Exploration is structured around story objectives, environmental discoveries, optional collectibles, and practical resources. You may follow the main route toward the next mission or spend time searching the surrounding ocean for salvageable waste, hidden materials, backstory fragments, and unusual locations. The design is open enough to reward curiosity, but it is not a survival sandbox with unrestricted base construction.

Stan’s isolation is part of the mechanical rhythm. Travel, diving, maintenance tasks, and communications create a quiet pace that gives the setting room to work. The game is better understood as a story-driven underwater adventure than as a combat game or a conventional survival RPG.

Submarine travel, diving, and crafting

The submarine is more than a fast-travel vehicle. It is the main way Stan navigates the wider ocean, reaches distant objectives, and experiences the contrast between open water and confined industrial spaces. Its movement gives the game a deliberate sense of weight, while the diving suit changes the pace to closer inspection and more vulnerable movement around the seabed.

Crafting supports exploration rather than character-build experimentation. Stan collects materials and uses them to create equipment upgrades that help him travel farther and investigate areas more effectively. The progression is therefore tied to access and preparation: exploring produces resources, resources improve equipment, and improved equipment opens more of the underwater environment.

The game also includes maintenance and task-based activities connected to Stan’s work below the surface. These objectives reinforce the setting as an offshore industrial environment rather than a purely natural ocean tour. Players looking for a similar sense of vehicle-led discovery may enjoy underwater exploration games such as Subnautica, but Under The Waves keeps its emphasis on authored narrative and atmosphere instead of survival systems.

A North Sea story shaped by grief

Stan’s mission takes place in an alternate late-1970s setting where retro technology, industrial facilities, science fiction, and surreal imagery overlap. The ocean is both a physical location and a reflection of Stan’s emotional state, with strange manifestations and unexplained events gradually complicating his isolation.

The narrative is delivered through conversations, discoveries, environmental details, and story-related objectives. The game does not treat the seabed as a neutral collection of levels; caves, wrecks, facilities, wildlife, and discarded objects all contribute to the feeling that Stan is moving through both a workplace and a memory.

Environmental themes are also part of the story’s identity. Parallel Studio worked with Surfrider Foundation Europe, whose research and feedback informed environmental context, log entries, and achievement-related material. That collaboration gives the ocean-cleanup and conservation elements a more specific role than generic background decoration.

Content model and PC edition

The paid PC game contains the complete single-player adventure, including the North Sea setting, submarine exploration, suit-based diving, crafting, collectibles, story objectives, and environmental activities. The Steam listing identifies the game as an adventure and indie title and includes 38 Steam Achievements.

The only separate Steam content listed for the game is the original soundtrack. There is no verified catalog of gameplay expansions or season-pass content required to access additional story chapters. That makes the main purchase relatively straightforward: the base game is the narrative experience, while the soundtrack is optional bonus content.

Under The Waves is officially a single-player experience. The PC version does not offer built-in co-op, split-screen, or online multiplayer, and there is no party system or shared progression loop. The underwater world, missions, discoveries, and story decisions are designed for one player.

Who should play Under The Waves?

Under The Waves is a strong match for players who enjoy slow-burn narrative games, third-person exploration, underwater scenery, and stories that use location to express character psychology. It is especially suited to people who prefer searching through optional spaces and reading environmental clues over fighting enemies or optimizing a combat build.

Players expecting a Subnautica-style survival campaign should set their expectations carefully. There is no comparable base-building progression, no resource-driven survival economy at the center of the experience, and no cooperative expedition structure. The crafting system exists to support Stan’s investigation rather than to create an elaborate technology tree.

It may also feel too restrained for players who want constant action, procedural replayability, or a large number of branching role-playing choices. The appeal is the combination of isolation, authored exploration, and emotional storytelling, not an endless ocean simulation.

PC features, input, and storefront details

On PC, the game is available through Steam and the Epic Games Store. The chosen storefront supplies the relevant launcher, while official support material references both Steam and Epic installation and file-validation processes. No separate anti-cheat system or dedicated publisher launcher is identified in the verified PC storefront and support information.

The PC edition uses a third-person camera for on-foot diving and vehicle exploration. Keyboard-and-mouse input is available, while gamepad play is also supported and is a sensible option for the submarine and swimming sections. Players should expect two distinct control contexts: ordinary character movement on the seabed and slower vehicle handling while piloting the submarine.

Steam lists interface, subtitle, and full-audio support for English, French, German, and Simplified Chinese. Additional interface and subtitle languages include Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, and other regional options listed on the storefront. Audio localization is more limited than text localization.

The PC version also includes Steam Achievements and Family Sharing support. Its platform identity is focused on a conventional desktop adventure rather than mod tools, dedicated servers, cabinet play, or competitive online features.

Under The Waves FAQ

Is Under The Waves renamed on PC?

No verified rebrand has been found. Steam, publisher material, and current PC storefront references continue to use Under The Waves. It is not presented as a remastered, classic, definitive, or renamed edition.

Is Under The Waves a survival game like Subnautica?

Not in the usual sense. It includes exploration, resource collection, crafting, submarine travel, and underwater hazards, but it is primarily a narrative adventure. It does not center on base building, hunger management, open-ended technology progression, or survival multiplayer.

Does Under The Waves have co-op or multiplayer?

No. Under The Waves is a single-player game with no built-in online co-op, local multiplayer, or split-screen mode.

What do you do in Under The Waves?

You pilot Stan’s submarine, swim through caves and wrecks, complete maintenance and investigation objectives, collect materials, craft useful equipment, find environmental discoveries, and follow a story about grief, solitude, and the consequences of human activity beneath the sea.

Does Under The Waves have combat?

Combat is not the central progression system. The game focuses on exploration, navigation, objectives, environmental hazards, and narrative tension rather than weapon upgrades, enemy encounters, or combat builds.

Does the PC version support controllers?

Yes. Gamepad play is supported on PC alongside keyboard and mouse input. A controller is particularly relevant for the submarine and underwater movement sections, where vehicle handling and swimming use different control demands.

What is included in the PC purchase?

The base game includes its complete single-player story, underwater world, exploration systems, submarine sections, diving activities, crafting, collectibles, and environmental content. The Steam catalog separately lists the original soundtrack, but no gameplay expansion requirement has been verified.