Mark of the Deep is a game that dips its toes into many pools. It feels Diablo-like while also having gameplay aspects from the Souls titles and a dash of the beloved roguelikes as well. And while not necessarily shining in any specific department, it’s a decent effort by Brazilian studio Mad Mimic — you might recall also developed Dandy Ace which we reviewed a while back.
It takes place at an eerie island that’s haunted by the souls of the dead under the spell of the mysterious lord of the abyss. As a member of a group of pirates that end up getting stranded there, you’re tasked with rescuing whoever survived from the crew, and find out a way to escape the undying hell you find happen to your swashblucky self in.
Armed with a giant fishing hook, aptly named hero Rookie is a mix of speed and brawn, and much like the rest of the game, he doesn’t excel in either, but with some upgrades you find along the way, controlling him gets close to okay. The problem is that there’s a bit too much animation priority and when combat gets intense, you tend to get inadvertently hit a lot as you try to dodge or fight back.
That’s one of the particularly annoying snags with the game. The other is the total lack of a map, something that wouldn’t exactly be an issue if Mark of the Deep had any visual variety to its environments. Sadly, everything looks pretty much the same, so it’s hard to get a bearing on where to go, and it’s especially annoying when you might happen to put the game down for a while and get back to it, not knowing where to go next.
Surely, almost all of the From Software games don’t have that feature, but there’s a certain logic to those games’ geography that makes the navigation feel natural, which does not occur here. Sort of the only way to sort of keep track is to barrel your way through, and even so, it’s not ideal for the very same reason it’s hard to remember where you’ve been or not: It all looks too similar.
Other parts of Mark of the Deep manage to keep their noses above water, though. The lore in particular is somewhat interesting and the ways to make Rookie stronger that require gold are certainly useful. Thanks to the fact that you don’t lose any currency when you die and warp back to the waypoint, it’s just a matter of grinding a little in order to get the next best upgrade.
Outside of the same-y environments, it looks decent enough. Running under Unreal Engine, the graphics are sharp and there are no hiccups in performance. The hit detection is a tad off, with hits missing the mark when they obviously have, which along with the previous one makes Mark of the Deep scream for a patch before hitting digital stores.
All in all, Mark of the Deep is mixed. The idea of having elements from a variety of genres sounds good on paper, but if the execution isn’t fully there, it makes for a game that is bound to sink instead of swimming. And that’s the case for this one as it is at launch. With some much needed TLC, Mark of the Deep might make it to shore unscathed, but it’s a shame it’s at this point to begin with, considering the studio’s previous experience in successfully designing enjoyable alternatives to established gameplay styles.
