Darkwater

About

Darkwater is a multiplayer casual role playing game. It was developed by Targon Studios and was released on April 22, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Darkwater is a cooperative RPG for 1-4 players where you command a custom submarine exploring an icy alien ocean. Face naval warfare, scavenge scarce resources from abandoned outposts, and survive a deadly disease beneath the frozen surface. The game boasts an ingenious atmosphere and solid mechanics, though it is currently full of bugs.

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85%

Audience ScoreBased on 483 reviews

gameplay27 positive mentions

stability17 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of submarine combat and exploration, reminiscent of FTL and Lethal Company, providing a fun and engaging experience.
The submarine customization and teamwork mechanics are well-implemented, allowing players to take on different roles and work together effectively.
Despite being in early access, the game is relatively polished with few bugs, and the developer is actively working on updates and improvements.

The game suffers from various bugs, including issues with inventory management, disappearing items, and inconsistent enemy AI, which can disrupt gameplay.
Combat mechanics, especially melee combat, feel clunky and lack feedback, making encounters less satisfying and more frustrating.
The exploration aspect can become repetitive quickly, with outposts feeling similar and lacking variety in enemies and loot.

gameplay
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
52%
15%
The gameplay of the game is a mix of submarine combat and exploration, drawing inspiration from titles like *FTL: Faster Than Light* and *Lethal Company*, which creates an engaging core loop with potential for cooperative play. However, players note that the experience can be marred by glitches, repetitive mechanics, and a lack of variety in content, leading to a somewhat janky and unbalanced feel. Despite these issues, many find the gameplay enjoyable, especially when played with friends, and appreciate the game's unique mechanics and customization options.
- “Great game, a bit glitchy at times but the gameplay makes up for it, having great submarine warfare and immersive places such as oil rigs, factories, stores, mansions, and many more.”
- “Even in its current state, Darkwater has a strong core gameplay loop and feels packed with potential.”
- “The gameplay builds on a series of interconnected loops that encourage cooperation and planning.”
- “The gameplay is bland and boring, combat is a snooze and the main functions of the sub and game is a snoozefest.”
- “Gameplay is very basic and feels clunky, even moving around hurts my eyes with the forced screen tearing.”
- “The framework of the game is fun and engaging, but it still gets stale after a few runs with a lack of variety in enemies, unique mechanics, ship parts, etc.”
stability
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
85%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many players reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that can disrupt gameplay significantly. While some users acknowledge the fun and potential of the game, they also note that its current state is riddled with issues, making it feel unpolished and at times nearly unplayable. However, a few players have experienced minimal problems, suggesting that stability may vary depending on individual play sessions.
- “The solo developer has done an amazing job; the game runs great with no issues while playing.”
- “Aside from the boarding parties, the game is fairly bug-free considering its early access status.”
- “The game isn't that buggy on our end and ran pretty smoothly; I would recommend it for a good time with friends.”
- “Ridiculously buggy to the point of game-breaking and still dreadfully unpolished.”
- “Crashes, bugs, freezes, connection problems, the whole package every single time you play.”
- “In its current state, it only takes a few plays to realize it's extremely buggy and poorly optimized -- there are many bugs that will literally erase an hour of progress in a second or at the minimum force you to have to restart the server, not to mention the constant almost unplayable frame issues.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews. While some players report solid performance on specific hardware, many others experience significant frame rate drops, bugs, and stuttering, particularly in late-game scenarios. Although recent updates have improved performance for some, further optimization is still needed to enhance the overall experience.
- “First off, performance: awesome.”
- “Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go performance has been solid with no crashes or issues so far.”
- “Finally we have the QA version; it showed us what the game really had in store for us, added a bunch of things, fixed bugs (you guessed it, blocking water is still here!!!) and optimized the game to the point where it always runs smoothly (for most) except when the outpost is a bit too large and struggles to load entirely, but you can change the graphics settings for that.”
- “I hate that I can't leave a numerical rating instead of thumbs up or down. This game is fun, I think it has potential, but in its current state, it only takes a few plays to realize it's extremely buggy and poorly optimized. There are many bugs that will literally erase an hour of progress in a second or at the minimum force you to have to restart the server, not to mention the constant almost unplayable frame issues.”
- “Should have been a little more optimized before release.”
- “Micro-stuttering on high-end hardware (Ryzen 9 7950X3D & NVIDIA 4090).”
graphics
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
41%
24%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the unique art style and effective lighting system, while others criticize the simplistic textures and occasional performance issues, such as lag and flickering effects. Players appreciate the early 20th-century aesthetic and submarine customization, but many feel that the graphics could benefit from further refinement and more flexible settings. Overall, while the visuals have potential, they can lead to aesthetic fatigue and technical challenges for some users.
- “The graphics are visually pleasing, and the mechanics are straightforward, leaving not much room for wondering if you did something wrong, or you're struggling to learn.”
- “Good game graphics are amazing and I love the uniqueness.”
- “While sure the textures are a little basic, the lighting system (when it works) is good and adds a lot to the aesthetic.”
- “The graphics could use some love (particularly the holding of a pistol looks kind of stupid...), but the game really has potential!”
- “3 minutes in I got a near-seizure due to the light flickering effects, and at max graphics settings it felt like I was wading through mud due to the slowdown without losing any frames.”
- “The graphics settings are too limited, and high settings seem to force motion blur with no way to disable it.”
story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The story in the game is described as interesting and atmospheric, providing a solid foundation for gameplay, but it suffers from a lack of depth and variety, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness. Players express a desire for more content, including different endings, additional mission types, and a longer narrative to enhance engagement. While the emergent storytelling is appreciated, many feel that the current storyline is too brief and could benefit from further development and complexity.
- “As it stands, Darkwater is an ambitious and absorbing dive into underwater survival, marked by atmospheric storytelling and tense, emergent gameplay.”
- “Expect your emergent storytelling to be the focus, though.”
- “The story never seems to go far and gameplay is a bit lackluster.”
- “The game lacks a lot of content; my friend and I ran through the storyline in less than two hours, and the game became very boring after five hours of total play.”
- “Also, I would like it if you could make there be different endings at least and make it a longer story. Not because I’m saying it’s short, it’s just I want to go to a different ending like working with the government or something, but overall it’s great.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
92%
8%
The atmosphere in Darkwater is widely praised for its immersive and tense qualities, drawing comparisons to other games while establishing its own unique underwater horror experience. Players appreciate the blend of atmospheric storytelling, cooperative gameplay, and a dark, alien setting that enhances the overall sense of survival and tension. The game's strong visual design and engaging environment contribute significantly to its captivating atmosphere, making it a standout feature.
- “Darkwater is a tense, atmospheric extraction-horror experience that places you deep beneath an alien moon’s frozen oceans, where survival depends on teamwork, improvisation, and careful resource management.”
- “As it stands, Darkwater is an ambitious and absorbing dive into underwater survival, marked by atmospheric storytelling and tense, emergent gameplay.”
- “It has a very unique atmosphere that made me finish the demo several times and now the early release.”
- “While it reminds me of Barotrauma in atmosphere and ship-to-ship tension, Darkwater puts its own spin on combat.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
30%
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players enjoying the funny moments and bugs that add to the experience, especially when playing with friends. However, some users noted that certain bugs can detract from gameplay, and there are mixed feelings about specific features like spectator mode. Overall, the game offers a blend of humor and replayability that many find entertaining.
- “So fun with friends, it will keep you laughing and hollering with your friends for hours.”
- “This game is awesome, lots of cool replayable elements and funny moments.”
- “But for the price you pay, you can definitely get funny and scary moments out of it.”
- “Now that this unfunny comedy is out of the way, here's the problem:”
- “The jokes fall flat and often feel forced, lacking any real wit.”
- “What was intended to be humorous often comes off as cringeworthy instead.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game offers a solid foundation for replayability through various starter subs and the pursuit of challenges and achievements, which encourage players to revisit it. However, some users feel that the limited number of random events and a lack of variety in ship combat diminish its long-term replay value. Expanding these elements could enhance the overall experience and encourage more playthroughs.
- “This game is awesome, lots of cool replayable elements and funny moments.”
- “The different starter subs provide replayability and encourage you to go for challenges and achievements in order to unlock them.”
- “Also, there are too few random events, which cannot provide enough replay value.”
- “Expanding on that system in interesting ways to make the ship combat more varied across runs is where the core replayability of a game like this would reside.”
- “Beat it in 4 hours, but it looks replayable.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game has received mixed feedback; while some players praise the brilliant soundtrack, others express a desire for more options and louder volume, particularly criticizing the in-game shop music. Overall, the music significantly enhances the gaming experience for many, though improvements are needed in certain areas.
- “The music amplifies the experience!”
- “The soundtrack is brilliant.”
- “More music options for the gramophone and making it louder would be nice.”
- “We agreed the music at the shops is terrible, and I ended up just muting all music altogether in the menus.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be manageable, as it avoids extreme tedium and difficulty. However, navigating can become tedious and disorienting, suggesting that improvements like a compass feature could enhance the experience.
- “Very easy to get lost, but not in a fun way—just a tedious way. Ironically, the glitch of looking at your sub causing stuttering helped the game here. Having a compass to point back to the ship that you have a hotkey for or something would go a long way.”