Fresh Developer Interview Offers Details on Action Horror FPS + Immersive Sim / Metroidvania Hybrid Game Where Players Manipulate Real-Time Fluid Simulations— A Spiritual Successor to System Shock 2 and Prey 2017
An interview with developer Variable State at the Future Games Show Live From LA 25 event offers a sneak-peek at DEEPEST FEAR™, the upcoming metroidvania sci-fi horror shooter, inspired by retro-future cinema of the 80s, like Aliens, The Abyss + The Thing
London, UK, 7 June, 2025 – The team at Variable State has more to say about their upcoming Sci-Fi Horror First-Person Shooter DEEPEST FEAR™. Following up on the game’s world premiere last year, an all-new developer sneak-peek demonstrates the nightmarish claustrophobia of this immersive horror indie; the protagonist, Dr. Danni Carroll, faces down monstrous creatures spontaneously emerging from water sources, as she explores a flooded deep-sea facility
The immersive sim / Metroidvania hybrid forces players to contend with and manipulate real time fluid simulations whilst combatting enemies which spawn from any water source. The developers are hoping to build a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 and Prey 2017, albeit it one which is highly unique and original.
DEEPEST FEAR™ | Details + Features
About
- DEEPEST FEAR™ is a sci-fi horror shooter, combining Metroidvania level design in the context of a classic FPS immersive sim, where the game’s setting is a puzzle to unravel and where creativity and improvisation are your greatest assets.
Inspirations | Retro-Future Cinema
- Channeling the spirit of iconic and subversive 1980s horror action films such as The Abyss, The Thing, The Fly, and Total Recall, and more broadly the cinematic canons of James Cameron, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, and Paul Verhoven, DEEPEST FEAR™ aims to stay true to a vision of visceral horror, vivid characterisation, and confrontational storytelling.
Fear the Water
- The immersive sim brings to life a new kind of terror as water itself becomes a living threat, with real-time fluid simulation allowing nightmarish entities to emerge from any water source or submerged space within the hermetic confines of the Neptune facility.
- Using real time fluid simulation, fight otherworldly entities which manifest spontaneously from any water source, all while the environment around you can flood and take in water at any moment, sweeping you away with unpredictable currents, plunging you into the suffocating depths.
Story of Survival
- As Dr. Danni Carroll, players are thrust into the labyrinthine depths of Neptune, a mysterious retro-futuristic facility hiding dark secrets and dangerous truths.
- With survival on the line, players must harness their wits and an arsenal of tools to uncover the mysteries surrounding a project masterminded by Danni’s estranged father.
- Fight your way to the heart of a sinister project and uncover a mystery both deeply personal and terrifying in its implications.
Creative Team
- Featuring an original cinematic score by the BAFTA-winning composer and studio co-director, Lyndon Holland, and the award-winning writing talent behind Virginia and Last Stop, DEEPEST FEAR™ combines the cinematic storytelling the studio is known for with visceral first person shooter and horror gameplay.
For more details, visit DeepestFearGame.com, subscribe to the DEEPEST FEAR™ mailing list, and follow @DeepestFear on Steam, X (Twitter), Bluesky, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook.