DaRmaZat Beneath dives headfirst into Lovecraftian horror with the ambition of a deep-sea epic. Developed by the two-brother team at Camel 101 and published by Wired Productions, this survival FPS sets you in the heavy boots of diver Noah Quinn, trapped on the ocean floor after a mission gone terribly wrong. What follows is the all-too-familiar descent into madness where dwindling oxygen, limited ammo, and eldritch abominations collide beneath crushing pressure. For this preview, we explored an early press build to see how the game is shaping up beneath the surface.
Sinking Into Trouble
Beneath‘s story begins strong in concept: Quinn, guided by his ship’s operator, descends toward a lost German submarine, the U-571 Der Sturm. His daughter Amber waits aboard the Pioneer, the vessel of the expedition team, above. Then, a sudden tremor disrupts everything — sending the dive into a disorienting spiral of cosmic hallucinations, time jumps, shifting locations, casualties, and military conspiracies, all while Quinn races to find and rescue his daughter.
While the tone and atmosphere are set right — doors slam shut on their own, distant groans echo through metal corridors, and jump scares come from zombies bashing on windows or suddenly appearing in front of you — the execution, however, falters. Indeed, unfortunately, things start to fall apart very early in this demo. To begin with, the voice acting feels inconsistent, with Quinn sounding panicked one moment and gleefully shouting “Excellent!” the next upon finding a weapon. The plot choices and sound design break immersion more often than they build it— and they’re far from the only elements that do.
Underwater, Underwhelming
Mechanically, Beneath shows flashes of ambition, though. At first, you’ll toss flares for illumination — occasionally used to scare off hostiles, as the game explains — manage stamina during sluggish sprints, and scavenge familiar survival items like grenades, syringes for quick heals, weapon parts, coating kits, and five types of ammo across a gradually expanding arsenal. Eventually, you’ll even pick up a crowbar for melee encounters. Typical of its simple, walking-sim–style design, many tasks involve fetching keys, repairing an antenna by deciphering a code, tracking down a keycard or password to get past a locked door, or retrieving items for an NPC who could arguably handle the task themselves — and so on.
But it doesn’t take long before the issues and bugs start making themselves felt again. Invisible walls block obvious paths and stairways, while environmental panels occasionally flicker or vanish entirely, making objects appear to float in midair. Waypoints disappear without warning — leaving you to wander aimlessly, painfully slow in that heavy diving suit — and only reappear after pausing the game. Combined with unskippable cutscenes, pacing often feels artificially dragged out.
Beneath‘s combat, meanwhile, is also unrefined. There’s rarely enough ammo to fight back effectively, and dying may trigger a chaotic overlap of biting and clawing sounds on the You’re Dead screen, more comedic than scary. Before long, you realize survival isn’t always about mastering combat, but often about hitting the right triggers so the next scripted sequence can play out.
Presentation Under Pressure
Visually, Beneath feels dated from the start. Zombies often awkwardly slide across the floor while attacking, rather than walking. All character models also look distinctly old-fashioned, with lip-sync that rarely matches their lines and heads clipping straight through walls and other scenery.
Most of the environments share muddy brown and green tones, making much of the world feel bland and washed-out. Textures often shimmer, and there’s a lot of jitter while moving. The graphics options are also extremely limited: no upscaling, no frame-rate settings—everything runs natively as is.
Preliminary Thoughts
Beneath needs more time in the oven — and quite a bit of it. There’s a glimpse of something intriguing beneath the surface: a faint shimmer of cosmic horror and atmospheric storytelling waiting to be refined. But the rough execution, weak AI, and persistent technical issues drag it down. With its release only weeks away, it’s difficult to imagine the final version surfacing in a polished state.
Additional Information
Release Date: Oct 27, 2025
Reviewed On: PC. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Camel 101
Publisher: Wired Productions
Website: Beneath
Relevant links: Beneath on Steam
