Abyssals is an underwater city builder that only slightly terrifies me

Nothing is more terrifying than the ocean. Sure, we have spiders, poison, heights, scorpions and my Mum when I haven't messaged her for two weeks, but the ocean is deeper, darker and scarier than all of those things combined. There's like 80% of the ocean that we know nothing about!

Well, if there's one thing videogames love doing, it's taking my fears and turning them into works of art. Art that I play through squinted eyes, too terrified to dedicate my full vision to my monitor. However, I think I'll have to make an exception for city builder Abyssals, one of the fantastic games shown at the PC Gaming Show.

It looks every bit as spooky as it does intriguing. Apparently, nobody learned their lesson when Bioshock's Rapture was a complete and utter disaster because Abyssals is all about having built a new life deep underwater on a new planet, following some unknown incident on Earth. There haven't exactly been a ton of resources to lay decent foundations though, which means this oceanic paradise is pretty barebones and oh-so fragile. 

Abyssals

(Image credit: OP Team)

You'll have to explore the ocean and all the dangers that come with it, hunting for resources you need to survive, expand and evolve. I'm a little frightened to find out exactly what those dangers are, especially if the end of the trailer is an indication of what's in store for me. But part of me is desperate to discover what's beyond the hundreds of red eyes glaring at me through the darkness.

Abyssals is set to release in early 2023. If exploring dark depths and surviving in an underwater society sounds up your alley, you can wishlist the game on Steam now.

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.