Taking a journey underwater
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Some video games are about conquering enemies through force. Some focus on outwitting opponents with strategy. But some are just about exploration, discovery and a sense of wonder.
These types of games can be deep. Literally deep, in some cases.
Coming to the PlayStation 4 and PC next year, Abzu is a game about exploring the depths of the ocean and ultimately solving the mystery of your character’s own life. Taking its name from the Sumerian word for the watery realm between the earth and the underworld, it’s a game more about artistry than action.
If that sounds sort of familiar, it should: Abzu creative director Matt Nava was the art director on 2012’ s Journey, a beautiful, evocative game that tasked players with travelling from a windswept desert to the peak of a distant mountain. Th ere was no combat, no dialogue, just a sense of discovery and serenity.
Nava left Journey’s development studio to form his own company called Giant Squid, and Abzu is their first title. But it’s a game that’s been on Nava’s mind for a long time.
“I’ve gone scuba diving several times, and had encounters with sea lions and things like that,” Nava said during a recent preview event in Santa Monica leading up to next week’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles. “It was really amazing and kind of stuck with me.”
We went hands on with Abzu for a half- hour demo, guiding the game’s female diver through forests of seaweed and intricate rock formations, encountering all manner of aquatic life.
“It’s telling the story of this diver who goes deeper and deeper, and discovers herself,” Nava said. “As you go deeper you’re going to discover more secrets about her past. She’s going to remember things, she’s going to fi nd out where she came from.”
Swimming through the world of Abzu is graceful and serene, as the diver does gentle somersaults, summons schools of fi sh to swim alongside her, reactivates underwater drones that serve as keys to new areas and hitches a ride on everything from a sea turtle to a massive ray. It’s both relaxing and exhilarating, a far cry from the frantic running and shooting that makes up so many action games.
Abzu will tell its story entirely through its visuals ( as well as its musical score, by award- winning Journey composer Austin Wintory.) But if this early look at the game is any indication, it will be meditative and moving.
“Water is this element that is so important, and the sea is this very powerful iconic thing in our minds,” said Nava. “Diving into the sea is very metaphorical for diving into yourself.”
Very deep indeed.