A Look At Ocean Keeper, The Underwater Vampire Survivors

Ok, I’ll admit it. I was one of those kids who was really into the ocean in elementary school. When my 2nd grade art teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I confidently said a marine biologist because then I’d get to be underwater.

That dream didn’t last, but I’ve got a fondness for underwater environments and sea creatures nonetheless, and RetroStyle Games’ upcoming indie game Ocean Keeper has been scratching that itch lately. 

RetroStyle Games a 90+ person studio based in Ukraine is most notable for developing various mobile games and providing outsourced art and assets for other games. I got to play the alpha version and speak with the studio’s Business Development Manager Oleg Chervonyi about the game.

Chervonyi was very excited to talk about the game and the work the team is putting into it.

“We are hoping to have success with our first multiplatform game and show how even the smallest of teams in Ukraine can make big titles,” Chervonyi said. “We are trying to make a game that stands out.”

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Similar to Vampire Survivors, Ocean Keeper has you fighting through waves of enemies to try and survive as long as possible. In between waves, you’ll dive down and dig through caves to obtain resources. 

Chervonyi was willing to speak a bit about the various inspirations that went into making the game. 

“SeaQuest DSV and The Abyss were definitely on our inspiration board. We also drew heavily from games like Dome Keeper and Vampire Survivors for their gameplay mechanics and intensity,” Chervonyi explained. “In terms of atmosphere and world-building, titles like StarCraft, Stormgate, and Project Entropy were major influences. We wanted to create a world that felt vast and mysterious, with a sense of depth and danger lurking around every corner.”

Even from the Alpha, I can see what he means. When you dive into caves to get resources, it’s eerily silent and you feel very alone. Then as the timer counts down, you’re desperately trying to lug everything you’ve found back to the surface. Your diver certainly feels like they’re deep underwater, and their movements are weighed down as such.

When you get to defending your spider-like mech from monsters, you’ll encounter all sorts of strange sea creatures that resemble the ones we know except, you know, more determined to murder you. From tiny crab-like enemies that like to leap on your mech, to long sea-serpent-like things, there’s a lot of enemy variety right off the bat.

(This also might be a more personal note, but I find the sound that the monsters make when they explode to be very satisfying.)

You can try and stand your ground with what weapons you have, or move around and use the environment to your advantage, such as luring monsters into a bottleneck to deal with them more efficiently.

The longer you survive, the stronger you get, but so do the enemies. However, like many a good roguelike, failure is a chance to learn. Not only do you determine the most efficient way of getting upgrades (do you prioritize your diver or your mech?) but you can upgrade your mech in the Hub between runs as well.

It’s a game that’s great in short bursts or in long sessions to see how far you can go, especially since it’s running well on Steam Deck. Already from what I’ve seen, I’m excited to see where this game goes, what else the studio has in store, and how the gameplay evolves over time.

“We have a lot of plans for future updates,” Cheyonvi said. “Fans can expect new underwater environments, additional enemy types, new mech modifications and new game modes. We also want to include more story content and expand the game's story. Your feedback will be crucial in shaping these updates, so let us know what you want to see!”

If you’re interested in Ocean Keeper, you can Wishlist it on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2845630/Codename_Ocean_Keeper/ 

What I’ve Been Playing: In addition to Ocean Keeper, I cracked open Process of Elimination, a “group of people are stuck on an island and start dying” game that has the unique twist of being able to control multiple detectives to uncover clues. Think of it as Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors but a strategy game.

What I’ve Been Watching: My TNG watch-through continues with Season 5. Now that I’ve been formally introduced to her, I finally have context for the reactions at NYCC last year during the Star Trek comic panel when they announced the annual with her and Tasha. By god Star Trek writers will find a way to bring Tasha Yar back no matter how many times she dies, and I love that for her.

What I’ve Been Reading: I picked up A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder purely because I’ll read anything with murder in the title, and I enjoyed it even more once I realized this was supposed to be set in Britain, not Conneticut. I didn’t even know we still did that, but alright.