An octopus hiding from ashark within a protectivesuit of
shells then jettingaway was a standoutmoment in Blue Planet II, the
BBC’sspectacular underwater documentaryseries. That octopus’ inclusion in
thedemo of Beyond Blue, E-Line Media’sunderwater adventure, nods to thegame’s
relationship with the show,using its insight and spectacle to build Beyond
Blue’s worldThe latest demo is set in the atoll biome.It’s far more colourful
than the murkytwilight zone of the previous build, and arainbow of corals and
fish bask in thesunlight shallower water offers. The fullgame will also feature
a third biome – thedeep sea abyss where the only source oflight is
bioluminescence.Researcher Mirai and her team havebeen called to the South
China Sea toinvestigate unusual biological activityand this new demo intro
tells me I’mtrailing a superpod of sperm whales,hoping to discover more about
theirsocial and emotional lives.My task here is fairly straightforward– head to
a series of buoys and use them to lock onto nearby sounds. Once I knowthe
location of the sound I go and seewhat’s making it. As I swim Mirai chatswith
her remote team so you get a growingsense of those relationships even thoughyou
won’t see the people.VP of marketing, Steve Zimmerman,tells me that the full
game will also have aThe sub is where you makethe bigger narrative decisions so
as not todistract you while swimming. When you’reswimming about, the priority
is immersionin the moment-to-moment thrills.WHALE OF A TIMEBeyond Blue won’t
shy away from issueslike coral bleaching and plastic pollutionbut it will be
able to use its setting – 20years in the future – to explore possiblesolutions.
Zimmerman also mentionsother decisions Mirai will face around whoto share her
research with, whether that’sthe whole world, a specific country, or
acommercial enterprise.I ask Zimmerman for his favouriteocean fact and he
responds withsomething science can’t answer yet. “Iwant to know why the
humpbacks sing,”he says. “[We] haven’t learned why, andour game’s probably not
going to answerthat question. But we’re hoping to inspireanother generation of
people who mightstart looking into things like that.”
