Overview
Depth Dwellers is a shareware first-person shooter. It was released as a one-part episode, with a total of three episodes in the registered version, and is fundamentally similar to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D in terms of game engine and play mechanics, and also offers an optional high-resolution video mode or stereographic mode for a 3D-glasses peripheral.
In this sci-fi driven outing, the player takes on the role of a trained soldier, the son of Earth's diplomatic ambassador, secretly sent down to a planet which is in peril, known as 'Ora', where its inhabitants were enslaved by a tyrannical race known as the RI. They want to plunder the planets' most rich resource, known only as 'Zendle' at any cost, as its properties would assist greatly in the creation of a new weapon’s system to ensure the RI's dominance of Ora, and ultimately all neighbouring planets.
Each episode begins with the chapter storyline displayed in text format and your ultimate goal is also outlined here (it can incidentally be called upon during the course of the game). Gameplay elements include rescuing the slave Depth Dwellers, who appear chained to walls, mining shackled with pickaxes, or found wandering aimlessly through the labyrinths. You set them free through your advanced beaming transport technology which dematerializes and then rematerialises the poor souls to safety.
Objective-driven scenarios are brought forward, such as in one instance, having to destroy a communications system to prevent the RI from calling upon reinforcements. Various other assignments are given during the course of each episode. In every level, your primary goal is to find one or more keys which grant access to a transporter room, taking you to the next stage.
Collect new and increasingly powerful weapons from fallen enemies, or find them stashed in a plethora of secret areas. A rapid fire pulse laser, rocket launcher, flame thrower and a strategic mine dispensing armament, among other goodies become at your disposal as you delve deeper into the mines of the Depth Dwellers.
