Firstly welcome to the party - although you've arrived after the bar has been closed, the DJ has left, and we're mainly stacking chairs and cleaning tables (game has been sunsetted).

Positive news - game has been left in its final form which is pretty damn good. Game still looks beautiful despite being old. Gameplay is pretty damn tight with an asynchronous game being pretty well balanced. There's a decent skin economy that will keep you occupied for quite some time.

Bad news - there is a small population of players left, a high percentage are vets, and a few, whether by fair means or foul, are so much better than everyone else that they annihilate anybody they play against it.

Tip Number 1: Don't let your first games be against live players. Play the tutorial. And my advice in 2024 will be to play games against bots - start on easy - until you know all 12 - 13 maps (can't remember, haven't checked) and can at least regularly beat the bots on medium level. Some would say don't go up against human players until you can beat hard bots but sometime you will have to go up against humans if you want to start your skin collection.

Tip Number 2: This is a bit personal choice but I'd advise starting your first games as a diver. As a diver you are one of four, not one of two. Diver plays more like a conventional FPS but you will have to get used to three dimensional movement and the sharks basically. Thirdly in most games sharks attack and divers defend. On your own in open water most players are easy prey for sharks. Inside the safe room with the rest of your team mates you're a far more formidable target. Other than active griefing one of the fastest ways to wind up fellow divers is to keep losing lives far from your fellow divers. Get killed inside the safe room your fellow divers have a far better chance at taking out the shark. And corner camping is sneered at but it is a way to stop most sharks attacking you from behind.

Tip Number 3: There's less toxicity here than in most FPSs but more sharks tend to be intolerant of new players than divers.

Tip Number 4: Have fun. The game's meme is GLHF - good luck have FIN. "Jaws" wishes it was this exciting. And don't be put off by occasional player toxicity - which you can report to Digital Confectioners - screenshot the messages and the profile of the person sending it. Don't be trigger finger on this. If you've been playing badly people can tell you this without infringing your human rights.

Welcome to Depth. Sure the game has been sunsetted but I've had in the last few weeks games as close and exciting as any in the years I've been playing the game.

S.x.