Game Reviews

Dark Energy Digital's new third-person shooter Hydrophobia hits Xbox Live on Wednesday, September 29th for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), kicking of the fall's promotion called “Game Feast.” Featuring a unique new water-physics engine called HydroEngine, it aims to bring a new kind of quality to the Xbox Live Marketplace. The developers have also created a super-compact game design program called InfiniteWorlds that helps bring the game to the downloadable space. Does it succeed in its pursuits or are we left with another forgettable attempt at creating something unique on XBLA?

There are a lot of third-persons shooters on this generation of consoles, but few are completely downloadable experiences. Hydrophobia crams a lot of features in a small package and is definitely worth a look for action-adventure fans. It's procedurally-generated water is a sight to behold, but the game feels small because it's only the first part of a planned trilogy. But let's get into the specifics.

Hydrophobia features the unassuming Security Engineer Kate Wilson as its protagonist. On board the Queen of the World, the world's largest cruise ship, she is thrust into a fight for her life when terrorists attack the boat during its tenth year anniversary party. She's in radio communication with the Systems Engineering Chief named Scoot, and he leads her from one part of the boat to another trying to boat thwart the terrorists and keep her alive. Because the two of them are in charge of security, they know a lot about the boat's systems and have no trouble hacking their way through the system to get where they're needed.