Surge here, on the morning of Space Marine 2’s official release. With a lot of games to play and 2 titles coming up that I *really* want to dive into, I decided to play a shorter game to fill the time. Hydrophobia definitely filled that empty space quite well, as to be expected from a Xbox Live Arcade title. So how was it?
The game follows Kate Wilson, a systems engineer that is also quite athletic and proficient with weaponry. In the opening cutscene Kate has a nightmare of a wailing girl drowning in a illy-lit and creepy mire. After a jumpscare she awakes and begins the day aboard a colossal luxury ship called the “Queen of the World”. To steal a excerpt from the Wikipedia page directly:
“The game is set in the mid 21st century when the world has fallen into the chaos of the "Great Population Flood", and takes place aboard the Queen of the World, a city-sized luxury ocean vessel built by a group of corporate giants known as the Five Founding Fathers who, due to the QOTW, have prospered while the rest of the world suffered. At the beginning of the game, the craft is bombed by a group of fanatical terrorists known as the Malthusians, named after political economist Thomas Malthus who predicted that population growth would one day outpace agricultural production, returning society to a subsistent level of existence. The Malthusians have a plan to murder the majority of humans on the planet, so that the survivors wouldn't suffer from the effects of the population explosion.”
It sounds interesting as you read it, but I promise you that it’s not integrated into the main narrative at all, I hardly knew what was going on in the story. Full disclosure: I didn’t even know we were on a ship at first, I don’t pay attention too much while playing games sometimes, but *holy fuck* is this game’s story and lore told poorly. It probably all lives in the notes strewn around the levels, those silly things I’m never going to read. Seriously, stop putting them in, I don’t care.
Kate also has a companion she talks to over a radio, his name is Scoot. I hate the way she says his name, which makes me hate Scoot out of principle.
Gameplay is where this game shines. The developers spent 5 years working on a development platform dubbed InfiniteWorlds, as well as the HydroEngine; as the latter’s name insists, it is an engine that’s main focus is water physics. As you trudge through same-y corridors and into bland rooms, water from the ocean will come in and fill the areas you traverse through. Not every room will fill completely, in fact most of them will only reach just above Kate’s head, which will force her to begin swimming instead of walking. Some rooms that have glass windows will be flooded with water, while certain walls are heavily damaged and slowly giving way to the pressure of the ocean just outside the ship’s walls. Shooting either of these allows for water to flow into the area, which can wash over and carry away debris on the ground, any foe you may encounter, or yourself if you’re not careful. I’ve definitely been swept away and thrown into a wall once or twice.
The physics of water is still impressive and fun to see in action, rooms fill up in a way that feels realistic and made me think, “Oh this feels actually scary and dangerous,” as I witnessed the distance from the water and ceiling very quickly shrink. There are sections that allow for underwater combat, which is cool but nothing innovative or done with a fresh twist in this title.
Aside from the unique gameplay hook of the water, Hydrophobia is a painfully generic 3rd Person Action Adventure game that follows the trend Uncharted 2 started and ruined gaming with. You climb and swing from pipes, swim, take cover and shoot at guys, collect journal entries you won’t read, and use a device to solve easy ‘match the frequency wave’ puzzles. Everything works fine, besides the sometimes unreliable jumping on the ground, but it’s funny to see another 3rd person game implement a cover system that’s less satisfying than any Gears of War title.
The music is fine but unremarkable.
The sound design is good but a bit overpowering.
Interesting fact, the developer of Hydrophobia, Dark Energy Digital, mainly developed Snooker and Pool/Billiards games before this title. Two years after its release, the studio was shuttered, apparently citing Hydrophobia’s terrible sales. As a result, the story for the game is incomplete; they had plans to release the game in 3 parts, but as stated before, it never came to fruition.
There’s also a score attack game mode, where you play as Kate and attempt to rack up the highest score possible in a few short enemy waves. The training section for this extra mode gives you the power to control the water, allowing you to manipulate the waves with the ability to launch objects across the room or into the air. It’s actually a really interesting mechanic that looks like it could have had a lot of utility in the game, but as far as I know it isn’t useable in the story mode. It definitely shows that they had a lot more in store for this game.
Hydrophobia is an incomplete, middling game that has one unique feature that it pulls off incredibly well. Though it may not be remembered in gaming lore, it at least is a fun trek back to 2010; a time where the 3rd Person action genre was really booming and everyone was trying to find a hook that really made them stand out from the others, while slowly conforming to the formulas that massive successes like Gears and Uncharted had benefited from starting. The technology behind making the game and the lore of its world are interesting, unfortunately the actual narrative and other gameplay elements are not.
Save the World, Kill Yourself/10
