Hydrophobia

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Release Date: September 29, 2010
Developers: Dark Energy Digital
Publishers: Dark Energy Digital, Microsoft Studios
Platforms: Xbox Live 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3
Genre: Survival horror, adventure
Players: Single-player
Rating (ESRB): M (Mature)


Synopsis:

As Hydrophobia's title suggests, your greatest foe in this Xbox Live Arcade game is water. This normally life-giving liquid dominates the environments, forcing you to deal with traditional action sequences in surprising new ways. Set in a dystopian near future in which the world is suffering from severe overpopulation, the events in Hydrophobia unfold on The Queen of the World, a huge ship containing the Five Founding Fathers, corporate men who have prospered while others have struggled to sustain themselves during the massive population surge. The ship is attacked by terrorists calling themselves the Malthusians (named after politician Thomas Malthus, who predicted that population growth would outstrip agricultural development). Cue the reluctant hero, systems engineer Kate Wilson, who attempts to uncover the terrorist plot and save the ship's passengers. Wilson is a believable central character, and it is refreshing to see a strong female protagonist.

Story:

The world is suffering from over population, many are struggling to survive, and a group of people known as the founding fathers built a ship named the Queen and set off into the sea to escape. This is where the story starts out, on the queen. Terrorists are attacking the ship and trying to bring it down killing the thousands that live on it. You play a woman named Kate who has to go down into the ships lower levels and try to stop it from sinking. The story is very interesting and has some very cool aspects on the future. Basically Kate is face with the question: Do you have what it takes to deal with mass amounts of uncontrollable water, the ships obstacles while fighting off tons of terrorists?

Story Rating: 8/10

Gameplay:

The gameplay is very unique and enjoyable. Dealing with water can almost give you a feeling like your actually going to drown because of its life like qualities. The water moves around the ship much like real water would and this is very rare in games. Using your water powers is one of the best things in the game, being able to submerge people and drown them was pretty cool. I really liked the gameplay in this game.

Gameplay Rating: 9/10

Graphics:

The graphics in this game are awesome, You can tell they worked hard on the water. It flows just like real water and looks the same. All parts of the ship are very unique and original. I enjoyed wandering around the ship in the missions and looking at all the elements in action. Electricity and fire both look nice and I think the graphics are the best part of this game.

Graphics Rating: 10/10

Examples:

Controls:

The controls are probably the worst part of this game. They are poorly introduced and poorly put together. I really disliked the controls because of how complex they were. The game really needed a well put together control system. Instead it got a clunky one thats hard to use with the game.

Controls Rating: 5/10

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Overall Rating: 7/10 (The Good: Very unique and cool game with amazing graphics. The Bad: Choppy gameplay with a clunky control system.)