Reviewed: January 9, 2011
Reviewed by: Arend Hart

Publisher
Dark Energy Digital

Developer
Dark Energy Digital

Released: December 21, 2010
Genre: Action
Players: 1

8
9
7
9
8.5

Supported Features:

The fear at that time was that the quality of console gaming releases would diminish with the advent of patching – that developers would rush product to market and then take care of the final polish at a later time. And arguably, there have been releases for which that were the case – more so than we would probably like to admit.

Seldom do we hear of developers completely overhauling a perfectly solid game simply because they took the time to listen to their fans and critics and decided to address their concerns. However, the folks at Dark Energy Digital did just that with their recent overhaul of their Xbox Live Arcade title Hydrophobia, which they have now renamed Hydrophobia Pure.

If you have not already given Hydrophobia a look, I highly suggest you check out the free Trial download offered on the Xbox Live Arcade. The game is an excellent third-person action adventure born of equal parts Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, and Beyond Good and Evil - all set within a modern underwater vessel christened The Queen of the World that has been placed into chaos by the invasion of a terrorist group hell-bent on taking down the world that our heroine Kate Wilson calls home in an effort to save the world from overpopulation. It is the perfect environmentalist eco-terrorist dichotomy that is aptly summed up by the invaders’ graffiti telling inhabitants to “Save the World – Kill Yourself.”

As Kate makes her frantic escape through the Queen of the World, fighting through walls of inrushing water, dangling electrical wires, and out-of-control fires – she must use the remaining parts of the environment to her benefit. Certainly there are walls to scale, pipes to balance on, and passageways to swim through – but there are many situations where Kate must use the very obstacles to help her out survive.

Glass walls can be shattered to flood a room with water to take out enemies or extinguish fires, exploding barrels (gamers love exploding barrels) can be used to open hatches, releasing water to uncover hidden passages – the water physics engine in and of itself is a fantastic mechanic that really pushed Hydrophobia up and over the “run of the mill” status.

The problem was, not all gamers were impressed as I was with the original release of Hydrophobia, with the game garnering some of the widest review ranges of any game to date. The critics cited a number of issues which kept them from giving the budget-priced title better scores; like the fact that objectives were often nebulous, or that the controls were a bit stiff, and so on. Dark Energy Digital listened to the gamers and has addressed their concerns with Pure.

It would simply be impossible for me to go into detail on all of the items that were addressed with the Pure update, but just to give you an idea of how much work Dark Energy put into enhancing Hydrophobia, here’s the company line card listing all of the changes:

HYDROPHOBIA PURE - FEATURE LIST

NAVIGATION AND OBJECTIVES

New Waypoint System
• Waypoints for every objective and sub objective
• Choose permanent on-screen waypoints or new MAVI only mode
• Waypoints added for Ciphers and Frequency Keys with color coding
• Corpses with Frequency Keys glow orange for easy identification
Map
• Improved controls and button layout
• Default view of Kate’s position
• Toggle Kate’s position / objective location manually
• Easier to navigate

Overhauled Camera System
• Camera positioned closer to character
• Improved tracking of the action
• Enhanced collision detection
• Better FOV for framing the action
Improved Movement and Animations
• More fluid and precise character control
• Improved character animations add realism
• Enhanced animation transitions make the character more weighty

Overhauled Combat System
• Automatic weapon holster/unholster system
• Seamless integration of combat / non-combat systems
• Improved aim reticule
• Aim remapped to LT
• Destructible objects highlighted more clearly
• Destructible objects easier to hit
• A greater supply of ammo throughout the levels
• AI improved and enemies rebalanced
• More enemies and more engaging combat design
Weapons Improved
• Sonic Rounds overheat removed
• Sonic Rounds charge time halved
• Sonic Rounds do more damage to NPC’s and are lethal
• Multiple Gel and Energy Rounds can be deployed simultaneously
• Deployed Gel/Energy rounds can be detonated as a group
All New Cover System
• Smoother transitions in and out of cover
• Easier and more intuitive to get in and out of cover
• Toggle cover whether armed or unarmed
• All new animations make cover system more realistic

Damage System Improved
• Kate no longer unfairly damaged/killed by unseen elements
• Fire/electrical damage reduced
• Combat damage re-balanced
• Player is instantly returned to the world on Kate’s death
Overhauled Damage Feedback
• Monochrome health feedback system implemented
• Enhanced directional damage indication
• Heartbeat force feedback and SFX added
• Audio ducking system improves health feedback
All New Oxygen Feedback System
• Oxygen bar added
• Heartbeat force feedback and SFX added
• Phobia effect for oxygen feedback enhanced
• Phobia audio hallucinations added
• FOV pulse added for drowning feedback
• Phobia warping effect removed from non-submerged sections

Climbing
• Continuous hand-over-hand climbing system added
• All new, more realistic animations
• More fluid climbing controls and movement
Platforming
• Automatic ledge grab functionality
• Improved swing mechanic
• Improved jump-from-balance mechanic
Control Layout
• Switch to a more traditional control layout
• A to jump
• LT to aim
• RB to detonate enhanced Gel and Energy Rounds

Improved Graphics
• Character dynamic self-shadowing
• Enhanced lighting
• Improved textures
• Better water spray effects
• Improved water reflection and refraction
• Enhanced electricity effects
• Environmental geometry tweaks
• Additional video texture work

Wading Improved
• Enhanced physical character feedback from water forces
• Improved transitions between wade states
Swimming Enhanced
• Improved swimming controls, more finely balanced
• 180 degree swim turn removed
• Improved camera behavior when swimming
• Underwater combat system streamlined

Physics Enhancements
• Increased number of dynamic objects
• More realistic character water resistance
• Explosive forces re-balanced

Puzzle Improvements
• Improved feedback for Cipher and Frequency Keys
• Ciphers re-positioned for greater accessibility
• New mission orders related to Ciphers add to the backstory
• Existing puzzles refined where possible
• New electric puzzle elements added

Dialogue Re-edit
• Dialogue has been pruned
• Irritating or extraneous lines cut
Cutscenes Re-edit
• Overly long cutscenes shortened

Collectables Interface Improved
• Emails and E-Books no longer interrupt gameplay when collected
• Collectables re-positioned throughout levels
• Points awarded for collectables tweaked

Prompts
• Prompts re-worked for better clarity
• Prompt triggering reviewed and improved
Tutorials
• Video tutorials cut back
• Improved in game tutorials
• New tutorial puzzles

Checkpoint Design
• Checkpoint positions reviewed and improved
• More checkpoints
• Automated and faster reload after death

Level Design Improvements
• Vent behavior improved
• General level design tweaks
• AI numbers and positioning improved
• Ammo amount and placement improved
• Collectable placement improved
• Gameplay balance improved throughout

• Price dropped to just 800 Microsoft points
• Trial extended to allow players to sample more of the game for free

Hydrophobia Pure clocks in at about 6 hours of gaming, and ends rather abruptly with a storyline cliffhanger – leaving gamers hanging in wait for the second and third chapters of this episodic release. If those titles pack in as much fun as this first release we are in for one wet and wild ride.