Hydrophobia - Get wet or dive trying! (Both Pure and Prophecized)

[Carnivol]

Just making a thread here, to remind everyone that Hydrophobia launches on the 360 next Wednesday (29th of September). It's the first part of what's meant to be a trilogy, and reportedly it'll get a multiplatform (PC/PS3) release (and disc release too) once the XBLA release(s?) are out of the way. The game is a third person shooter, with a huge focus on water physics. Gameplay presentation so far makes it look like something ala. Tomb Raider / Uncharted combined with a dose of SOS / Disaster Report / Raw Danger / Zettai Zetsumei Toshi, and it has won several editors choice and "best at E3" awards. OXM US also gave it a 9/10 in their review.




The game takes place onboard a gigantic floating city, or to be more specific; a ship that goes by the name of Queen of the World:





Anyway, why read walls of boring text? Here, have a pile of gameplay from the beginning of the game (they skip the intro, though!)

YouTube video:

Show YouTube video

Lookin' delicious!

There's also a pretty neat gameplay presentation video up on Inside Xbox now, showing a bunch of the games features and giving you a proper introduction to the main character and some of the technical aspects/details of the game. Should be able to find it under the Inside Xbox tab on the top level of your Dashboard. It goes under the name of "Hydrophobia - Water you scared of?" (What a terrible pun... I wa'der what made 'em think 'at was a good idea...)


The game's official website can be found here (Thar be screenshots, videos and more info to be found there!)

Anyway, here are the mandatory marketplace links (for when they get active on the 29th of September):
Download Hydrophobia - Trial Version - Free

Purchase Hydrophobia - Full Version - 800 MS Points

[Darkmoon]

...shows how up to date I am. Last I'd heard the thing was dead in the water. Hah. Sweet.

[Canas Renvall]

I was wondering when this would be released. I saw it on the Marketplace and had no idea what it was, but damn, I'm glad I ran into it. I've been really excited for it ever since. 8D

[Carnivol]

...shows how up to date I am. Last I'd heard the thing was dead in the water. Hah. Sweet.

Yeah. There really were a near solid 2 years of almost no info between when it was first announced and when we finally got more solid info. Now it's all in box and we may bask in its glory next week!

[A-J]

I'll wait for the promised retail release when all the digital episodes are done.

[Stu]

The worst part of ANY game is consistently any levels that involve water.

Thus, i can't get excited for this. I'll try the demo though.

[Carnivol]

That is absolutely true. It's always the water/ice levels that're a royal pain in the arse and everyone's least favorite.

Hopefully, a game focused almost entirely on water can get it right...

[Gradon]

Don't know what you guys are talking about, water levels are my favourite;
I've never heard of this before! And I'm glad you showed me!
I'll be sure to get this...

[Beanovsky Durst]

I think it's a cool concept, I hope it turns out a nice game, of course having the trial version is what will decide if I'll buy it or not...

[BBboy20]

I've been keeping an eye on this for some time.

[Carnivol]

The game is up on the marketplace now, but the marketplace.xbox.com links are still listing it for pre-paid codes only.

[aris13]

Hydrophobia gets a 3/10 from Edge magazine.

http://www.next-gen.biz/features/hydrophobia-review

[Carnivol]

Flawed: Yes.
3/10: No.


Don't see the camera issues they mention there. The camera/controls can be a bit anal if you start pushing the stick around whilst trying to swim up (or down) an elevator shaft, and in one of the early segments, there's a bit of a brutal camera angle swap when you run through one of the doors (basically, you run out, camera changes, *bam* you're on fire! TOO LATE! DEAD!)

Yet to see any of the "fatal" clipping errors (in fact, only clipping issue I've had is if the water is in that perfect height where the character can't quite decide whether to swim or walk, sometimes she'll remain in the swimming position, despite the water going down a little, resulting in her legs going through the floor... big deal... not.)


Either way, not sure if 1200 MS points is a nice price for it or not yet. I'm currently somewhere in the 2nd act and haven't tried the challenge rooms yet. I grabbed Blade Kitten last week and thoroughly enjoyed that one too (despite it having poor voice acting, cheesy non-mocapped cutscenes, and quite possibly the most floaty jump mechanics I've seen in decades).

The water physics are pretty impressive in motion - and the fact that the game runs pretty much butter smooth all the time is also quite impressive (considering how many layers of weird filters and effects they throw around at times). Kinda wish the controller would've given more feedback on it, though. (Given you total and full rumble hell or something.) Also, took a few seconds to get used to the rather odd way the game renders stuff (it's only really noticeable in the opening... dunno how to describe it)


I say give the demo a spin. Do it! For the good of "disaster/survival" related games.

[Carnivol]

RISE!

Hydrophobia Pure Announced/Revealed!

Hydrophobia Pure is basically just an update/re-launch of Hydrophobia, dropping the price to 800 MS points (and free for those who've already bought it) and... wow! Changelist is HUUUUUGE!

Hydrophobia Pure Features:

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

Physics Enhancements

* Increased number of dynamic objects
* More realistic character water resistance
* Explosive forces re-balanced

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'

New Climbing System

* 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

Dialogue Re-Edit

* Dialogue has been pruned
* Irritating or extraneous lines cut

Cutscenes Re-edit

* Cutscenes reviewed and edited
* Overly long cutscenes shortened

Collectables

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

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 colour coding
* Corpses with Frequency Keys glow orange for easy identification

Map Improved

* Improved controls and button layout
* Default view of Kate's position
* Toggle Kate's position / objective location manually
* Easier to navigate

Prompts

* Prompts re-worked for better clarity
* Prompt triggering reviewed and improved

Tutorials

* Video tutorials cut back
* Improved in game tutorials
* New tutorial puzzles

Wading Improved

* Enhanced physical character feedback from water forces
* Improved transitions between wade states

Swimming Improved

* Improved swimming controls, more finely balanced
* 180 degree swim turn removed
* Improved camera behaviour when swimming
* Underwater combat system streamlined

Puzzles

* 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

Damage System Improved

* Kate no longer unfairly damaged/killed by unseen elements
* Fire/electrical damage reduced
* Combat damage re-balanced

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

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 NPCs 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

Checkpoints and Reloading

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

Levels and Game Balance

* Vent behaviour improved
* General level design tweaks
* AI numbers and positioning improved
* Ammo amount and placement improved
* Collectable placement improved
* Gameplay balance improved throughout

Value

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

Time for a re-review from the haters or what?
(And, oh, Pure comes out tomorrow; the 21st of December)

[BBboy20]

The lack of trying out the combat kind of what held me back from buying it, maybe there will be a new trial that will showcase that.