It is the mid 21st century and the World’s population has grown exponentially to a size too big for the Earth to cope with. On board the Queen of the World, a city sized ship, a terrorist attack enfolds. The ship is quickly over run by the terrorist group, know as the Malthusians. Their plan is to kill a large majority of the human population so survivors have a better chance of living free from the effects of an overcrowded population. As systems engineer on the ship, you quickly become the population’s last chance to save the Queen of the World and the Earth’s inhabitants from the Malthusians.
It’s an intriguing story. However, it doesn’t feel heavily involved in the game. It has a lot of potential to be a great story but sadly this potential is unrealised in the game. It is too lightly touched upon and it not the main part of Hydrophobia. Also it is far too short. There are a lot of things unexplained and simply unrealistic about it as well. As mentioned though it is not the main part of the game, and luckily the gameplay makes up for the lack lustre story.
As Hydrophobia suggests the game is all about water. Set on a ship that has been attacked by terrorists flooding is inevitable. Water is everywhere in the game and the physics and flow of the water is simply fantastic. The Hydro Engine used for the water is remarkable and Dark Energy has done a great job perfecting it. What I love about it is how it reacts to the environment. For example when you open a door from a flooded area to a dry area the water pours straight through the door and sweeps you off your feet. It feels so real. It’s a similar feeling when flowing water seems to bounce off walls and objects. It is the best part about the game.
It is a good job that the water physics are near perfection as the game heavily revolves around it. In Hydrophobia expect to encounter in underwater combat and puzzles and even control the water later into the game. If the water physics were not up to the standard they are the game would be down right awful. Lucky for us this isn’t the case.
The game is a mix of gun play, puzzle solving and platforming. It doesn’t do either particularly well but they all work solidly and make for a great mix of action/adventure styled gameplay. The gun play only consists of a handful of different weapons which are all one handed small pistols. There is the usual semi automatic pistol which you can expect to use quite a frequently. Also there are specialised weapons like the Gel pistol which fires explosive rounds and the Energy pistol which damages machines. However, ammo is scarce for each weapon so you will always be returning to one weapon – the Sonic pistol. This fires a sonic round which can be charged for a larger effect. At full charge it kills instantly. It is the most effective weapon and has unlimited ammo making it the preferred weapon you will always resort to.
The platforming sections consist of climbing up different obstacles and the odd jumping across beams. Of course it is not as fluid in the motions as Uncharted or Enslaved. However, it works well and it is responsive. It is a great way of breaking up the combat but don’t expect too much from it. This is the same for the puzzles. The main of which is hacking terminals. This requires you to match wavelengths of a screen using both analogue sticks. At first they are easy to complete but later on into the game the wavelengths constantly change which proves quite challenging to match. Again it is nothing special but it is implemented well into the game and provides a balance between all the three gameplay styles.
The most enjoyable part of the gamepaly is the ability to control and move the water. You can send huge waves down corridors to sweep enemies off their feet. Also you can pick up huge containers using water and then fire them at Malthusians. The ability is also used to clear obstacles and also create pathways giving it use for the combat as well as platforming side of the game. The main issue with this ability is that you unlock it quite far into the game and have a short amount of time to be able to use it. Ideally it should have been included from the start of the game.
As a PSN title Hydrophobia Prophecy’s visuals are not bad. The environments have a Dead Space look to them but the various textures are not as clear as in Dead Space but instead turn out to be quite blurry and lack in detail. The character presentation is a bit bland and again lacks in detail. However, the water looks fantastic. The sound is also great in my opinion. The explosions and screams on board The Queen are loud and intense. Best of all is the way the sounds become muffled underwater.
Upon completion of the main story which is over far too fast the Challenge Room is unlocked. The game mode consists of 5 rounds during which you have to take on waves of enemies in an arena. Each round is scored on how quickly you finish the waves and how much damage you can cause within that time. The ability to control the water is available in the game mode and only certain weapons. If you are a fan of ranking highly of leaderboards the in-game online leaderboard for the Challenge Room may prove as an incentive to replay the game mode. If you are not one of those types of people then you will only find yourself to complete all 5 rounds once or twice.
Hydrophobia Prophecy is one of my favourite PSN titles. The water physics are simply amazing and the mix of combat, platforming and puzzles is well balanced. The story isn’t touched upon too heavily which is disappointing as it sounds interesting and the main story is not long enough. After playing Hydrophobia it has left a good lasting appeal leaving me somewhat Hydrophilic now.
7/10
Tested on PlayStation 3
