Diving Deep with Hydrophobia From IGN.com

When Hydrophobia launches next week, it will be the culmination of a long journey and the start of another. Having first been revealed at the beginning of 2007, the three subsequent years have seen it transform from a boxed game to an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive - and its release could well redefine expectations from downloadable console titles. It's not just that it's a fully fledged, third person sci-fi action adventure at a cut-down price; it's looking like a really good action adventure, and one that's as thoughtful and innovative as anything the 360 has seen this year. 

Hydrophobia is set in a chillingly plausible future. 30 years from now, and the population has risen to unmanageable levels, with water and food not plentiful enough to support the billions who live on the increasingly infertile land. Sailing the troubled waters of this world is The Queen of the World, a colossal ship that's a refuge of sorts for the rich; it's a free of the strife found across the planet, funded by mega-corporations and a haven for the bright minds that are trying to find a solution for the world's woes and a way to provide for its swollen numbers. 

But it soon transpires that The Queen of the World isn't immune to the troubles found elsewhere. As the celebrations of its tenth anniversary break out across the ship, so too does a meticulously planned terrorist attack. The culprits? The Malthusians, a group who believe the only answer to the escalating population crisis in an enforced cull, who pump their cheery 'Save the World... Kill Yourself' motto across the ship's vidscreens.

And plunged into the middle of this is Kate Wilson, a systems engineer who is to become the unwitting hero of the piece. It's a set-up that's admirable not for merely its grand arc but for the detail with which it's been realised; developer Dark Energy has been meticulous in its work, and there's a feeling that every moment of the three years it's taken Hydrophobia to launch has been well spent.

Seemingly every element of Hydrophobia's world has its own rich story; whether that's the Malthusians, who take their inspiration from Thomas Malthus' 1798 An Essay on the Principle of Population – a philosophy that's gaining credence as overcrowding becomes an ever more real threat – or The Queen of the World itself, of which detailed blueprints of a fully functioning ship were drawn up before the game had even reached production. 

It's indicative of the work that developer Dark Energy has put into Hydrophobia, the Manchester outfit occupying an office space that, by some neat coincdience, was built with the same proportions of a ship's hull. "Those blueprints weren't done for effect," creative director Peter Jones tells us, "they were done to give us a sense of place. We wanted to know, for instance, who built the ship; and as part of the back story there are five companies who come together to build The Queen of the World. We wanted to go into a lot of detail about how the world would be at that time - we followed UN population forecasts of 9 billion people on the planet, and there's a bunch of other stuff that comes to a crucial pinch point in about thirty years."



Like the best science fiction it takes a central, plausible premise and spins it out to a fantastical extreme – think Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and how it built upon the very real issue of genetic engineering, or how P.D James' Children of Men built upon infertility to create its own epic dystopia. "I read a lot of science fiction," confesses Pete, "but science fiction has to be tangible. You're taking scientific respectability and upon that garnish a whole preposterous theory, but because it has a root of plausibility you can relate to it."

And Dark Energy's attention to detail extends beyond its science. "There are back stories to all the characters," explains Senior Creative Designer Rob Hewson, "who they were, their childhood and all that kind of stuff – it's all in there and it doesn't even appear in the game. We know it, because to make something cohesive and to make something believable you have to have that depth behind it." 

Playing through the opening chapters of Hydrophobia, it's this believability that helps heighten the experience. Unlike many other videogame backdrops, the corridors and service tunnels that make up The Queen of the World's lower levels are alive with a purpose beyond that of the game; they feel functional and lived in, as if they form part of a larger and very convincing world. It makes the prospect of exploring more of The Queen of the World all the more tantalising; next week's release is just the first part of a proposed series, exploring only a small part of the ship's imposing reach.

Hydrophobia's about more than a well realised location, though, and its play equals its vision for ambition. At its core is its water technology which is, it's no exaggeration to say, unmatched. Its flow is dynamic and bespoke, flooding areas and swilling around in a brilliantly believable manner.

What's best is how it's been worked into the game as much more than a graphical flourish – areas can be flooded at the player's will, dramatically influencing how they'll play out. Go through them dry and it's a competent, cover-based third person shooter. Go wet, though, and it's a different game all together.

Environmental kills are Hydrophobia's bread and butter, and the water plays well into them. Loose electrical cables can be knocked around, transforming placid pools into death traps, and barrels can be punted along the surface with sonic rounds emitted from the charged pistol that's Kate's regular firearm.

Different ammunition types open up more inventive ways to kill. Gel rounds attach to objects and countdown to an explosion, so it's possible to attach one to a barrel and then send it towards a group of enemies, while energy rounds can send electricity coursing through the water. All this is kept in check with a score system whereby creative kills are rewarded, and true to other Xbox Live Arcade games leaderboards promise to keep Hydrophobia fresh long after the first playthrough. 

Punctuating the action are light puzzle and investigation elements, sometimes drawing upon the water physics but more often utilising the Mavi, Kate's handy PDA. Using it switches the game into a first-person perspective in which everything's rendered in stylish wireframe, allowing the player to scan the scenery Metroid Prime style. Doors can be unlocked remotely and CCTV cameras hacked, adding another layer of depth to the game.

It's all so impressive, so vast in scope, that you have to keep reminding yourself that this isn't a full-priced, boxed product. The amount that Dark Energy has managed to squeeze into 1GB is incredible – even more so when it's revealed that 400MB of that is the sound files. This economy comes courtesy of the team's bespoke InfiniteWorlds engine, and its ability to squeeze whole games into minimal file sizes was one of the reasons the digital download path was chosen for Hydrophobia.

"We can produce this product and put it out globally at a fraction of the price [of a boxed game] – and it's still the same quality product," explains Dark Energy's Deborah Jones. Peter Jones is more bullish: "I actually think what we witnessed is the beginning of the end of the old business model of making video games. It takes time to work through, but if you look at the shockwaves that have already gone through the industry, I don't think those terms are too strong."

If the death of physical retail means more games like the Hydrophobia - thoughtful, technically impressive and best of all at a download-friendly price point - then the future's looking very bright indeed. Expect the full verdict next week.