Hydrophobia unveiled, wows with water effects

Blade Interactive has finally unveiled Hydrophobia, a survival action game whose creators are hoping will show gamers something different. In the game, you play Kate, an engineer with no combat experience and a fear of water on a sinking ship the size of a city (loosely based on the Freedom Ship) who must use the incoming waves to help her on her path to rescue survivors and take on terrorists.

What Blade is hoping will set Hydrophobia apart from the others, visually, is HydroEngine, which purportedly simulates water like never before. It "reacts dynamically to its environment. It flows from source, it bubbles, it gets surfaces wet, it has a current, it's persistent," according to Xbox World 360, who saw the game in action and walked away impressed. We're hoping to get some video uploaded soon because these images, though visually beautiful, do nothing to show off the HydroEngine in action.

The physical properties of water will also be used as a key gameplay component, and the Xbox World 360 preview covers a few of the more intriguing examples. The game is a big departure for Blade, whose catalog includes a series of billiards titles and Pocket Racers for the PSP, but the developer reportedly hired a wide range of talent for this project, including industry veterans who worked on Splinter Cell and Fable 2 ... and an astrophysicist!

No release date has been announced; Hydrophobia is being developed for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

%Gallery-3017%