Hydrophobia: Prophecy

A game that will steal you away with its ridiculously detailed rendering – of water.

Dark Energy has proven that determination and commitment do actually pay off. Hydrophobia Prophecy is in fact a great game that deserves attention from both newcomers to the brand and gamers that might have already played the older versions of the game.

Quotation forthcoming.

It's the best Hydrophobia yet, and it's absolutely worth a look, but it still falls just shy of greatness.

Dark Energy is to be commended for their interest in community feedback and for releasing an improved version of the game rather than a half-hearted port.

There's a lot of interesting fodder here, but at this point, Dark Energy would be better off running with a clean slate instead of essentially patching and re-patching this one. If you are curious and can tolerate the low points, give it a run. But if you have already stepped into Kate's shoes on XBLA, there's no need to lace them up again.

Prophecy significantly improves upon the original Hydrophobia, but not all of the issues from last year's Xbox Live Arcade game have been resolved.

Hydrophobia: Prophecy is a bargain title with a unique twist to the third-person run & gun. It remains to be seen if "swim & gun" games will make a splash in the industry, but this one is worth a look.

Quotation forthcoming.

Hydrophobia Prophecy is a challenging and original game that takes the use of water to a whole new level. Unfortunately there are some annoying downsides, like the over usage of cut scenes and the often terrible voice overs.

Third time's the Charm – first time it was XBLA Hydrophobia, then the game was released again as Pure and now we've got Prophecy. Enough tries we say. [July 2011]

I see this game as a tech demo of a good physics engine that can be put to a sensible use in some bigger project. The only thing you'll remember having played through Hydrophobia is that water played it's part brilliantly. [June 2011, p.66]

The game lacks diversity. In each of the similar looking rooms you're doing the same thing. The less well done shooter elements and climbing passages can't change that.

Even after a number of overhauls and improvements, Hydrophobia stays bleak and dull. [July 2011, p.113]

And with all this fixing, adding, and rearranging, you get the sense that Dark Energy Digital desperately wants you to like their game, going as far as including an in-game "Dev Feedback" menu, letting players vote various aspects of the game up or down, as well as citing the reasons for those votes. But it reveals Dark Energy's focus on fixing the individual components of a fundamentally broken game, and while Prophecy's improvements make for a better experience, they only serve to make a bad experience into just another disappointment.



The best reason to buy Hydrophobia Prophecy - not for entertainment, but as a kind of digital tourism. You're paying for a look at everything the developers achieved over Hydrophobia's exceptionally long development, and to see what this game might have been.