Some of you may not remember it, but back in 2010, Hydrophobia was a pretty big deal. Not because it was a well lauded and much loved game, but because it wasn’t. In fact, the original release of Hydrophobia was met with so much negativity that the developers Dark Energy Digital reworked it, changed a voice actor, overhauled levels, and added a final boss. This new package was released in 2011 as Hyrdophobia Prophecy. It was supposed to be the start of a trilogy, but the difficulties the game faced saw Dark Energy Digital go out of business, leaving us with just the first part of this story.
The other reason that Hydrophobia Prophecy was a big story at the time was its water tech, which was the basis of the game’s HydroEngine. This engine allowed water to flow and move just like it does in reality, which really helped the game stand out for at the time. Water is almost ever present throughout Hydrophobia Prophecy, set on the giant city ship The Queen of the World as it comes under attack by the terrorist group the Neo-Malthusians. The world is in an overpopulation crisis, so this group wants to kill off the majority of the human population so the survivors – themselves, of course – can flourish.
Kate Wilson is merely an engineer aboard the ship, but she has to fight back against the Neo-Malthusians in order to save it, the people, and the research being carried out on it. She is joined by Scoot, her manager who is no more than a guiding voice. In the original Hyrdophobia, Scoot had a Scottish accent, but this voice was one of the complaints players of the original release had, so in Prophecy his voice was replaced by a more neutral North American accent. His role is to help guide Kate through the ship, though plenty of waypoints make that easy, as well as to make the occasional quip when Kate kills a Neo-Malthusian.
For a game that’s two generations old, there are still elements of Hydrophobia: Prophecy that feel fresh. The most obvious is how water moves through levels and areas, and the other is the underwater combat. These moments add a proper three dimensional combat situation where you are not just trying to shoot at the enemies on the platforms in front of you and behind you, but also those that are swimming around, below, and above you. These are proper cat and mouse moments, as you may spot an enemy swimming below and manage to get your shots off first, or you may suddenly be under fire from an unexpected angle, requiring you to get Kate’s bearings right to respond in kind.
Kate’s gun has different ammo types, with the basic round being a shock round which is unlimited. This joined by rapid fire, gel, and energy rounds later to give different advantages. However, shock alone is pretty handy throughout the game. Charge a shock round up, and you could take an enemy out in one hit. They can also destroy hazards including loose wires that are sending electricity into the water, making areas impassable. The game is littered with these basic puzzles, though it can also use elements in more novel ways. One such example is collecting floating tanks and putting them into heavy containers to make them float up to unblock passages.
The tragedy of Hydrophobia: Prophecy is that it ends just as it is getting going. The third and final act, just before you face off with the boss, gives Kate the ability to control water. You can tell the development team would have expanded on these further in future releases, as this lets Kate summon a water tower and throw objects through that final boss fight against a giant security bot. Once that fight is over, the story ends, and while a challenge mode lets you use the water powers in some scenarios, it’s simply not enough.
In some ways, Hyrdophobia: Prophecy was ahead of its time. It was one of the earliest tales of a developer reacting to audience feedback to build a better experience, and this resulted in a more competent, if somewhat by the numbers third person shooter. Yet it pushed tech in other ways with the water physics and rendering a still impressive element. It is unfortunate that the trilogy never materialised to continue Kate’s story. Just imagine what things could have been like if the HydroEngine had been refined further and the tech used in more games in the early 2010s.
