Hydrophobia Surfaces Once Again In Hydrophobia Prophecy

Thanks to people having the time to browse through Australian certification websites we got early word on Hydrophobia Prophecy, the next installment of the sci-fi based Hydrophobia franchise. Just like some of the locales in Hydrophobia, details on what Hydrophobia Prophecy was going to offer were a bit murky. But now we have some official details on the latest game, or rather major revision, of Hydrophobia which as a whole should please the fans of the franchise and those who own a PlayStation 3.

Coming next month to the PSN and PC via Steam is Hydrophobia Prophecy, which sadly isn’t a full-fledged Hydrophobia sequel but yet another remake/major update of sorts just like Hydrophobia Pure was. Developer Dark Energy Digital isn’t simply going the easy route by adding a few new fixes to the long list of things revised in Hydrophobia Pure as the list of updates being made in Hydrophobia Prophecy is massive and includes some extensive things like entirely new story and puzzle elements being added.

Amongst some technical additions to the game such as new textures and further refinement of the HydroEngine, Hydrophobia Prophecy will feature new story elements and cutscenes to further flesh out the experience.  I did enjoy what was offered in Hydrophobia Pure but I did find that the story was missing a few key notes and the ending was about as abrupt as you could get without being a complete tease.  Along with a redesign and recasting of Scoot (the Scottish dude that assists you throughout the game), Dark Energy Digital is also introducing new plot points and in-game communication sequences along with promising an ending that rounds out the story arc presented in the game.

Dark Energy Digital hasn’t forgotten about making Hydrophobia Prophecy a fun game and in that respect they’ve added some key refinements.  Besides adding new mini-puzzles, there are also entirely new levels in the game with their own unique puzzles. So if you’re like me and have played through Hydrophobia already on the Xbox 360, it won’t be possible to blow through the game knowing all the puzzle solutions and key ways to have series protagonist Kate survive the flooded corridors and elevator shafts that are in the game.  Dark Energy Digital have also added the Hydro Kinetic abilities to the main story mode to allow gamers to completely tear things up towards the end of the game. Previously the Hydro Kinetic powers were only available via a bonus mode, but due to the enjoyment that the weapon provided gamers, an entirely new final act has been designed around the mighty weapon.

A lot of the changes and additions made in Hydrophobia Prophecy have been directly taken from user feedback and to further better the series Dark Energy Digital is doing something entirely unique: they’re adding a real-time feedback system for gamers to utilize.  Dubbed Darknet, gamers who experience Hydrophobia Prophecy on the PC via Steamworks can share their thoughts on the game at any moment. It’s stuff like Darknet which moving forward will aid Dark Energy Digital make Hydrophobia an even better game and hopefully other developers will follow suit. I find it to be really cool that Dark Energy Digital is going so far to ensure they get feedback from gamers since some developers either don’t care or will simply look at a few message board posts before calling it a day.

It’s really cool that Dark Energy Digital continues to work on Hydrophobia and fine tune the product based on what people are saying.  After sinking a lot of time into the game, it seems like Dark Energy Digital is really adamant on providing the best possible game they can dish out and even admitting that they could’ve done things better in the past.  Hydrophobia Prophecy will be available to gamers on the PC via Steam on May 9th for only $10 (discounts ftw).  The PlayStation Network version of the game hasn’t been given an exact release date but it’s expected to drop shortly after it debuts on the PC.  As of now an Xbox 360 version of Hydrophobia Prophecy hasn’t been announced so it’s unknown if Xbox 360 gamers will have to suffice with Hydrophobia Pure.