Hydrophobia Storyline 2051. The world has become consumed by the ever rising tide of the global population flood. Fertile land has been reclaimed by rising oceans and expanding deserts, resulting in famine and poverty on an unprecedented scale. Water is now mankind’s most precious resource, and conflict erupts wherever it flows.

A new political and ideological struggle has arisen. On one side are the Malthusians, who seek to control and reduce the global population. On the other side the Cornucopians, who want to find a technological solution to feed it. As desperation turns to despair, extremists on both sides are emerging.

Only one buble of the old capitalist world survives. The Queen of the World is the largest ship ever to grace the oceans, a colossal city at sea where the wealthy elite live in exile from the chaos which surrounds them. Onboard this stateless paradise the Five Founding Fathers set about pursuing their Cornucopian research unimpeded.

The contempt of the outside world is offset by NanoCell Corporation, one of the five, who promise to develop nano-technology to purify sea water at the molecular level and make the deserts bloom with the food of the world. But as they move closer to their goal, the bitterness of fanatical Malthusians grows.

The so called ‘Neo Malthusians’ timed their attack perfectly. 9.8 billion watched as they recast hope as hatred, following a prophecy to commit global genocide; drowning the planet with blood as they slash the worlds population to a mere half billion ‘righteous souls’. A prophecy they will soon find themselves in a position to fulfil.

Hydrophobia‘s Developer Dark Energy based the blueprint of Hydrophobia on their Manchester office that match the 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.”

“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.”

Hydrophobia‘s at its core is unmatched with its flow is dynamic and bespoke, flooding areas and swilling around in a brilliantly believable manner. The ability to flood areas at the  will change  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.

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. Doors can be unlocked remotely and CCTV cameras hacked, adding another layer of depth to the game.

Okay so it’s a low budget games, the size of low budget but packs a big punch all down to the technology. Dark Energy has managed to squeeze  this into a  1GB  game with 400MB of sound files. The technology of  InfiniteWorlds engine, compresses 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.”

Check the full review soon