Hydrophobia

We’re loving Hydrophobia, and not because of the jaw-dropping, mighty-real water effects, but because Blaze reckons their new engine can do some other clever stuff too. One of the most oft-cited complaints surrounding city-sim founder GTA is that you can’t go into enough buildings. With the technical limitations of previous generations, that was never a realistic aim, and even in the next-gen it’s a massive task - Saints Row hardly bucked the trend.

But Blade has developed a generating system which means you’ll be able to go into each room aboard this huge floating city (home to thousands of people), and each room will be unique. As you progress you’ll go through drastically different locations - at the bottom is a Blade Runner-inspired underworld where the lower class live in run-down cabins and drinking dives. As you move up the decks, the wealth rises and you’ll come across big mansion-sized condos and even golf courses.

You’ll explore the good ship Queen of The World through Kate, the heroine who is terrified of water. Why? She was unable to save her sister from drowning as a child, even though she was a good swimmer. However, she won’t let what she considers to be an irrational fear hold back her career. And if she can face down her greatest phobia, well, she’s capable of tackling the terrorists who invade the ship.

But her biggest challenge comes in the form of mutated nano-cells that escape a research lab on the ship. Turning into a monstrous life-form called Puris, it’s very much in the old Frankenstein tradition that when man makes a creature, it wants to attack its creator. Or, in this case, everyone. We’ve seen it in action, and - frankly - it’s genuinely astonishing. Check back for more updates.