Hydrophobia to advance 'emergent gameplay'

Upcoming episodic adventure game Hydrophobia will offer emergent gameplay beyond what players have seen before, according to its creative designer

Hydrophobia puts you in control of hydrophobic Kate Wilson, as she tries to escape a sinking futuristic mega-ship that been hijacked by terrorists.

“There are scenarios where the water is very aggressive, rapidly flowing and pulling the player, forcing them to grab scenery for protection, or flooding a room very quickly so the player has to react and create an escape route,” said Blade Interactive's Rob Hewson in an upcoming issue of 360 magazine.

“Other times, the water is contained and it’s up to the player how they unleash it to sweep the enemy downstream or carry chemical fires towards them. The key thing is that it is completely fluid...The result is emergent gameplay beyond what you’ve played before.”

Hewson also said that Hydrophobia tells a "social story", with each episode revealing a different floor, and social class, of the giant ship the protagonist is trapped on.

"On the lower decks you’ve got engineering areas. In the second episode, you’ll come across a neon-lit, shantytown with gambling and prostitution, things like that," said Henson. "All the people that aren’t allowed on the upper decks have their own sections below. When you get to the top, you reach rich penthouses, the NanoCell skyscraper and its laboratory."

Hydrophobia's first episode is scheduled for release on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC this summer.