"That does it! I'm getting a new dishwasher."
Hydrophobia, the long awaited survival horror from Dark Energy Digital has undergone something of a metamorphosis. According to a report published on CVC, plans for a full retail release of Hydrophobia on PC, 360 and PS3 have been abandoned. Instead, the title is to be broken into three downloadable episodes and published on the XBLA in 2010.
Set in the far flung 21st century (hard to imagine, isn’t it?), Hydrophobia takes place on an Earth beset violence and poverty. As the creatively named Kate Wilson you are charged with policing the Queen of the World, a latter-day Noah’s Ark. Unlike the biblical vessel, the Queen serves primarily as a sanctuary for the world’s rich and powerful. It’s up to you to defend them from attack. Tempting as it may be to watch them sink to the bottom of the ocean, it seems the ship (or someone aboard) holds the key to humanity’s ongoing survival.
Hydrophobia confirms that publishers large and small will continue to test the viability of episodic gaming. Indy titles Sam & Max Save the World and Penny Arcade Adventures have been serialised on the XBLA with some success. Fable II, already a major hit at retail, was recently divided into five episodes and published on the XBLA. Episodic publication, particularly via digital means, presents cash strapped studios with a lower barrier to entry and well resourced studios with an additional revenue stream.
The most significant drawback is the backlash that inevitably occurs when a new episode isn’t published in a timely fashion. Fans of Penny Arcade were forced to endure a three month wait between the first two episodes. The wait for episode three has been even more insufferable (six months and counting). Dark Energy Digital has promised to deliver the all three instalments of Hydrophobia, each approximately five hours in length, over the course of a single year. If the first episode sells poorly, it will certainly test the developer’s commitment to the project. Fingers crossed, then.
