Hydrophobia: Prophecy

[h3]After reading many negative reviews, I started this game with low expectations. And honestly, that was the right mindset. But it’s not as bad as people say.[/h3] [b]To me, this game feels more like a solid tech demo from the early 2010s with a story attached to it. And that’s not a bad thing. You just need to approach it the right way.[/b] [h3]Atmosphere & Aesthetic[/h3] What I really liked is the visual style. It has strong “future from the 2000s that never happened” vibes. Transparent glass displays, colorful glossy furniture, unusual interior design – all of this creates a very specific sci-fi atmosphere. At times, the game feels like an average sci-fi movie from the 2000s where you are the main character. I also want to highlight the character animations. Especially when the main character walks on narrow beams and you have to balance, or when she reacts to obstacles. Even in 2026, you don’t see this level of detail very often in smaller games. [h3]The Water Physics[/h3] [b] Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the water physics.[/b] It’s genuinely impressive, even today. I think every game should be judged in the context of its release year. If someone had shown me this in 2011, my jaw would have dropped. The water simulation is one of the best I’ve seen. It flows from room to room, affects floating objects, extinguishes fire, creates waves that interact with the environment and the main character. Despite the title, I wouldn’t say the water feels truly scary, but technically it’s very well done. [h3]The Weak Points[/h3] The biggest problem is repetition. Locations, enemies, assets, gameplay – everything starts to feel the same after a while. Luckily, the game is not very long. Another weak point is the parkour sections. They feel clunky. I probably spent most of my playtime struggling with them. Also, important tip: if you have a high refresh rate monitor, cap your FPS to 60. Otherwise, the physics can break and you might not even get past the first 20 minutes. This is crucial. [h3]Final Thoughts[/h3] After finishing the game, I understand why reviews are so mixed. But I would still recommend trying it, especially for the water physics. [b] The game is very cheap anyway. If you treat it as a tech demo with a simple story rather than a full AAA experience, many of its problems become easier to accept.[/b]

One could say that [i]Hydrophobia: Prophecy[/i] is a typical(?) unpolished tech(nology) demo(nstration), there are many redeeming factors here however which elevate the game well above the crowd. The titular water-related physics are still (at the time of this review) astonishing, unparalleled even - which is a rather sad news for the gaming industry by the way, as we are talking about a 15 year old game here. Despite its nature, the game is surprisingly deep: there are good puzzles, with inventory management and fairly serious adventure elements - besides the (third-person) action of course. Moreover, the game is a console port, but one of the better ones, more precisely an updated version made for PC. Still, one can't overlook the fact that it feels unfinished with its abrupt ending and isn't able to reach its full potential as some of the main features are introduced rather late in the game. Set in an overpopulated future we play as Kate Wilson, a young system engineer, one of the selected few who live in prosperity on board of a gigantic luxury cruise ship, the Queen of the World. Amidst a huge anniversary celebration, a group of terrorists attack the ship, intent on fixing the overpopulation problem by killing the majority of humanity. It'll be up to Kate to stop them... while trying to survive on a ship shaken by explosions pretty much every minute and with the water flowing in and flooding many areas. Surprisingly, it could be best compared to one of the 2nd generation Tomb Raider games: plenty of climbing, jumping - platforming (without the pinpoint precision) and swimming + shooting with an able female protagonist (although Kate whines much more than Lara, which is more feminine and authentic anyway). There's an obvious emphasis on swimming with sections requiring good timing and knowing what we are doing as the oxygen in our lungs is just barely enough to get through an area before we can take a breath again. During combat sequences there's cover use and health regeneration when not taking damage (strange that these 2 come together hand in hand most of the time - I love cover-using combat, where we can lean out and fire without exposing ourselves fully, but not a fan of the automatic health regen system, which is mostly used in multiplayer only FPS games nowadays). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1489449891 The game encourages us to take advantage of the environment and there are many opportunities to do so: knocking our foes down with strong currents of water using our water-based powers, setting them on fire by shooting gas pipes and explosive barrels in their vicinity or electrocuting them by hitting cables when they are standing in water (which happens pretty much all the time) are fast and easy ways to deal with large numbers of enemies. Our inventory and journal, basically everything is organized within our tablet called "Mavi", which we also use for hacking. Everything can be accessed quickly and easily through a radial menu where we can find all the useful information we need and it's surprisingly fast and easy to handle, which makes it perfect in combat as well (unlike in the more action-packed [url=steamcommunity.com/id/atisz2/recommended/21690]Resident Evil 5[/url] for example). Exploration is rewarded: points are earned for collecting every piece of information (some are fairly well hidden in not so obvious rooms) available in the game which is also handy to understand all the small details of the not too overcomplicated story and the near-future world as well. In addition to them, there are also medals, which we get for completing certain objectives in accordance with some optional conditions. Then there's a challenge mode which slightly extends the usual 6-7 hour long game time. If we get stuck or are unsure where to go next, there's an objective marker which we can turn on and the number of checkpoints are also generous, although they often prevent us from going back and acquire a collectible we might have missed (had to replay some sections because of that :/) The combat itself is rather easy even on hard mode, save for a few areas. Unfortunately the game's highlighted feature, namely the water-control power [spoiler](after our heroine comes in contact with a special substance)[/spoiler] is introduced so late in the game, that we only have a handful of occasions to use it. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1490918610 The graphics, despite the fact that the game - due to its age - uses DirectX 9.0c, after setting everything to maximum, particle- shadow- and most importantly water quality - is still amazing. The game's unique HydroEngine allows modelling of flowing water (and other liquids + the reflections with all the sparks flying everywhere don't look bad either) unlike anything else and it's shame it had never been used ever again. Music, sound effects and voice acting are OK, although by far not as scalable as the visuals: we can only adjust sound volume of each individually and that's it. Not going to lie, the child's cry whenever we are underwater and on low health was quite creepy. Many people call it a hidden gem and they are not wrong: with a bit longer gameplay, deeper characters (especially the villains) and more opportunity to use the water power, this game could have been so much more. It's definitely worth playing not just for the amazing visual effects, but for the game itself as well. PROS + amazing graphics and visual effects + unparalleled water physics + water-related puzzles and combat + great controls + lots of collectibles and extra backstory elements + very cheap, gets discounted often CONS - game is short and the story ends unexpectedly - plenty of unused potential RATING 7.5/10

Hydrophobia is a bad game. The setting is boring, combat is as brain dead as the AI, and it can be quite janky. And yet… there are moments of brilliance. It seems like many games don’t like to let you play with physics so it was quite a delight to do things as simple as open a door and see water pour into a room, and as complex as blowing up a barrel which opened a door which released a torrent of water which washed some enemies into a electrical panel. I’ll power through the stupid climbing bits and samey corridors for these moments. Shame they didn’t do more with the best part of the game. Shame other games don’t take the risk to use modern tech in similar ways.

Hydrophobia: Prophecy is a fascinating case of a game built around one genuinely impressive technical achievement — the water physics are stunning, and watching rooms flood, objects bob realistically, and currents push you around never gets old. The problem is that everything surrounding that tech demo ranges from mediocre to outright bad: the voice acting is rough, the combat is clunky, the story ends abruptly with no resolution, and the hydrokinetic powers you'd actually want to play with don't show up until the final ten minutes. It's painfully short at three to four hours, and the ending feels less like a conclusion and more like a mid-season break for a show that got cancelled. That said, at the sale price of under a dollar that most people paid, it's hard to be too angry — there's enough novelty in the water mechanics and the sinking ship setting to make it worth a curious afternoon. Just go in knowing you're essentially buying a physics demo with a game awkwardly wrapped around it.

игры демки тех времен были лучше современных АААААА

I am a 52 yo father, probably one of the oldest people playing Hydrophobia: Prophecy. I am a single father to my Son, who is 14 now. My son found this game at Christmas, so we installed it on his computer and he started playing. By the end of the week he had 24 hours on this game. This was horrible for me, as it was already hard for me to find ways to spend time with my son, as he is always out with his friends or just watching YouTube. So I decided to make a Steam account and get this game to see if I could maybe play alongside him. Loaded into the game world and started playing but I was stuck on what you were supposed to do. I asked my Son for help and he helped me. Loved it as it was the best time had spent with my Son since my wife had died. This game has ever since brought me and my son closer again and now we actually spend time together outside the house together as well. This game reminded me that there's fun to be had in everything, and it has brought both me and my Son many happy memories. Thank you <3

[h1] Unique action adventure with interesting water physics. Worth checking! [/h1]

genuinely has one of the best water physics ever put in a video game. I really love the aquatic techno setting and aesthetic, although everything starts to bleed together and becomes monotonous after a while. gameplay can be quite janky and a little stiff, especially with combat and swimming; the puzzles aren't bad either, which I like the idea of using Mavi to scan for clues in an area. overall, this game had a lot of potential that's just waiting to be fully expanded.

услышал.....что.....злодеями....тут....являются....неомальтузианцы.....а оказалось.....что тут......какие-то.....дурачки......которые.....хотят......убить.....побольше.....джамальчиков.....которые.....из-за них.....и так.....тонут.....в чистой.....отфильтрованной.....прозрачной.....сперме.....да как же.....так.....они ведь......могли.....стать.....студентами......дгу......и ходить......на лекции.......сангеича......который.....познавал бы......их......тёмный......длинный......логос.......