An excellent action/strategy hybrid (Hostile Waters PC (PC))

Member Name: Bezuk

Product:	Hostile Waters PC (PC)
Date:	14/06/01 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good execution of action and strategy, Long, involving plot with more than a few twists, Excellent physics engine and graphics

Disadvantages: No multiplayer, Occasionaly over-active AI, Hard to tell the special abilities of your chips at a glance.

Hostile Waters is an almost unique type of game. It crosses the strategy elements of say, Starcraft, with the relentless action of a tank simulator or helicopter sim. The only other games that I can think of that do something similar were both Battlezone games. While the first Battlezone game in particular was a good game, Hostile is much, much better.

The premise is like this: You control a single, giant carrier. Using the carrier’s on board “creation engines” you can build a variety of battle units, which can be roughly subdivided into air units (helicopters) and ground units (tanks, recon vehicles, hovercraft). When you build one of these, you must choose the chassis, the weapon it is to carry, and what add-on equipment it is to have. Because your forces are limited in number, it is worth taking the time to make your units exactly as you want them. Once the vehicle is ready, you can either give the AI control of the vehicle or control it yourself, and switch between the two at will.

AI control of vehicles is dealt with in an ingenious way. One piece of add-on equipment you can put on your vehicles is the Soulcatcher Interface. You can then assign a Soulcatcher chip to any vehicle with an interface. The AI will only control units with a chip fitted. What’s more, the chips you can assign all have their own unique personality, voice and speciality. Therefore, it’s much better to put Patton the tank commander in a tank rather than a transport helicopter. Equally, as soon as an AI-controlled unit starts complaining that he/she is taking fire, you immediately know which one it is. The voice acting is superb, as is the conversation that sometimes breaks out between your AI units.

You can instantly choose to jump into one of your AI units and take control of it yourself. This is where the action element of the game shines. Nothing beats driving a cloaked tank around the side of the enemy base only to decloak and ki
ll a few structures, then cloaking again before they have a chance to hit you. While in direct control, you can order your AI units to do any number of things, either using the strategic map or the excellent ‘command interface’ which maps commands to a group of keys on the keyboard. The war-map, however, pauses the game, so it may be best to use this if things are getting very hectic.

Other game elements deserve a special mention. Foremost is the plot. A dark, gripping affair, it ties the missions together perfectly with well-made game-engine cut scenes after every mission. It proves that hiring a professional to write the script really does make a difference. Also, the graphics are excellent throughout. Finally, the physics engine – the handling difference between a light assault helicopter, heavy bomber, hovercraft, dune buggy and heavy tank is extremely well done.

The game does have its drawbacks however. There is, for instance, no multiplayer mode at all (as I write this). I’ve never been a fan of action multiplayer gaming, so it’s not much of an issue for me. There is also no ‘skirmish’ mode, so the single player campaign is all the game has going for it, despite being long and involving. The AI, though skilful, is often too active, pursuing the enemy to their base and trying to take it on single-handedly. It’s nothing you can’t fix with judicious use of the ‘hold position’ command though.

Overall, none of these factors stopped me enjoying the game for more than a second, and I find it so entertaining and well-executed that I think I would be doing it an injustice to give it less than five stars.

Tips:
- Learn the Command Interface. It will save you a lot of time.
- Use cloaking devices on all vehicles you intend to control yourself and make heavy use of them. Remember to shoot the radar towers!
- If you're using a weapon which is difficult to a
im, such as the laser or minigun, try switching to AI control with CTRL and they should be able to hit things for you.

Summary: