Blood Wake
is described on the cover as high-speed gunboat warfare, but I was hoping
to a little more than just that, but from the footage I'd seen on TV I didn't
have my hopes up and that's a good job too.
Yes, there is a plot but it's not worth bothering with since you have an
evil brother who ambushed you and left you for dead and now you have to get
revenge by getting in your speedboat and completing task after task, such
as simply blowing up all the other boats in the first round, to later ones such
as doing the same whilst collecting treasure chests and the like.
Along the way there are health and ammo powerups - dropped by exploding enemy
ships - and that's about it. It's fun for an hour or so, but is something that
would only be worth a look in the arcades if it came in a sit-down hydraulic
cabinet. You'd throw a couple of quid in, have some fun and forget about it.
You wouldn't pay £45 for it.
The graphics are pretty, but I've seen better water effects from
Splashdown
on the PS2, but the physics are reasonable enough for most of the game,
even if nothing to really write home about since they have their weak moments
such as when you end up on the beach and wait to slide back down.
The sound is a let-down: rat-a-tat-tat all the day long, with a dull oriental-style
soundtrack.
The gameplay should be this title's saving grace, but it becomes a pain at times
when you're trying to turn around to the left/right and finding your boat
attempting to switch round in the opposite direction. Grrr!!
My advice is to try before you buy, since once you've rented it, you'll have
to love it a lot to get some longevity out of it.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
The graphics are pretty, but I've seen better water effects from
