Hydrophobia dev defends game

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 30 September, 2010

"Raises the XBLA bar," DED insists.

Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital has urged gamers to play its water-based third-person action game with an open mind and not like a Gears of War clone.

The Manchester-based studio launched an impassioned defence of its timed Xbox 360 exclusive after stinging criticism from some reviewers.

Hydrophobia, out now from XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points, managed a 4/10 in today's Eurogamer review.

A snippet: "The result is a game that feels like it needs more playtesting. Part of that is cultural; we are no longer used to being stumped in action games (and make no mistake, this is a third-person action game, devoid of any of the resource management systems necessary for true survival horror), searching the beams and walls for a way out of the room into the next rush of adrenaline.

"But in truth, Hydrophobia is simply poorly signposted, and the rules of its environments are too blurred and inconsistent. Sometimes doors are locked for no better reason than needing a cut-scene to play out first; some pipes that can be exploded in one area to raise the water level will be impervious to the same attacks in the next area, an inconsistency that causes you to doubt yourself and the developers every time you get stuck. Am I baffled by design or by bug?"

"We deliberately didn't take any of the clichés of existing games," managing director Pete Jones told Eurogamer.

"We set out not to produce a third-person shooter. When you're talking about the spread of some of the reviews, some people tried to shoehorn it into the way they perceive a third-person shooter to react.

"This is not a third-person shooter. It's a survival adventure, and the player is using the environment as the prime weapon. That's what they're using to kill the enemy and to get through the game.

"We threw away the rulebook."

Jones added: "Sometimes it is a bit difficult when something new is produced. I think the American president was Johnson who said at the turn of the last century, 'Electricity? It'll never catch on.'

"You introduce something new and immediately people don't always get it. They try to look at it through the lens of their own preconceptions of other games."

While Jones admitted to "an adjustment phase" and "a bit of a disconnect" when gamers first pick up the pad, he said Hydrophobia was as good as XBLA standard-bearers Shadow Complex and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

"No one would ever say you've produced something that's perfect. We're absolutely aware of that. However it is a completely different experience and it's a real blast."

Creative director Deborah Jones weighed in with her own plea.

"We love the product," she said. "Yes, like anything new there are different elements and mechanics. But it's a stunning game. It's an XBLA download game for ten quid.

"Our game is up there without a shadow of a doubt with [Shadow Complex and Lara Croft]. There's no doubt about it. Honestly, try to produce that game on any other engine. It's not possible. It's a gig file size. It's got incredible effects. There are some amazing gameplay mechanics that have never been done in a game before."

Hydrophobia, which was built using DED's own HydroEngine, has been in development for three and a half years – a period of time Pete described as a "marathon".

"Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis. As such I'm feeling a little bit sore at this moment in time.

"It hurts when we pee."

Looking to the future, DED revealed plans to turn Hydrophobia into a trilogy. The second instalment is due at a later date, but PC and PlayStation 3 versions of the first game are expected.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (67) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • cianchristopher #1 2 years ago

    "It hurts when we pee."

    Did he really say that at the end?

  • MiniAmin #2 2 years ago

    "Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis. As such I'm feeling a little bit sore at this moment in time.

    "It hurts when we pee."

    This man owes me some tea; i've just spluttered mine all over my screen.

  • Shikasama #3 2 years ago

    What he says is absolutely correct.

    But it has nothing to do with the issues in the review

  • DAN.E.B #4 2 years ago

    "Raises the XBLA bar,"

    On development time?

  • darkmorgado #5 2 years ago

    I was under the impression that they have actually completed development on all three parts as this was originally meant to be a retail release.

    Perhaps they are worried looking at the criticisms because it is too late now to go back and fix the other parts before release.

  • scottycam #6 2 years ago

    It will also hurt when you pee if you've been bumming your own product because you love it so much.

  • Skandalle #7 2 years ago

    "Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis"

    Ace Ventura managed to crawl out of a rhinos arse, big whoop!

  • darleysam #8 2 years ago

    To be fair, scottycam, I can understand someone being proud of the game they've just made. I can't begrudge them for being upset if they've taken all this time and effort making it, only to see it kicked around on release.

  • randompanda #9 2 years ago

    I'm pretty sure a creative director referring to their title as a "product" doesn't instill faith in it being a creative tour-de-force.

  • sonicyoda #10 2 years ago

    They're obviously shitting bricks because all the bad press will probably turn into low sales.

  • Cronan #11 2 years ago

    Best. Interview. Ever. His last statement is going in my sig file, now.

    @darleysam Fair enough, but most people have a pretty good idea of when they delivered a turd, and this game certainly plays like one.
    Edited by Cronan at 30/09/10 @ 14:04

  • captain_Carl #12 2 years ago

    ""Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis."

    There's a mental image i didn't need

  • Eighthours #13 2 years ago

    This overblown damage control is so ill-advised. The devs are living in a bubble of their own imagination. The press release they're sending round to promote the game is horribly pretentious shit. From the very first bout of beyond-terrible voice acting in the game, it's obvious that they're loony to think that Hydrophobia matches Shadow Complex or the new Lara Croft.

    Sure, ambition is great. But the level of delusion on show here is more than a little sad.

  • Fightclubber #14 2 years ago

    Quoting a president? Jesus.

    End of the day its a clunky game regardless of the sheet of lumpy polygon water flooding towards you. You cant keep shoving " its a new take its never been done before" on people when its fundamentally a 3rd person action adventure game that just doesn't work that well

  • ShiftyGeezer #15 2 years ago

    TBH I felt a bit sorry for these developers comments. Hydrophobia started life as an epic, cross-platform title that was going to showcase the pwoer of the new consoles to do complex water physics and produce revolutionary gameplay. Now it's released as a £10 Live download, the developres clearly cutting back their expectations and seeing their dreams falter, and deciding the end result of their labours wasn't worth full price and they'd need to attract interest via budget pricing. Muse be pretty soul destroying.

    Still, if a game doesn't play well, it doesn't play well and you can't expect people to buy it. I personally hate action-adventures with dubious paths. Replaying Uncharted, I'm sometimes frustrated at the uncertain scenery and not knowing if a ledge is one I can hang onto or not, or the idiotic way Drake will take cover in an open doorway instead of rolling through it as I intended. I'm not content to wrestle with game controls or confused gameplay elements, and it sounds like Hydrophobia has exactly these problems. This is probably another developer going under.

  • Cronan #16 2 years ago

    @snakehips76 From Arstechnica:

    "Deborah Jones is the creative director of Dark Energy Digital, the developer of Hydrophobia"

    They do seem to have a lot of creative directors, all of them called Jones. Maybe they're a Clone Army, and we're all going to be killed.
    Also, how long before they start claiming that Eurogamer couldn't have played the full game ...
    Edited by Cronan at 30/09/10 @ 14:10

  • scottycam #17 2 years ago

    @darleysam

    Twas a joke, I fully understand that having spent so much time on the game they would be proud of it. However it does seem a case of that when your working on something for so long you forget to take a step back and look at the big picture.

    If they had actually playtested it with people outside of their own studio (who were probably to busy sitting round the conference table giving each other high fives) they could have solved many of the niggling problems.

  • Tad59 #18 2 years ago

    "Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis. As such I'm feeling a little bit sore at this moment in time.

    lmao. What?? The hell lol

  • DAN.E.B #19 2 years ago

    DED in the water?

    .....sorry!

  • ZizouFC #20 2 years ago

    Must be dissapointing to get bad reviews after POURING yourself into a game for so long...

    /runs away

  • Raznilof #21 2 years ago

    "It hurts when we pee."

    About a game which main feature if realistic water, I can't decide if this is irony or a rare insight.

    Still, I understand what these guys went through and they have every right in the world to be passionate about what they made and accomplished.

  • DreadedWalrus #22 2 years ago

    "Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis. As such I'm feeling a little bit sore at this moment in time.

    "It hurts when we pee."

    And the award for Most Tortured Analogy goes to...

  • muscleblade #23 2 years ago

    Ok, but is it fun. No. Fail.

  • FogHeart #24 2 years ago

    What's a shame is that the majority of problems all sound like they can be fixed easily - patch in a close-quarters melee move, ensure you can take cover without the gun drawn, run at a faster speed when the gadget is out, colour-code pipes so people can tell which ones to shoot, tweak the crimson-edge damage indicator and so on. Basic stuff. It just seemed in the review it was a plethora of niggles that dragged the game under (:p) rather than fundamentally broken gameplay.

  • space_ace #25 2 years ago

    there's pee in the water? is this why it stinks?

    seriously, they couldn't convince us in the promotional phase, what are the odds now when people actually play it?

  • EugenesLair #26 2 years ago

    If I remember correctly, the five stages of Grief were denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

    They seem to be whole journey away from acceptance.

  • IkariW #27 2 years ago

    I totally disagree with this mentally of :
    'Its such a radically new concept in design that we didn't expect your little brains to get it'

    No, I think you'll find it YOUR job to MAKE us get it! Good design isn't always about doing things totally different!
    I think someone mentioned on here about developers being in their own little bubble wrapped world, and thats a perfect way to describe whats happened here. They haven't looked around to see how other people approach games design, because they've been too caught up in their own bull, far too inward looking.

    As for being as good as Shadow Complex and Tomb Raider... Erm.... no, I'm afraid not.

    Take these two games for example, neither do anything particulary new, but neither of them are any the worse for it, infact they are better for it. Mainly due to the fact that they are instantly 'familiar' in the way that they play, leaving you to get on with just enjoying the game.

    Hydrophobia, smells quite a bit of a developer who have been far too close to their project for far too long, which has caused an out pouring of emotion when its been given low review scores. Sometimes you've got to be harsh with your own project, and take a step back from time to time. Sometimes, just sometimes, your way is not always the right way or the only way!

    I think someone else said it on here, but a bad game is a bad game, regardless of whether its £10 or £40, enough said really.

    And come on, spouting off to various websites with comments like these is like signing your own death warrant for you and your game, they should know better than this.
    Edited by IkariW at 30/09/10 @ 14:35

  • knocker #28 2 years ago

    "We threw away the rulebook."

    There's two reasons for doing this.

    1. You understand the rules, appreciate them and work areound them bend them.
    2. They're too complicated to follow so rather than understand how or why they've evolved you simply ignore them.

    Assuming they just don't apply because you're gifted just ignores this distinction.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #29 2 years ago

    What I want to know is, how does he know what it feels like to give birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis, in order to make the requisite analogy?

  • OnlyMe #30 2 years ago

    Why does it hurt when I pee?

  • RevanNL #31 2 years ago

    After playing the trial I think that a 4/10 is generous.

  • GreyBeard #32 2 years ago

    I think someone else said it on here, but a bad game is a bad game, regardless of whether its £10 or £40, enough said really.


    Which is why all developers should always charge as much as they possibly can, wring the maximum amount of revenue from the suckers and fanboys before word gets out. Amirite?

    You want cheaper games, expect some compromises.Deal with it.
    Edited by GreyBeard at 30/09/10 @ 15:22

  • Machetazo #33 2 years ago

    @18: looks like Arsetechnica will be next on DED's hit list, as they wrote: We've played Hydrophobia, having received a review code, and we feel Sterling's pain. It's not fun. The platforming mechanics feel terrible, the water looks like a thick oil, the voice acting is annoying. I shut it off in about an hour in order to make time for another review. Sterling didn't have that luxury; he was assigned the story and had to play every last terrible drop.

    There are ways to handle criticism, and then, there are ways to...EightHours sums it up well.

  • dr_zoidthrob #34 2 years ago

    The thing that confused me - and you can see it in screenshots - is that they spent a lot of time on the water sim, right? So why is there not more spray on show? Try splashing about in water, there's bloody loads of it - everywhere.

    It may be a technical 'transparency' reason, which is fair enough, but I was expecting more from it.

  • drumbaby #35 2 years ago

    Best change your score to a 9, EG, as you're clearly wrong (along with the rest of the world) according to this chappy.

  • lasersrule #36 2 years ago

    From DED's wiki page: Blade Interactive was formally Mirage Multimedia, the studio behind *Rise of the Robots 1 & 2* and the ps1/pc title Bedlam.

  • Eighthours #37 2 years ago

    @Marchetazo

    You're hit the nail on the head when you say it's about how to handle criticism. That's the crux of the matter here - the devs are rubbishing perfectly valid opinions, and doing so in a way that doesn't come across as even slightly reasonable. You should only believe your own hype when you deliver on it.

    All that comes across is that the devs are in denial about what's wrong with the game, and this is totally counter-productive. They should learn from reasonable criticism, not dismiss it out of hand, as all that's likely to happen is that they'll make the same mistakes in future projects. Not all publicity is good publicity.

  • FogHeart #38 2 years ago

    It was the same with APB, wasn't it? Amazing technical wizardry acting as the foundation, but walls of shaky game mechanics and decorated with so-obviously-wrong-it's-baffling design decisions. Through three years of design did no one say "For Christ's sake we need some way of seeing her remaining oxygen?" just as no one at RTW said "Don't you think a re-capture with a second to go winning the game is a bit unfair?". If no one inside will say it, maybe they should call in someone with experience and clout, just for a day, to give them a reality check. "The man from Del Monte, he say too hard to hit enemies in cover."

  • CosmicGypsy #39 2 years ago

    Erm...aren't Dark Energy related to Blade interactive? Sweet, so this could be as bug free and fun as one of those World Snooker Championship games they churn out?

    I'll give the trial a go before I make my mind up, but from my previous experience with their games I don't have high hopes. At least they can licence the tech so that other devs can use the illusion of a good water effect to boost their games visuals.

  • Phishfood #40 2 years ago

    God Hand was a game that took some getting used to, this isn't.

  • dudefella #41 2 years ago

    Oh my. People too close to the project commenting on its quality, this is just embarrassing. This game is nowhere close to Shadow Complex or Lara Croft, or Braid or Limbo or Castle Crashers or Trials HD or ANY great XBLA game. Protip to devs: Don't try to make a good XBLA game with pretty graphics, try to make a good game, period.

  • barchetta #42 2 years ago

    Is anyone else going to the GameCity Nights event tomorrow in Nottingham? DED will be there (or at least they were scheduled to be there last I heard). What was going to be an interesting insight into indie/XBLA publishing might end up being a little more spicy.

  • kangarootoo #43 2 years ago

    There is no defense for a creative work less original or undignifying than blaming your audience. And its never pretty to watch.


    "I can't begrudge them for being upset if they've taken all this time and effort making it, only to see it kicked around on release."

    That is the nature of working in a creative business. If people can't take that sort of flak they should a) avoid reading reviews, or b) find another line of employment.


    I'm not saying a bad review doesn't smart, of course it does.

    And if the critisisms are unusual or based on misinformation, then veeeery occasionally a diplomatic "unfortunately we didn't make XYZ clear enough, and this may have affected your enjoyment of Bunny Bouncers 2.0. So we'd like a second chance at explaining things so that hopefully you can get the best out of it" communication might be ok (though notice the tone is still one of accepting the blame).

    What you don't do is turn around to reviewers, several of them, who have all been pretty consistent in their thoughts, and tell them they are wrong.


    You see, we aren't in the business of "setting out" to give new and unique gaming experiences, we are in the business of delivering those experiences. Whatever great and noble plans you start out with, if a consistent number of your target audience (and target audience is very important, of course) aren't impressed, you have to be prepared to hold up your hands and say "we got that one wrong".

    Unless DED are suggesting that the mainstream gaming populace isn't the target audience for this title, but I doubt that somehow (its not exactly niche is it).

  • kangarootoo #44 2 years ago

    And I can't believe that stuff about elephants seriously came out of the mouth of someone whose job involves speak to the press.

  • Smoped #45 2 years ago

    After playing the demo I got a distinct Alone in the Dark feeling, that there's a good game buried underneath there somewhere, but due to time/money constraints, or hubris, they just didn't bother to do any playtesting or tweaking and just put out a "rough cut".

  • Der_tolle_Emil #46 2 years ago

    an inconsistency that causes you to doubt yourself and the developers every time you get stuck

    This absolutely kills games for me. I really don't like handholding but it should be clear when you are trying to do something that is not supposed to work. Something which made the recent XBLA game Limbo so great. If you try something and it still does not work on your second try then it's obvious that it's not supposed to work - and never will. It's difficult to teach a player these rules but if you ease him into them and the player gets the rules set by the environment only then can you really start to play around with level design.

    Even the best game mechanics only work if the player has not to doubt himself all the time if he is doing it right. Sadly this is not the first game to fail because of that but the point is that no graphics engine, no nothing will ever make up for that.

  • GruttyFuttock #47 2 years ago

    Dear Blade. Sorry to burst your unreality bubble. Shit is still shit however long you keep polishing it. Next time get some designers in who can actually design and let them get on with it. Remember for next time that Iffy water sim does not equal gameplay.

  • paulf #48 2 years ago

    making a decent game is more important than getting rid of cliches

  • Eraysor #49 2 years ago

    Tried the demo, it was alright but I can see when more elements are added it'll just turn into a confusing mess. I was irritated enough by the camera after 10 minutes.

    EDIT: And "raises the bar" is far too much praise for their own product. Shadow Complex is still the king of XBLA by some distance.
    Edited by Eraysor at 30/09/10 @ 17:07

  • GruttyFuttock #50 2 years ago

    For the record, i want to play Bunny Bouncers 2.0! Go! Go! Kanga! get it done mate. :)

  • waynenot #51 2 years ago

    If that's what they genuinely believe, they should consider a career outside of making games. Preferably today.

    Didn't that Peter Jones character have a hand in Rise of the Robots?

  • kangarootoo #52 2 years ago

    @GruttyFuttock

    The world is not ready. Not whilst Gears of War still tops the charts. They wouldn't get what I was trying to achieve. ;)

  • Vyggo #53 2 years ago

    Just stating the obvious here:
    Of course compromises have to be made when a game is budget priced. There is however one thing that can never be compromised, a game has to be FUN. People accept simpler mechanics, less content or less than stellar graphics in a budget title, but they will never accept a game that is not fun to play.

  • Riggers #54 2 years ago

    Erk, this is harsh - last time a dev insisted the reviewers just didn't get their game and the reviews were unfair was Dave Jones with APB, and look what happened there. :(

    *makes a mental note not to work for anyone with the surname of Jones*

  • JahB #55 2 years ago

    Trials HD raised the bar on XBLA. Shadow Complex pushed the envelope.

    I can't help but to dislike devs that try to hype their own product in face of - apparently well deserved - negative press, and then completely overstep the mark.

  • Metalartin #56 2 years ago

    I still think as far as production values and scope go for an Xbox Live game, Shadow Complex is still head and shoulders above the rest, then again I dont own a ton of Live Arcade games, so if anyone thinks its been topped Id like to hear about it. :)

    Edit: It seems someone just beat me to it. Ha! Seriously though Im sure both of those games atleast broke even so why more devs havent tried something in the same league as them I dont know(maybe they have and its just those two devs are exceptional at Live Arcade games?).
    Edited by Metalartin at 30/09/10 @ 18:24

  • man.the.king #57 2 years ago

    @scottycam

    "If they had actually playtested it with people outside of their own studio (who were probably to busy sitting round the conference table giving each other high fives) they could have solved many of the niggling problems. "

    Conference room high-fiving or slapping each other on the back was kind of what I was thinking too.

    Sounds as if Dark Energy Digital was probably headed by a husband-and-wife company (maybe - ;) ) Pete and Debbie Jones who, perhaps in poor judgment, counted their chickens before they hatched.

    Unfortunately, their eggs broke...
    Edited by man.the.king at 30/09/10 @ 18:29

  • abot #58 2 years ago

    I wish devs would just accept the reviews their games receive. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Defending your game makes you desperate.
    Edited by abot at 30/09/10 @ 22:45

  • koopahell #59 2 years ago

    "We threw away the rulebook"

    Thanks for that, David Brent.

  • darth_paul #60 2 years ago

    cant but agree with Eurogamer. tried the demo yesterday, and never knew what to do and where to go...hummm.

  • KreyAtiv #61 2 years ago

    Tried the Trial of it, I found the voice acting (if you could call it that) terrible. The characters "hacker friend" is supposed to be Scottish, got that but what sort of accent is she supposed to have? I think I've heard a wide range of them through the short amount of time I played the trial.

  • TheTrueSpin #62 2 years ago

    Should have released it on the PS3... might have had a chance at making at least a small profit.

  • 32768Colours #63 2 years ago

    I find it incredibly short-sighted that they should choose the internet - the gaming communities' global resource for sharing and propagating fact, rumour and opinion - to bitch and whine about their game getting a rough deal from some critics. Did they only just hear about the internet last week? Don't they realise how stupid and even less appealing this ranting makes them and their product look?!

    Ratings-wise, they must genuinely have thought they had the next Trials HD or Braid on their hands and were sitting back confidently awaiting the straight 9's and perhaps the odd 10/10. Based on their response it seems doubtful whether even a hundred focus groups would've deterred them from their own beleaguered design choices.

    Also, I'm no Alan Sugar but I'd have thought that laying into the journalists that have the potential to make or break your games is a one way ticket to the dole queue. When Undertow (conveniently another watery game) got mediocre reviews, did Chair kick up a fuss? No. They kept their doubtless frustrations to themselves, sucked it up and produced Shadow Complex; one of the best games on Live.

    A final thought for DED then: You should learn from your mistakes, not defend them.

    Edit: grammar because its late!
    Edited by 32768Colours at 01/10/10 @ 01:24

  • onyx_elite #64 2 years ago

    "We threw away the rulebook."

    Rule No. 1 - Don't make shitty games.

  • onyx_elite #65 2 years ago

    From VG247 "Jones went on to say that the game has a new approach and will find controversy as a result, likening the title to the birth of electricity use."

    What are these people smoking?

  • Freek #66 2 years ago

    If you have to explain your game then you have failed as a developer. It should be fun in it's own right and not need some special state of mind.

  • Madder-Max #67 2 years ago

    ""We love the product," she said."

    Oh right well that makes all the difference then. nob end.

    ""Producing a game of this scale has been a bit like giving birth to an elephant through the eye of your penis. As such I'm feeling a little bit sore at this moment in time.

    "It hurts when we pee."

    Ummmm....did they really ACTUALLY say that? I've re read it a few times and the words are still there in that sequence......O_0
    Edited by Madder-Max at 02/10/10 @ 09:02