Hydrophobia is now episodic XBLA game

By Tom Bramwell Published 1 October, 2009

No word on other formats or date.

Dark Energy Digital's Hydrophobia has been split into a three-episode Xbox Live Arcade series with no word on other formats or a release date.

According to a preview in Xbox World 360, the three episodes last around five hours apiece and should be released within a 12-month window.

If the game proves popular, DED may follow it up with a further three.

Hydrophobia stars Kate Wilson, a woman with a fear of water, who is trying to escape from the depths of a sinking ship after terrorists bomb it during a party. It's a mixture of platforming and Dead Space-style atmospheric action.

It's been some time since we last heard from it - and as well as moving the game to XBLA, it's also moved from Blade Interactive to DED, a company set up by the former's management.

Check out our preview from August 2007, and previous trailer and screenshots to see what it was looking like originally.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • ZuluHero #1 2 years ago

    ohh - haven't heard about this in a while, thought it was killed off. Good to see its still going and i'm still interested by this.

  • mkreku #2 2 years ago

    Is this that game with impressive water physics, that was made by a company most famous for their billiard games?

  • smoothpete #3 2 years ago

    Oh cool, I was looking forward to this!

  • menage #4 2 years ago

    I'll say shipwreck.

  • the_dudefather #5 2 years ago

    I like watery areas in games, hope they can pull this off

    hope they put in sonic drowning music

  • YobRenoops #6 2 years ago

    Please don't see those massively outdated screenshots and video. It looks so much better now!

  • muscleblade #7 2 years ago

    Interesting. Episodes sounds great actually.

  • rotmm #8 2 years ago

    I don't like the idea of "3 episodes within 12 months". That's just too long, imho. Sure, games like GTA4 and Half Life 2 can get away with long breaks between "episodes", but they are huge established titles and so far each "episode" has been pretty much a game in it's own right.

  • GamesConnoisseur #9 2 years ago

    Siren made it work on PSN didn't it? So perhaps they can pull it off and glad the game not dead in the water... Ahem!

  • dominalien #10 2 years ago

    Siren made it work on PSN didn't it? So perhaps they can pull it off and glad the game not dead in the water... Ahem!

    All of Siren's episodes were released at the same time.

    About the news it's on Xbox only: aw, shucks, I was hoping to be able to play this.

  • muscleblade #11 2 years ago

    "so far each "episode" has been pretty much a game in it's own right. "

    If you read the article it says 5 hour episodes. Pretty much the same lenght as HL2 and GTAIV episodes.

  • Rubarack #12 2 years ago

    If I'm going to pay a premium for a game it really had better be a premium game. Not expecting this to work out.

  • Death-of-Imagination #13 2 years ago

    DED on arrival?...

    /gets coat.

  • crickson #14 2 years ago

    B*gger! I was looking forward to this and now it's xbox only : (

  • darkmorgado #15 2 years ago

    @cthulhu_steev

    They have actually said they have all three episodes done already, they are just staggering their release. I am guessing this might be because it is cheaper for them to release it on XBLA than as a physical release, but the 2gb limit means they have had to break it into discrete chunks rather than release the thing as one whole game (and is also the reason that they have had to include leaderboards and a scoring system, as per XBLA policy).
    To be honest, if each episode is 5 hrs long, then 4 months isn't that long to wait. As someone else has said, its become the norm now to have full retail releases with a total length of 5hrs.
    The game looks awesome. The interviews I have read as well say that it encourages exploration, and that if you find notes in hidden areas they will activate subplots later in the game, and that there are multiple routes through each level (aiding in the score-attack bit). Not sure about the facial detail on the character models though, but that's a small niggle.

  • Chazmeister #16 2 years ago

    A fear of water and stuck on a sinking ship, bummer.

    Anyway, why go on a cruise if you have a fear of water? No doubt the story will pony up some highly improbable lame reason for this.

  • mustardhead #17 2 years ago

    "Disgruntled employees obviously found a way to leave the hell of Blade Interactive and take their hard work with them."

    Not the case I'm afraid, DED is simply a sister comany setup back in 1998 by the same directors of Blade (previously Mirage), as mentioned by others, another company no doubt ready to use as cover once their current venture is run into the ground, or another way to distance themselves from the terrible industry reputation they continue to build on.
    Edited by 2 at 12/10/09 @ 13:43