No thanks to Kotaku for failing to recognize this blogger as the person that uploaded the video clips and reporting on H2Overdrive. I'm not a staffer with 1UP and I didn't get paid for this. I'm just a fan of the game who had to work for a few months on getting interviews and footage. I posted the clips to share with everyone online, but a little acknowledgment would have been nice from Kotaku.
If I had to sum up H2Overdrive in a single word it would be "Stunning!" Before I even mention the controls, boats, levels and features I have to start with the graphics. They are among the most impressive of any arcade racing game, ever. This goes back to Sega, whom are the kings of racing games in the arcade.
Sega has rarely been matched at the genre by an outside developer and hardly ever been beaten, especially not by an American developer. That was until Hydro Thunder (HT) came out. Granted, visually HT didn't have the polish of the Sega Model 3 gems, but when combined with fantastic boat designs, levels, water physics, secrets and super-tight controls it was more than a match for anything Sega (or Namco or Konami) could do. Now imagine how much further graphics have come in the past 10 years. How nice models, textures and effects look now on a high definition LCD rather than a CRT. You'll get an idea as to how stunning H2Overdrive (H2O) is compared to the classic arcade title.
There is still a part of me that asks "what if?" I'm one of those that wishes to have seen footage of Hydro Thunder 2 in action. Even though the game was cancelled I was stoked to have known that the original boats would have gotten a facelift and some of the tracks would have been revisited and changed dramatically.
What Specular Interactive did was more than finish the sequel that had been canned by Midway all those years ago. They tried to secure the name of HT but couldn't manage it. In their favor they did the next best thing, reassemble the HT team and create a new boat racing game from the ground up. They took the best elements from HT and concepts from HT2 and then supercharged them. The boats are now far more brutal than they've ever been, yet carry over some familiar themes from the classic title. My favorite from HT got a new lease on life, while I'm not keen on knives I will say that it looks and plays just like I remember... only, somehow better.
Okay, there is no mystery to the "somehow." Team Hydro is back and in full effect, using everything they've learned while working on many other titles over the past decade. This translates into a game that is as easy to get into as the original, and yet like the original, provides enough of a challenge to veteran gamers. The control varies on the different boats. Those that prefer something steady and reliable have something to fall back on, those that prefer lots of drift (yes, even on water!) or hard turning also have something to choose from. Those eager to modify their boats, search for shortcuts and secrets will return again and again to get the most out of the title.
H2O uses the trusty steering wheel and throttle setup from HT. There are no pedals but the boats can perform some unique things by shifting the throttle and pressing a boost button at the right moment. The cabinet itself is more than an upgrade kit to an old Hydro Thunder cabinet. It is a new design from the ground-up, with all new electronics and controls. It feels very solid but the devil is in the details. The gauges on the cabinet have working electronics, showing speed and boost fuel. Most manufacturers would rather just slap a sticker with graphics over the gauges. The cabinet lights up to show who the leader is on a multiplayer race. The steering wheel is tighter than the original HT and the sounds and music are channeled through the seat, bringing players closer into the experience. There are also plenty more things going for H2O but rather than talk about it I'll let the people at Specular explain these features...
1. Who are you and what do you do?
Brian Silva. Short answer: Senior Artist/Game Designer. Long answer: I mostly build the tracks in H20verdrive (terrain, props, skies, etc), placing ramps/boosters/other obstacles in all tracks. Plus track design/layout, coming up with and collaborating on new gameplay features, as well as overall game tuning/balancing, and some other things I can’t think of right now. Oh, I also do the announcer vocals and various other voices in the game.
Steve Ranck, founder & president of Specular Interactive, Inc. I spend most of my time as engine & gameplay programmer, as well as lead designer and producer.
2. What are you currently playing or favorite games (when you aren't on a deadline)?
Brian: Professor Layton, Burnout Paradise, Dig-Dug, Robotron, not leveling my useless Paladin to 80, and Tetris DX for GB (but only on the toilet).
Steve: Hmmm… when I’m not on a deadline? Let me see if I can think back that far. The most recent games I’ve played are Left for Dead and Metal Arms. Some of my favorite games of all time are Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Sinistar and Joust are up there, too.
3. What was your previous game development experience?
Brian: Right before this, I was creating art for World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.
Steve: I’ve been designing and building games since I was 12. My first games were all electronic & mechanical, until I met the Apple II and started writing games in assembly language. Many years later, I got my first job in the games industry with Midway in San Diego where I started on the port of Cruis’n USA for the N64 and ultimately...
[2023 EDIT: This was all I was able to recover from my old 1UP page regarding H2Overdrive. When IGN shut down the servers they wiped countless game videos, and the rest of this blog post. Below was the only part that remained which I uploaded to YouTube thankfully.]
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