Aquanox 2: Revelation Impressions

Aquanox 2: Revelation is the sequel to Massive Development's Aquanox, an underwater first-person shooter that put you in the thick of deep-sea combat. Though the game was popular in Europe, it never received much attention here, due to its fairly generic gameplay. Revelation aims to change all that, providing a much deeper gameplay experience and a significantly improved underwater world with lots to see and explore.

Gone from this installment is Aquanox's original hero, Deadeye Flint. Instead, you will assume the role of William Drake, an explorer trying to uncover a mysterious artifact known as the Angel's Tears and learn more about his family's mysterious background. Along the way, you'll encounter a multitude of characters, including friendly submarine captains, pirates, and competing captains who want nothing more than to see you dead. The game contains around 45 missions of varying types, ranging from simple escort missions, to rescue efforts, to all-out melee combat under the sea. The game follows an entirely nonlinear method of storytelling, with up to three different missions available to choose from at once.

Revelation will feature numerous types of ships and weapons. Four different ships can be gained throughout the game, usually through salvage missions. Each ship will be progressively improved, with better armor, faster engines, and the like. Weapon upgrades will include better guns, torpedoes, and countermeasures to confuse enemy attacks. The controls in Revelation are a vast improvement on the original game's controls, with much more customization available and the ability to do barrel rolls and such to avoid enemy fire.

As you might have surmised, Aquanox 2: Revelation is set underwater, and the game's visuals do an excellent job of conveying this fact. The game's environments are massive, with underwater cities and canyons to jet around in and explore when not on a mission. Everything about the game has a grittier, rustier look, adding to the postapocalyptic mood of the storyline. Revelation's visual presentation is truly stellar, ranging from the various shadows and lighting effects to the pieces of kelp that sway with the ocean's currents.

Aquanox 2: Revelation is scheduled for an August release. We'll have more coverage of this game in the near future.