Argonaut Announces Carve

UK-based Argonaut Games has today announced that it's working on a watercraft-based racing game called Carve for the Xbox. According to today's press release, the game will feature no less than 27 levels set in such exotic locales as Thailand, Iceland, Amsterdam, and the Grand Canyon. Argonaut is promising that the water technology in the game will be incredibly realistic, and, thanks to highly optimized environment-mapped bump-mapping, the waves in the game will not only behave realistically, but they'll also boast sparkles and reflections.

The racers in Carve will be paired up into teams, and the game will purportedly boast some impressive team-based AI to ensure that teammates interact with each other in a suitable fashion. In addition to straight racing, you'll be able to perform tricks in the game, and up to eight players will be able to make waves simultaneously thanks to the game's Xbox Live support.

"Carve offers advances in so many areas--the waves, the team AI, and the trick systems (never mind the online mode), and all are fantastic additions to the genre," said Caspar Field, the game's producer. "We're pushing things forwards--for us, that's the point. Anything less would be a waste of time."

Carve is currently scheduled for release later this year. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.