Every year it seems as if some new genre emerges in video games (and everyone starts exploiting it). For a while it was flying games, then first-person shooters, now driving games, and, soon, it will be underwater games. Treasures of the Deep is the latest oceanic adventure to grace the PlayStation, and it looks to further define the rules of underwater combat.
Treasures of the Deep was developed by Black Ops Entertainment, makers of the mediocre flight simulations Agile Warrior and Black Dawn. The premise of this game is simple: You're piloting a vehicle underwater while searching for treasure and getting shot at. Treasures of the Deep takes the depth (no pun intended) that you would expect from a flight sim and applies it to aquatic adventure. The mix works well, and while the game does not play as fast as Agile Warrior did, it still shares the same mentality that made Black Dawn interesting. If you thought dumping napalm on someone was fun, wait until you smoke precious dolphin after dolphin (and people think tuna nets can be cruel).
The gameplay in Treasures of the Deep unfolds over 14 missions as you explore a variety of oceanic territory. Along the way you can change vehicles, power up your weapons, and hone your skills against a variety of mammals and fish. It's not that hard to take down the many enemies contained in the game, in fact, you'll probably put in more effort mastering the complex play control than you will destroying all the enemies in the game combined.
The graphics in Treasures of the Deep look pretty good. Everything moves fairly smoothly; to date, this game probably sports the best underwater look of any PlayStation game. The sound is also good, and further enhances the dark atmosphere that the game definitely has (just wait until a shark attacks you out of nowhere). Like the movie The Abyss, Treasures sets you in a sprawling area where you never know what will happen next - you could come upon a school of fish, get attacked from behind, then worry that your blood could attract sharks. That feeling, combined with the game's mission-based action, makes for a compelling gameplay experience. If you've avoided other games in this genre before, Treasures of the Deep may be the one to finally convince you that there is something to this "underwater game" thing.
