Blood Wake

Without a doubt, the Xbox had the best launch of any game system released last year. The Xbox was packed with several must-have launch titles, most of which were developed by third party companies that Microsoft had acquired earlier in the year. The launch is over now, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from pumping out more great games. Microsoft's latest release, Blood Wake, is the first vehicular combat game to replace cars, trucks and SUVs with fierce pirate ships and gun-toting speedboats. In a nutshell, it's Twisted Metal: Black on water.

Any gamer with a thirst for action will love Blood Wake. The object of the game is simple: blow up your opponent before they blow up you. Like all vehicular combat games, you can choose to battle either human or computer-controlled opponents. Obviously, human-controlled players are the best because you get to kick the butt of a real person. Nothing beats the priceless look on your friend's face after you beat him for the 20th time in a row. There are several multiplayer battle modes, including Survivor, Free-For-All, Team Death Match and Domination. The rest must be unlocked by beating specific missions in the Story Mode.

In most other vehicular combat games, the terrain is pretty flat and never, ever moves. That's the interesting thing about water -- it never stops moving. If a large enough wave hits you or your enemy's boat, it'll go flying into the air. There were several times when I'd have my cannon aimed directly at an enemy, and then a wave would come and mess everything up. Even if the wave only moves you a little, that is usually enough to make you shoot the cannon in the wrong direction. This adds a new dimension of play to the genre because you must always pay close attention to what's going on beneath you, in addition to the enemies that love to surround you. Water works both ways though, so don't think for one second that you're getting the short end of the stick. If you hold down the turbo button and ram into the side of an enemy ship, it'll flip upside down! Then you can blow it up without having to worry about being attacked. How cool is that? If there are other enemy ships near by, it's possible to jump on one of the flipped enemies (to keep it from turning over and retaliating) and finish off the rest of the attackers. If the enemy is closing in and you feel like it's the end, find a rock and go hide behind it. The enemy won't be able to attack you until he comes closer (which will take him a while), giving you a chance to either escape or plan a sneak attack. It's very unlikely that the enemies will be smart enough to surround the rock and wait for you to come out, so if you have at least a third of energy left, prepare to retaliate. When the first enemy arrives, drive around the side of the rock and hit him with everything you've got. He'll be dead by the time he turns around. Then you can grab whatever health or ammo he drops and attack the rest of the enemies head-on.

For the most part, Blood Wake is a great looking game, but the waves, as realistic as they are, resemble a 3D cartoon more than real water. Remember Beast Wars? The water in that show was very impressive, but something about just wasn't quite right. That's how I feel about Blood Wake. The texturing is excellent, the splashes are packed with a ton of particle effects, and when you're not moving, the waves calmly move your boat up and down, creating another nice effect worth praising. But most of these effects have been done before. That's not a reason to dislike Blood Wake's graphics, but it is a reason to expect more. Xbox games deliver a comparable gaming experience (and in Halo's case, the best first-person shooter experience there is). However, most of the Xbox games don't utilize the system's true power.

Blood Wake is the first great Xbox game of the year. Microsoft may have won the battle against Nintendo last fall, but that doesn't mean they're going to relax for a while. After six years of battle, Sony finally has a worthy adversary. Of all the games released this month, I've enjoyed Blood Wake the most. The bad press this game received is extremely unfair, especially when there are plenty of lesser-quality games out there scoring 9's and 10's from many publications. But I always give games, even ones that I have no interest in, a fair chance. More often than not, the reward for being fair is a diamond in the rough. This is better than a diamond in the rough though. Blood Wake is unique vehicular combat game that I am glad I experienced. Don’t miss it!

Gameplay: 8.5
Blood Wake is one of the best vehicular combat games I have ever played. Actually, if it weren't for the Twisted Metal series, Blood Wake would be THE best vehicular combat game I've ever played! The competition can't compare. Stormfront Studios has taken the fast and exciting action of Twisted Metal and added a million gallons of water. Awesome!

Graphics: 8.9 
Blood Wake's water effects are gorgeous, but they're not quite as impressive as I had expected. I'm a little disappointed by the backgrounds, which are somewhat bland, but the boats are extremely detailed.

Sound: 7,5
The music in this game is just plain weird, but it suits the game well. It's not a soundtrack that will bring tears to your eyes, or something worth humming in the shower, but it fits the game's intense battles and is rarely an annoyance or a distraction.

Difficulty: 7.5
Blood Wake isn't too difficult to play, but it does take some patience.

Concept: 8 
Blood Wake is the very first water-based vehicular combat game. Remember the effect water had on the racing genre when Wave Race 64 was released? Blood Wake's water is sure to have a similar effect on the vehicular combat genre because it adds so much more to the game. Dirt can only do so much, but water constantly changes. Its movements are unpredictable, resulting in a much more varied gaming experience.

Multiplayer: 8.5
Pick up Blood Wake and invite a few friends over for a fun night of savage high-seas warfare! The four-player mode is awesome. Next to Halo, this is the best multiplayer game available for the Xbox.

Overall: 8.5
Simply put: I love this game! I don't care what anyone says, Blood Wake is an excellent game. I've spent more time playing it this past week than any other Xbox game. In fact, I've played it more this week than all of my GameCube, Game Boy Advance and PC games combined! Saying that Blood Wake is fun to play would be a huge understatement.