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Dom Robinson reviews
Microsoft 
- Price: £44.99
- Players: 1-4
Blood Wakeis described on the cover as high-speed gunboat warfare, but I was hopingto a little more than just that, but from the footage I’d seen on TV I didn’thave my hopes up and that’s a good job too.
Yes, there is a plot but it’s not worth bothering with since you have anevil brother who ambushed you and left you for dead and now you have to getrevenge by getting in your speedboat and completing task after task, suchas simply blowing up all the other boats in the first round, to later ones suchas doing the same whilst collecting treasure chests and the like.
Along the way there are health and ammo powerups – dropped by exploding enemyships – and that’s about it. It’s fun for an hour or so, but is something thatwould only be worth a look in the arcades if it came in a sit-down hydrauliccabinet. You’d throw a couple of quid in, have some fun and forget about it.You wouldn’t pay £45 for it.
The graphics are pretty, but I’ve seen better water effects fromSplashdownon the PS2, but the physics are reasonable enough for most of the game,even if nothing to really write home about since they have their weak momentssuch as when you end up on the beach and wait to slide back down.
The sound is a let-down: rat-a-tat-tat all the day long, with a dull oriental-stylesoundtrack.
The gameplay should be this title’s saving grace, but it becomes a pain at timeswhen you’re trying to turn around to the left/right and finding your boatattempting to switch round in the opposite direction. Grrr!!
My advice is to try before you buy, since once you’ve rented it, you’ll haveto love it a lot to get some longevity out of it.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ENJOYMENT
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.