Red Ocean: Undersea Mayhem Company: dtp Entertainment Red Ocean comes to us from German publisher DTP and developer Collision Studios, respectively. It is another entry into the crowded FPS market, but hopes to make a name for itself with flashy graphics and lots of atmosphere, and many compare it to F.E.A.R., but set underwater. Yes you heard right, the game takes place at an ultra-secret research installation beneath the vast depths of the seas. You play Jack Hard (nice name…), a no nonsense treasure hunter and thrill seeker, faced with overcoming a sinister terrorist plot. I just hope there are no cameos from L.L. Cool J, or any super smart sharks… First off, you instantly notice the awesome graphics, powered by the Gamebryo Engine, that make Red Ocean really come alive. These do indeed mimic the aforementioned spooky shooter. There are hosts of slick looking weapons effects, from brilliant muzzle flashes to atmospheric water effects, all ultra-realistic and downright sexy. The character models are also quite nicely done, and the guns themselves look very deadly. Add to this some great environmental lighting, ragdoll bodies, semi-destructible surfaces, and you have some nice eye candy. However, often times things are a little too murky for my liking, but it does add to the tension and realism of an undersea facility. On the sound side, you have a decent beat to mow through enemies, but it’s nothing groundbreaking. The environmental ambience is spot on, with lots of trippy water echoes, bubbles, creaking and so forth. Lastly, the weapon and explosive effects can be deafening, especially in some of the enclosed spaces that abound in this title. The general gameplay of Red Ocean has you tackling all kinds of baddies throughout the levels. I previewed just the demo version, but from what I saw, this game has a few issues, but some notable strengths as well. On the negative side, the enemy A.I. is dreadfully simplistic. They just stand there half the time and get utterly pounded. As far as weapons, only a few were available, and those were your standard issue pistol, MP5 and the almighty shotgun. While this list doesn’t seem so hot, you can access more weapons later on. From the weapons I tried out, they seemed pretty decent, although I thought the MP5 was a little underwhelming. And aside from blowing through enemy after enemy, there didn’t seem to be much else to do, or even a very strong storyline. Some of the positives include a good pace to the action, as well as some tension-filled moments creeping around the water-soaked corridors and rooms, not sure when the next terrorist will pop out and hose you with their machine gun. Lastly, there is no multiplayer planned, nor are there any vehicle moments to change up the action, like in classic shooters like Red Faction or even Halo. It might have been pretty fun to pilot some mini subs around, firing torpedoes, depth charges and the like. Overall, Red Ocean has strong presentation values, but may suffer in the gameplay department like many First-Person-Shooters who try to cash in on this historically shallow genre. Is it all flash and no substance? Perhaps you will just have to wait and see when the retail version hits the US, hopefully sometime in the not-so-distant future. For now, you can order the European version from Amazon.DE (link below) or try out the demo, also provided in the links below. Only then can you say whether this title truly sinks, or swims. -Tybo, GameVortex Communications AKA Tyler Whitney Related Links: Publisher DTP Developer: Collision Studios Official Site Red Ocean Amazon DE