Xbox Live Summer of Arcade

The Xbox Live Summer of Arcade is now well under way with 3 of the 5 titles having already been released; the first two of which were Limbo and Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Microsoft couldn’t have chosen a more starkly contrasted pair to release within the space of a week with the juxtaposition of a new art house style offering and a revived retro classic.

Limbo presents an eerie world of subdued charcoal tones. No sound other than the hushed whisper of the wind rustling through the leaves can be heard. Stumbling upon macabre scenes of corpses swinging from nooses or floating, bloated, face down in the water is the norm. You truly feel a sense of isolation as you navigate your character (a silhouette of a small boy with glowing eye sockets) around this world, deciphering puzzles and avoiding the sadistic traps set by the natives. “Company!” I hear you cry. But alas, finding a friendly face in this piece is not to be; dark, silent figures watching you expire at their hands offers little comfort…no surprise there.

The game play is very simplistic and pared down, in line with the aesthetic style of the game. In addition to the basic movement, your character can jump and hold on to objects to push or pull them as needed. The puzzles increase in difficulty as you progress and you really have to get your timing nailed on some of them in order to succeed. But whilst the puzzles are challenging, they’re not impossible; it’s certainly no Braid (sadly I was not a part of the elite set that actually managed to complete that game!).

Limbo is a game noir that presents a bit of a puzzler but not to those of you who relish a challenge! The opening act of the Summer of Arcade is a tough act to follow.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane on the other hand…this is the sequel to the arcade classic Hydro Thunder which later debuted on the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. The testosterone fuelled adrenaline fest with its garish colours, raucous soundtrack and the over-enthusiastic-verging-on-aggressive voice of the announcer booming the words “Hydro! Thunder! Hurricane!”at you, all combine perfectly to transport you back to a simpler time of nineties arcade racers. All that’s required to complete the experience in its entirety is a gaggle of pre-pubescent kids doing some back seat driving over your shoulder, waiting for their turn at the wheel.


The handling is very similar to Wipeout; the futuristic anti-gravity racer. This is probably due to the fact that your boat spends a lot of time airborne, skimming from peak to peak of the turbulent waves. The aim of the game is to accumulate credits to unlock the further content and the way to do this is very simple…win; poll in the top three and they’re yours.

The four race events are Race, Gauntlet, Ring Master and Championship. Speed is of the essence in all of these modes and they’ve given you a sweet looking choice of power boats to facilitate this. Race is a simple race to the finish, Gauntlet is a race to the finish in a given time limit with a smattering of exploding barrels bobbing around the track, Ring Master is (that’s right!) a race to the finish in a given time limit, guiding your boat through rings which will earn you a boost. Missing rings means no boost and seconds added to your time. And lastly, Championship; all of the above modes played in either novice, pro or expert.

The controls are simple enough; acceleration, boost and jump. But a certain amount of skill is required to utilise these at precisely the right moment to reap the most reward. Power-ups aplenty also litter the tracks along with a few random surprises that will have your pit crew at a loss for words. This isn’t all bad as they don’t hold back vocally if you place outside of the top three!

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a trip down memory lane...on acid. Enjoy the ride!