AquaNox

I loved a lot about this game; ditto for its sequel. So much so that I volunteered to see if it would run on a Mac using special software. OK, I admit it!! I am an absolute nut about space sims. It didn't take a genius to recognize that a game about exploring the ocean would closely resemble a game that takes place in space. And it did. Aquanox has its high points. Despite the fact that it is a decade old, the graphics are actually quite good. . It's been a while, but I seem to recall that the controls took some getting used to. Honestly, though, navigating a ship in the ocean for real cannot be a walk in the park so that added to its realism. Further, Aquanox didn't have such a steep learning curve that I wanted to throw the controller out the window. Some space games are so hard that I'm convinced there is some sadistic game developer out there laughing his or her posterior off. Alas, there is a catch. As my personal hero Roseanne Roseannadanna said: 'It's Always Something' The one thing that drove me bonkers was the voice acting. And just when I thought it could not get any worse, I started playing Aquanox 2 and IT DID! The irony is that I've snickered when I have read gamers complain about this before. Well, folks, KARMA is a total BEYOTCH!! I used to think that one could just ignore bad voice acting. I mean, who can blame a person for hiring his family members to read lines in a game - even if these relatives plainly cannot read? Well, this was so far beyond awful as to border on torture. One could ignore this as easily as one could chop onions and avoid shedding tears!! This game is a bargain. So is the sequel. If you want to enjoy this one be sure to bring along your sense of humor 'cause you are really gonna need it.

What is Aquanox? Aquanox is a sci-fi-underwater-shooter. The story is pretty weak, the voice-acting is horrible (german version), but gameplay-wise I had a lot of fun playing this game. Despite it´s age, you can choose high resolutions and the graphics are not too ugly and colourful. You can buy different ships, weapons and upgrades, which is a lot of fun. The missions vary quite a bit and you need to talk to different people on every underwater-station for the story-progress. This part can be annoying due to the terrible voice-acting and the slow story progression, but somehow it´s a charming trash story. The AI on the lowest difficulty level can be pretty challenging. The dark atmosphere and the upgrade mechanic of of the game kept me playing, even if it just plays underwater, the devs put effort in designing interesting landscapes, ships and enemies. So if you prefer games like X-Wing/Tie Fighter or Wing Commander you should give Aquanox a try! Technical details The game is pretty old, but it runs fine on windows 10. Higher resolutions can be chosen in the graphic-settings. You will need to adjust the sensitivity of your mouse, otherwise your movement will be too fast during your play. It is possible to do this in the game in the setup menu or outside the game in the "ini-file". It also might help to lower the resolution of your monitor a bit to get a better experience while moving. There is a bug in mission 29 where enemies keep on respawning until the mission fails, so just restart the mission and play again.

PROS: - Fun!!! - 6 degree freedom gameplay - Unique store any enviornment - Forgiving inventory store (no penalty for buying/selling, so you can experiment freely!) - Looks great but still reminds me of the "Golden era of PC gaming" CONS: - No mid-mission saves - A few mission failures due to unclear tactics/mechanics* or unlucky circumstances CONCLUSION: I HIGHLY suggest you give the manual a read before/during play. Besides clarifying the story, there are a few mechanics and ship/weapon specs that will help you get through the game. Even with a few frustrating failures, AquaNox was more than worth the time! *The "dipol" (if not activated automatically) can be activated via Escape key and is REQUIRED to manually perform for a couple missions. To turn off your engines (semi-required for at least one mission), double tab the assigned reverse key

Aquanox for me was an amazing game, even if I first played it years after it was made. In fact, I had never heard of it until it came bundled with a graphics card I had purchased. Nevertheless I played this game over and over again. The first time through I played for the story. The other times, I played for the sheer thrill of trying to kill the enemies. As others have said, the sequel left a bit to be desired but I loved this game.

Aquanox has one of the most well-written stories you'll ever see in a game. The atmosphere and culture has both life and age. You can feel how that civilization evolved over eons, with its own traditions, sayings, lifestyle. Most of it comes in the form of spoken narrative. Only fitting that the ending is also told in the form of a narrative. The last fight doesn't include the actual "final fight". You get to experience it in the form of a 30-minute story told over beautiful art and amazing dialog, and a shocking ending with one of the best lines you'll ever hear. I still get chills down my spine when I recall the final scene.