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A three-hit combo of elemental nouns, each threatening to whack you from your sofa into a squall of testosterone.Īnd why not? Microsoft's decision to juxtapose Limbo with an uncomplicated speedboat racer in their scheduling demonstrates not only the publisher's understanding that it takes all types to make a medium, but also exemplifies the full range of approaches their service has the capacity to house. If Limbo's deadly waters represented a cloying quicksand to oblivion, Hydro's undulating waves are ramps to the stars.Īs such, ponderousness is, quite literally, for losers. Spin out on a corner and you need only stab the back button for a rolling reset: combo the endorphins without pause for thought. Videogames should exaggerate physics in search of perfecting the chemistry of play, the game argues. They gobble down speed boost capsules like froth-mouthed junkies under a maelstrom of distorted keyboards and six-foot snare drum clacks.ĭelicacy and finesse be damned, screams developer Vector Unit into the wind and spray: videogames are about domination and high-speed spectacle they're about shaving a few seconds from the times of every last name on your Enemies List about finding the odd secret bonus and, every three laps or so, making your jaw hang slack as a giant f**king sea serpent explodes out of the water and sends your boat ricocheting off into a rock face. 25-foot racing boats, whose engines roar in Texan accents, roll and bounce through white water rapids. If Limbo, last week's inaugural Summer of Arcade release, aspired to the art house aesthete's choice - Braid through a glass, darkly - Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a hyperactive celebration of balls-out, dumbass, American videogame-ness.
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