We've gone with hardly any news about Dark Energy Digital's Hydrophobia for almost a year, and now that the developers have finally deigned to lift the veil from their water physics-heavy horror/puzzle game, what they've revealed is a bit of a doozy. Read on.

More assets are trickling in from Blade Interactive for their very intriguing Hydrophobia (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC) title. But while the released screenshots, artwork and trailers only add up to our anticipation, it looks like we'll have to wade a little bit more before we get it in our hands.

It seems that Hydrophobia is slowly but surely surfacing from the dev studios at Blade Interactive. We just got an email from managing director Blade Interactive managing director">Pete Jones, confirming that they've finally got a version of Hydrophobia up and running. We're currently in the talks for scoring an exclusive interview, so watch out for that in the near future!

See the thumbnail to your left? No, that's not Force Unleashed. That's Hydrophobia. "Wait, since when did Hydrophobia have psycho-kinetic powers?" Well, consider me equally floored too. Let's see if we can make head or tail in this latest batch of screens and artwork, shall we?

Hydrophobia is set in the Queen of the World ocean liner. Ever wondered how huge the playing area would be? Get this: 1.5 kilometers long, half a kilometer wide, and six decks deep. That's huge compared to the Titanic. But... is this big enough to be a sandbox game like Grand Theft Auto? Not so fast, bub. Time to dive into an interview for all the juicy details!

Apparently, Hydrophobia really does hold some frakkin' water! And it's looking gorgeous enough to make your eyes bleed. Guess I was right on the money - Hydrophobia is anything but vaporware now, and we've got the assets (screens and a teaser trailer, woohoo!) to prove it! If you weren't convinced with the screens from last year, then now's the time to hop on the Hydro Engine ship before it sails away. And to think: all that water's rendered in-game!

With a game hardly getting any updates at all, one has to ask: has it become vaporware already, cast into the depths of other shelved titles? Well, announced back in early 2007, Hydrophobia seemed to generate quite an interest among the people in the video games industry, but ever since then, we've yet to hear anything about the game's development. Is Hydrophobia still breathing? Let's hope so. Dive into the full article to get your hands wet with details.

Today we've got a whole load of new screenshots from Hydrophobia, Blade Interactive's upcoming title for the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360 video game consoles.

Hydrophobia is a horror/survival title built from the ground up to take full advantage of HydroEngine, a fluid dynamics engine that Blade R&D developed over the last three years. HydroEngine provides truly dynamic water whose behaviour is altered by every physical action and event in the game; meaning you will never get the same behaviour twice.

"From the outset we wanted to create a robust & unique next generation game that will remain a benchmark for decades," said Deborah Jones, Joint Managing Director of Blade Interactive. "It is a combination of the industry's best talents combined with awesome technology never seen in video games."

Check out the screenshots below for a look at Hydrophobia. For more info on the game and its backstory, click on the "via" link below.

  

More screenshots after the jump!

If you are not a big fan of World Snooker Championship 2007 (360 and PS3) then it is possible that you don't care that much about Blade Interactive. You better change that attitude now because the development studio just improved its depth, literally and metaphorically, with newly uncovered mysterious video game title Hydrophobia.

Blade mentioned that Hydrophobia is going to be a game like no other with the title utilizing the company's "groundbreaking technology." This mentioned technology is known as - what else? - the Hydro Engine. According to the studio's Research and Development Director Dr. Huw Lloyd,

Our Hydro engine is the result of nearly three years intensive development work. Water in games has so far been merely a flat plane with ripple effects and other graphical smoke and mirrors applied to it. The Hydro engine is different in one key respect. Nothing like this has ever been seen in games before.

A couple of days ago, Blade Interactive Joint Managing Director Peter Jones mentioned that their company is all about giving customers the qualitative advantages when it comes to next-gen gaming. Jones even mentioned that Hydrophobia, which is scheduled to appear both on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, is actually now complete and fully working. Despite that, the director failed to give any details about the game.

Lastly, Blade Interactive said that after utilizing Hydro Engine, it might consider selling the technology to other video game development studios.

 

Speaking to Matt Martin of GamesIndustry, Blade Interactive's Joint Managing Director, Peter Jones, has said that when it comes to next-gen gaming, gamers need to feel that the purchase they've made is justified. Jones expounds:

What people want - and I don't care whether it's a new console or a new handset - they want a reason and an endorsement of why they have bought that technology. They want to feel the reason why they have spent over GBP 400 on a PlayStation 3 or almost GBP 300 on a Xbox 360. They don't just want another first-person shooter. They want to have a qualitative difference.

It works like this with all sorts of products from cars to consoles. You want to pat yourself on the back for the wise purchase you've made; now it's all about expanding the experience. What we've done through our technology is create something that no other game has ever done.

Blade Interactive, known for World Snooker Championship is currently working on their next-generation title called Hydrophobia. Not much is known about the game other than the concept art at the Blade Interactive website. The game's technology - that they proudly claim will expand the boundaries of gaming - is reported to have spent seven years in development.

Jones says that Hydrophobia is now fully complete and fully working. He also adds that as much as they'd want just use the game's engine as middleware and license it out, the project is so much their "baby" that they'd want to exploit and explore it first.

For more on Peter Jones' and Blade Interactive's views on developing for next-gen consoles feel free to head to the full interview via our "read" link below.