VIDEO GAME REVIEW

Whitecap disaster

Fourteen tracks of ripple-charged water, 13 fully loaded boats and several bonus tracks may seem like a lot of features packed into one racing game, but Hydro Thunder isn’t more than an hour’s worth of entertainment. Aside from being a quite boring one-player racer, even on multiplayer it hardly keeps your interest.

It is somewhat refreshing to see a new high-speed water derby hitting the market. But the only valuable feature that Thunder spews is the application of Newtonian physics. What’s that, you say? Seeing as there are different currents and various plains of water on the planet, they all can’t be the same texture. Waves do exist and white caps are prominent in the game, so be prepared for some wicked rides. But that’s as good as it gets.

The major aspect that Hydro Thunder lacks is difficulty in tracks. On the two-player, split-screen mode, gaining a first-place score is as easy as counting to five. And being able to clear the entire game in less than an hour isn’t a very positive sales plug. One hour – watching the clock rotate from 10 to 11 o’clock – provides more than enough time to achieve not only a high score in this racer, but also on each bonus course.

If you’ve never truly understood the concept of renting video games, here is your perfect chance to earn extra credit. Hydro Thunder is possibly one of the slowest, dullest racing games to have hit the market in a while. Swapping this five-night rental for something with more substance might even be a better decision on your weekend trip to Blockbuster. Even the Olson twins have a more entertaining game.

Jon M. Gibson writes about video games for Metro Times.