0 Aqua: Naval Warfare - Link Mediafire

 

Like a lot of Live Arcade fare, Aqua: Naval Warfare is a sort of throwback title: the concept is simple and recalls classics like 1942 and Smash T.V., only with the polish and panache of modern-day game design resources. Sounds like a match made in the land of infinite continues, but somehow Aqua -- while undoubtedly a solid enough shmup -- never reaches the frenetic perfection of the arcade classics it owes so much to. 

Is this a function of the fact that we gamers are more jaded today than we were in the salad days when stand-up cabinets were the top of the heap? Maybe. But it's also partially because of the updated production values that the game loses some of its edge. Not because the graphics are better, mind you, but because designers today feel the need to append hackneyed, obviously post-hoc, and completely extraneous stories, features, and game modes to games, just for the sake of seemingly "added value." This, sadly, is too much the case with Aqua, which otherwise features an entertaining and accessible gameplay model that can be distilled down to: shoot other ships and don't get shot.


The main campaign, while fairly short, gives you plenty of shooter action via a top-down, 2D playing field. In your plucky vessel, you'll take on waves of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft as you try to save your homeland (alliteratively styled the Emperean Empire) from what amounts to generic bad guys one and two. Controls are straightforward: Left stick moves, Right stick fires your main gun in whatever direction you push the stick. Buttons give you turbo boost, mine laying, and torpedoing abilities, and aside from wanton destruction, you'll be able to cruise for secret areas, gather upgrades and mods for the main cannon, and enlist the help of A.I. allies.
Missions and their respective maps are well designed, if a bit simplistic (the gameplay necessitates a large amount of wide-open space, making level design inherently flat), and feature all the standard tropes from "escort the gimp" to base building to "kill everyone." In between missions, you get a lot of stilted voice-acting, poorly written dialogue, and some rather nice charcoal drawings. All of these work together to weave a plot about which you won't care enough to even end this sentence with a preposition.


Look, Aqua is a simple game with a lot of simple fun to be had. Its designers try like the dickens to gussy it up with stuff like local multiplayer and hand-drawn cut-scenes, but none of that matters. If you like frenetically blowing stuff up with old-school flair, you'll dig Aqua -- if you're looking for a gaming experience that stays with you long after the disc leaves the drive, you're gonna need to spend more than 800 Microsoft points. Just sayin'.

System Requirement

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+

RAM: 2 GB

HD Space: 1.5 GB

Graphic Card: 256 MB nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600

Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

DirectX: 9.0c

Keyboard

Mouse

Screenshot

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