Hydro Thunder is back! Now called Hydro Thunder: Hurricane and promises to bring back all of the good times from its predessesor. Since Midway is pretty much no more, the game is being developed by Vector Unit. We got a hands at E3 to find out what’s changed and what was bought back.
This new Hydro Thunder Huricane plays just like the original. The sliding turns, big air jumps, bouncing on the waves, and the rest of the familiar racing styles appear to be like the original but brand new. There are some new features in the game, the boats can crash into each other causing mayhem and pile ups, and the race leader will not have as many boost pickups available, leaving more boost for the racers in the back.
What the developers have done with this new game is keep the same style of gameplay, colorful environments, and many secret paths that were available in all of the tracks. Speaking of tracks, there are eight in total with their own settings. The blue and red boost tanks are littered throughout all of the tracks.The different racing modes include time trial, tournament, slalom-type of race, and quick race. The boats are still sorted into 3 categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advance. Along with that, some boats are making a comeback like Rad Hazord and Razorback.
The game can be played with eight players online and four players split screen. When it comes to online the host controls the lobby, host controls the map selection and the type of race. The leaderboards are in place to keep everything competitive.
Any race that you take part in earns you credits. With the credits you can unlock new boats, boat skins, game modes, tracks, and Avatar Awards. There are downloadable content already in plans for the future. Look for the release in late July.