Undertow (Xbox 360)

CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Brett Todd
• Reviewed on: 02/07/2008
• Released on: 11/21/2007

Ringo Starr clearly isn't on the same page as Chair Entertainment. Whereas The Beatles' drummer famously fantasized about withdrawing from the world for a quiet existence with friendly crustaceans and octopi, the developer's Undertow depicts an H2O that's anything but peaceful. But though this frantic multiplayer-oriented Xbox Live Arcade shooter offers a lot of excitement, a number of design quirks and a short, frustrating single-player story mode dampen the experience.

Undertow's gameplay is a 2D-platform take on the Battlefield franchise's focus on team tactics, albeit with hints of Geometry Wars, given that you maneuver frantically with the left stick and shoot in all directions with the right stick. However, the setting is entirely different and takes you to a flooded future Earth where humankind has moved under the sea. As usual with these sorts of apocalyptic gaming scenarios, factions are fighting for control of the ruins. Here, you've got the Iron Marines, Nemoidians (followers of Captain Nemo), and Atlantians scrapping it out for domination. Each group is represented by four classes evenly divided between light and heavy unit types. Two are speedy swimmers akin to fast-shooting scuba divers, and two are hard-hitting yet slower minisubs or underwater creatures. You can swap between classes during matches to keep the action flowing quickly. Each unit can also be upgraded three times to provide heavier defenses, faster firing rates, and the like.

Battles are fast and intense, and set in front of beautiful seascapes dotted with ruins and reefs.

Games play out like matches in online shooters. The only difference is that you're playing on a 2D plane in front of hauntingly beautiful 3D backdrops that make it seem as if you're watching a battle raging in your aquarium. Unreal Engine 3 looks phenomenal here, although the 2D playing plane and 3D scenery (ruined cities, reefs) are blended so well that you can lose track of the fairly tiny units. Sound effects and explosions sound like they're taking place underwater as well, with a booming resonance that practically envelops your ears. Game styles aren't as unique as the glub-glub setting, though. You take part in traditional team-conquest matches with up to 16 players on Xbox Live or on consoles hooked up to a local network. Each side starts with a set number of ticket points, and your goal is to drain the enemy to zero by killing troops and conquering bases. In addition to this mode of play, you can hook up with friends online and go through the solo campaign cooperatively.

Conquest is the main selling point, though. Maps are smartly designed with loads of choke points, hidden or out-of-the-way caches of power-ups that provide the usual buffs (shields, depth charges, that sort of thing), and other terrain features that make these undersea battles awfully intense. Teamwork is critical to reducing an enemy's tickets, and you need to split your squad between offense and defense. Bases can be conquered lickety-split by simply floating near them for a handful of seconds, so blitzing ahead with everybody generally just lets the enemy sneak past you and do the same thing. In this scenario, you lose the bases you've already taken behind you and wind up caught in a crossfire while trying to defend new conquests. It's best to skip trying to win matches outright by conquering all bases on the map, in favor of just seizing a slim majority of them and settling into defense. If you take this conservative approach, you've got a good chance to kill enough enemies to drain your opponent's ticket cache, although it can take time to reach this happy conclusion because you inevitably wind up in a war of attrition.

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