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Splashdown Review
Stephen Leyton
00/12/0000
It`s fresh and exciting a pure adrenaline rusher.
Splashdown is a new game featuring Sea Dooâs, which is a combination between a Jet Ski and a boat. The publishers Infogrames have been shouting aloud about this one for quite some time now, finally we can see why.
The immediate comparison to Splashdown is Waverace on the GameCube; thankfully the developers have created a game that is worthy of taking on Nintendoâs acclaimed racer. I could never really get into Waverace which is a great shame as it is a good game, because of my limited skills with a Jet Ski I could never actually get that far which was slightly frustrating. However after a quick play on Splashdown I found myself instantly hooked. The game relies on simple controls that can be mastered within 30 minutes of playing, once you understand how to perform the various tricks and styles you can easily impress your friends, as you take to the water and battle it out against 4 other members.
The first thing that will impress you with Splashdown is the beautiful water effects created by the developers, in my opinion they are probably the best we have seen on the PlayStation 2 to date. They may not quite match those presented in Waverace: Blue Storm on the GameCube simply because Splashdown hasnât got the reflections that Waverace does. From the menu screens to the levels in which you race around, the graphics look polished and realistic, boasting almost lifelike environments, Splashdown certainly gives Waverace a run for its money.
There are a number of features that help make Splashdown stand out ahead of the rest including the âAction Cameraâ button that allows you to take control of the camera mid-action, showing your tricks, jumps and moves from a dramatic angle, like a Replay but during the game. Thankfully the controls are simple to get use to making it easy for beginners to pick up yet mastering it can take a little while. For example there are 3 main stunt buttons R2, R1 and L2, an accelerator and then the steering that is controlled by using either the digital or analogue controller. Whilst you are in the air pressing a stunt button with a direction will perform a trick, this then brings up a gauge at the bottom, the longer you hold the stunt the higher the gauge gets too. If you land properly your boost bar will be filled up however if you fail to land flat and fall of you will not be rewarded for your stunt and will loose valuable time. There are a number of smaller tricks that you can perform without using the Stunt buttons; Submarine is one of them allowing you to go under water for a short period of time, which allows you to get past objects in your way. Using the Submarine technique with a quick upward manoeuvre will make your boat go under water for a short period of time and then fly back up doing a 360° in mid-air awarding you with high points and style. The game has over 20 levels in total for you to master, which is a lot more than what Waverace boasts on the Cube. It also has a split screen two player mode which is always a great laugh when playing with some mates,
The developers have signed a number of well-known bands including Blink 182, Otis, Sum 41, KMFDM and Smash Mouth (who produced the song All Stars which is featured in the film release of Shrek). The music line-up works really well with the style of the game giving it a modern feel. You can instantly recognise the soundtracks used throughout the game which is great. Games like Tony Hawkâs Pro Skater use well known bands for their music so thumbs up to Infogrames for the deals they signed. Whilst the temptation might be to turn the Background music to MAX and put the sound effects to mute, there are some good effects in there too with each characters shouting out different rants when they perform tricks.
