AquaNox Captivated Gamers With Its Graphics Despite Being Just a Blowout
It would seem that the pursuit of graphics in video games is an „invention” of recent years. Nothing could be further from the truth, and AquaNox, an underwater shooter released in 2001, is a prime example.
In 1997, Massive Development gained worldwide recognition thanks to Archimedean Dynasty - a futuristic submarine simulator set in a post-apocalyptic world of Aqua. More than four years later, the German team decided to remind the players about themselves by releasing a sequel to their game. Why wasn't AquaNox simply called Archimedean Dynasty 2 and what made it find a permanent place in the memories and hearts of many players, who were familiar with the game from the turn of the century? Let's find out.
A sequel, they say...
The action of AquaNox is set in the 27th century. Humanity, forced to leave the Earth's surface, no longer suitable for life, has permanently settled in the depths of the sea. The underwater population established permanent outposts and not only began to lead a relatively normal life but also managed to divide into factions competing with each other (most often brutally) for influence and trying to dominate the remaining groups.
The main character of the game was the mercenary Emerald "Kil" Flint, whose ship was stolen. Given that the latter not only served him as a work tool, but also ensured his survival, the protagonist had to do everything in his power to regain the ship, and with it - his lost position. In this way, "Kil" was getting involved in a plot of a much larger caliber, on which the fate of the entire world as he knew it depended.
Throughout the subsequent missions, we were getting to know the next elements of the plot puzzle, which unfortunately was not too thrilling. The situation was similar with the characters with whom Flint interacted during his adventure. The situation was much better with factions shaking the underwater world; among them, one could find, among others, traders or significantly less peacefully inclined adventurers.
...but not quite
Archimedean Dynasty was a quite complex simulator that enabled you to get a taste of underwater life. AquaNox in some respects was a step back from its predecessor, because this time Massive Development gave us a dynamic shooter. The gameplay was therefore significantly simplified, and the missions themselves, although quite diverse, were more on the short side - some could be completed in just a few minutes. While the latter could be considered a flaw, the developers didn't allow us to save our progress while completing the quests, so dying on the battlefield meant having to start the quest over. As a result, short missions could turn out to be a real blessing.
Although we were often forced to act alone, allied units regularly accompanied us. Nevertheless, they were controlled by artificial intelligence, and the creators skimped on giving us any ability to issue them any commands. And speaking of AI, it's worth taking a moment to consider our opponents.
Although the opponents shot accurately, they were not very intelligent, so it was possible to "herd" them into advantageous spots on the battlefield quite efficiently and then eliminate them one by one. Nonetheless, their numbers (rarely were there one-on-one duels here), as well as the dynamics of underwater battles, meant that our death occurred quite often, especially at the beginning of the underwater adventure. The key to success was to keep moving, as well as to use natural or man-made elements of the environment, such as powerful buildings or gigantic volcanoes, behind which we could hide.
By completing subsequent tasks, we earned money that we could spend on purchasing better submarines, as well as more powerful weapons. All this meant that over time we became an increasingly dangerous terror of the waters, and the skirmishes in which we took part no longer posed such a great challenge.
Choking on beauty
However, the strongest aspect of AquaNox was neither the storyline nor the mission design. The game enjoyed popularity due to the quality of its visuals, which were unmatched at the time of its release. It is enough to say that the whole thing was created on the engine used by Nvidia as a demonstration of the capabilities of its then flagship product - GeForce 3. Even though it's been almost 23 years since the game's premiere, its graphics, led by convincingly rendered lighting and particle effects, can still be appealing today. Additionally, it is worth noting that although AquaNox was not a simulator, it took into account the laws of physics. Our ship behaved quite realistically, which made it impossible to perform the sophisticated maneuvers that are commonplace in space or aviation shooters.
AquaNox offered not only a story campaign but also single battles, as well as the possibility of playing in multiplayer mode. However, according to many of his reviews from that era, Massive Development's work was a forgettable game. According to HowLongToBeat, completing everything the game had to offer took just 11.5 hours.
What came next?
Despite the fact that the reviews of AquaNox did not indicate a mega-hit, but at most a solid shooter, the title managed to achieve some degree of success. In 2002, Massive Development released its sequel, AquaNox 2: Revelation. After that, the creators got to work on the third game under this banner (fourth, counting Archimedean Dynasty), AquaNox: The Angel's Tears, a console incarnation of the second AquaNox. Unfortunately, the project failed to pass Sony's quality tests, which led to its cancellation, and consequently - to the closure of Massive Development.
For the fourth adventure in the world of Aqua we had to wait until 2020 when we saw the debut of Aquanox: Deep Descent, developed by Digital Arrow thanks in part to a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Unfortunately, the devs did not handle the subject well and delivered us a nicely looking but mediocre (at best) title. Time will tell if we will ever see another AquaNoxa.
How to play AquaNox today?
At the time of writing, AquaNox is available on GOG.com and Steam for $5. The boxed edition of the game can be bought for around $14.
