The Gaming Industry is rife with huge corporations like Electronic Arts who spew forth endless reams of games each  year, very often franchises that are guaranteed to fill their coffers. These games, can quite often lack a soul. Ok, that's a little melodramatic, EA aren't Lucifer reincarnated as many gamers would have you believe, however if like me, you occasionally long for something a little different then today I have a treat in store for you.

Aquaria is an independent game from Bit Blot (just 2 guys), and this, their first venture into pc gaming won the Seamas McNally grand prize at IGF in 2007. With the combination of high production values and intuitive controls this little game has been getting acclaim in many quarters. It is criminal however that many people still don't know about it, so I feel even though it is now January 2008, that I should bring the game to your attention. There is even a free demo online so you can make up your own minds.

Naija is the character you control in Aquaria and she travels throughout the underwater world which ranges from darkly lit caves to beautiful sunlit oases. The first half hour of the game is a beautiful tranquil affair as you swim through the underwater system avoiding predators and moving alongside the jellyfish while learning the controls. It is a remarkably polished introduction and the narrator's voice just adds incredibly to the serene atmosphere, she has such a lovely gentle english accent. Take note game publishers, if a small independent group such as Bit Blot can voice cast so well, why are we still seeing games with huge budgets apparently voiced by unintelligent sounding Neanderthals?  

Naija's introduction explains that she is alone and has no idea what has happened to her people, these questions haunt her as you progress into the game. All the environments are painstakingly hand painted by the creators and you will notice influences from Super Metroid and Castlevania creeping in. Naija's song spells certainly have a tinge of Zelda about them also. All great influences to draw from however.

The game world is incredibly large, much larger than I would ever have expected considering the humble background of the development team, and there is no linear path through the environment either. Within a few hours you can basically travel huge areas and although the game still uses an unlock area system, there is a very good reason, some areas require you to have a specific skill to deal with them. I really don't want to ruin the game for potential buyers, I had several emails after the last review complaining I was detailing all the information people should be finding out themselves, so I will attempt in this review to just give teasers and tasters of what to expect.

The control method is sublime, Naija defends and attacks through song, and as incredibly lame and uncool as that may sound, in practise it is marvellous. Moving the mouse around the screen changes her direction (check out the videos), and holding the left button moves her in the required direction. Pushing the button with Naija at a distance, gives her a power dash move, escaping the clutches of any enemies nearby. Her Transformation ability is wonderful, holding down the right mouse button rewards you with a radial menu system consisting of a number of coloured icons each associated with a note. If you move the cursor across the icons in a particular order, Naija then transforms into a being of pure energy - Dark Naija. In this form she can fire streams of energy and a homing attack. The changing of form plays an integral role within Aquaria as you turn from the hunted into the hunter often depending on the situation. Imagine you are trapped behind a rock wall. Only Naija in her base form can cast a spell to clear the rocks, however in doing so she is vunerable to attack from nearby enemies. This adds a high tension aspect to the game that is great fun. For those who like to use a gamepad, there is an option to use that instead of the keyboard and/or mouse.

The controls are in fact, just brilliant. Naija can navigate entirely through the terrain with the mouse, or if you feel more comfortable you can use the W,A,S,D method of movement. You can even use a combination of both, much like in a FPS if you feel it works better. There are some caves in the game through which fine control is crucial so having the ability to shoot and move while aiming with the mouse is very much needed. The dash move incidentally if used near a wall, will tell Naija to hold onto the wall, which comes in useful in confined spaces with a multitude of foes on the move. The stellar control system does not stop there however, if you spin the cursor around Naija she creates a mini style whirlpool which can shift smaller creatures in her vicinity, especially those who stick to her to slow her down.

The map also works well, when you enter a new section it shows you the full layout of tunnels and until you venture into them, they remain dark. A minor flaw here is that the map is divided into sections with the area you are in being the focal point. This is fine, however the areas you aren't in and which you have travelled to before aren't distinguished from non travelled areas so you will end up backtracking to find out if you have missed anything via the different paths the game offers. As the environment is huge it can take some time looking around and finding out which path you want to take. There were a few times I found blocked routes, then later acquiring the ability to unblock them found out that I couldn't remember exactly where they were located. If you are a fan of the Metroid games like myself it won't really put a dampener on the whole experience, however I know many people will find this a negative aspect to the game.

The items you can pick up are varied, some can expand your life force, others will give you ingredients for cooking. Oh right, I haven't yet mentioned the cooking. Almost everything you can interact with in the game yields ingredients, from plants, fruits and even the fish life you kill. This means within a few hours you will have berries, eggs and even meat stashed away in your inventory. It takes a while to learn which items to combine, however basic items like plant leaf, fish oil and spicy meat gives you a Spicy Roll adding a +1 boost to your energy form for 45 seconds, there are literally hundreds more. For those of you who hate spending time with these things, fear not, because the developers have cleverly thought this through and you won't find later than you need to combine 45 items you missed to open some stupid door blocking your way. They are totally supplemental and aid you on your journey, rather than being the focal point of the game progression system. Some people will argue, this could have been turned into an RPG style levelling up system with potions and ingredients permanently improving Naija, however my strong views on the subject are, it is really not needed to enjoy this game and would probably scare many people away.

The same can be said for the puzzle system, I have read complaints that it is too simplistic in nature and greater emphasis should have been placed on making them more complex and inherent to progression. I argue again that in so many cases adding a plethora of complex puzzles can lead to people getting frustrated and disheartened with the game.

All in all Aquaria is a marvellous independent release from a couple of extremely talented and creative people, if you play the demo and are unimpressed I will find it hard to believe. The visuals are not groundbreaking by today's high budget standards, so don't be expecting Shader Model 3 effects with numerous pixel shader techniques, however the love for their craft and the passion to design a warm, and beautiful underwater world shows in every hand painted pixel. I was just as impressed by seeing a shaft of light piercing the surface above than I was with any HDR effect I have seen recently. Perhaps the subtle use of an effect is just as impressive as an overuse of many.

The saturation and colour choices in the coral environments are equally as impressive with the kelp forest contrasting dynamically with the blood red tunnel system. The only negative I could say, is that the game should really have more support for resolutions (particularly widescreen), as via my 1080p HDTV (1920x1080), the maximum resolution I could achieve was 1400x1050. I had to crank the Anti Aliasing to help smooth the graphics.

Those of you on older hardware will be pleased to hear the game runs well on last generation ATI and Nvidia hardware and won't tax a modern day system.

The music in Aquaria is just as appealing as the voice acting and my daughter ended up loading the game to get Naija to sing along with the music. In fact I had a hard time getting her to put down the mouse and keyboard as she experimented with the right mouse button song controls. It was quite charming to watch (and quickly irritating, but I will play the role of loving incredibly patient father as long as I can).

The full version of the game also comes with a level editor so if you are feeling creative you can make your own underwater scenarios. It isn't that hard to use and you even have the ability to add your own graphics and music into the mix.

If you are in the mood for something beautiful, off beat and utterly charming in design and you long for the days when we had small independent and creative PC developers then be sure to head over to Bit Blot's site and give the free demo a try.  Just be warned, the really cool stuff doesn't start happening until later in the game, and you will have to pay for that.

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