Deep Fighter

A war is brewing between two submarine civilizations, and to make matters worse the area is about to be destroyed by some sort of natural cataclysm, with underwater volcanoes erupting and earthquakes rocking the ocean floor.

As a member of the elite Defence Force, it is your job to secure the area and make sure that your race is able to construct the Leviathan, a huge submarine capable of evacuating the survivors to a safe new home.

Octopus' Garden

Featuring a blend of action and strategy, Deep Fighter is a follow-up of sorts to SubCulture, which was released way back in 1997 by developers Criterion Studios.

As well as taking on your enemies head to head in a range of different submarines, you will also be able to take control of your city's defensive turrets, help repair buildings and installations, and control remote drones and other submarines to aid you in a series of missions.

You can even "herd great schools of fish" apparently, though you will need to watch out as not all of the creatures who share the oceans with you are so benign - your enemies include giant armoured nautiluses and tentacled jellyfish...

Yellow Submarine

Graphically Deep Fighter certainly looks the part. There is a full day and night cycle, with the light of the sun and moon filtering down from the surface far above and "dappling" the sea floor, and water levels changing as the tides go in and out, sometimes giving you access to new areas.

The creatures, vehicles, and buildings that inhabit the deep sea are nicely detailed, and their lights illuminate the sea floor and cast shadows just as you would expect.

Settings include the deep abyss, a giant crashed submarine, and even the ruins of Atlantis. The terrain is certainly impressive, and vast in scale, and of course there are all the now traditional volumetric steam and fog effects to make life more interesting as well.

Sound hasn't been ignored either, and Deep Fighter will feature dynamic music, positional audio, and environmental effects to help immerse you in the game. Which is nice.

Conclusion

Deep Fighter isn't due for release until June 2000, and so details are still fairly thin on the ground, but the game certainly looks promising from what we have seen so far.

And one thing is sure - Deep Fighter should be one of the most novel games to appear this year. After all, how often do you get to pilot a submarine around a ruined city blowing up giant jellyfish?