Price: £44.99 Players: 1-4 Blood Wake is described on the cover as high-speed gunboat warfare, but I was hoping to a little more than just that, but from the footage I'd seen on TV I didn't have my hopes up and that's a good job too. Yes, there is a plot but it's not worth bothering with since you have an evil brother who ambushed you and left you for dead and now you have to get revenge by getting in your speedboat and completing task after task, such as simply blowing up all the other boats in the first round, to later ones such as doing the same whilst collecting treasure chests and the like. Along the way there are health and ammo powerups - dropped by exploding enemy ships - and that's about it. It's fun for an hour or so, but is something that would only be worth a look in the arcades if it came in a sit-down hydraulic cabinet. You'd throw a couple of quid in, have some fun and forget about it. You wouldn't pay £45 for it.

The graphics are pretty, but I've seen better water effects from Splashdown on the PS2, but the physics are reasonable enough for most of the game, even if nothing to really write home about since they have their weak moments such as when you end up on the beach and wait to slide back down. The sound is a let-down: rat-a-tat-tat all the day long, with a dull oriental-style soundtrack. The gameplay should be this title's saving grace, but it becomes a pain at times when you're trying to turn around to the left/right and finding your boat attempting to switch round in the opposite direction. Grrr!! My advice is to try before you buy, since once you've rented it, you'll have to love it a lot to get some longevity out of it.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2002.