Undertow (Sniper)
Genre: Arcade
Developer: Chair Entertainment
Publisher: Chair Entertainment

Graphics
Gorgeous blues and greens abound! Some wonderful shaders, artistic 3d models, and some really nice water effects paint a scene of expansive underwater action on a two-dimensional canvas. Rich and teeming with aquatic life and the opposing team, Undertow's world is believable and makes for a good backdrop to the action.

Sound
In the way of a soundtrack, there are really only a couple orchestral motifs present, and they aren't particularly memorable. The voice acting is appealing, in part because of its amateurish qualities, and the wealth of aquatic battle sound effects are sharp and suit the atmosphere of the game.

Gameplay
Undertow is a unique cross between Unreal Tournament's "Domination" mode, Geometry Wars, and Ecco the Dolphin. The game has a certain quantity of well-formulated depth, including varied maps, four unit types, and unit upgrades which are obtained by spending accumulated points during a match.

Overall
Undertow is deserving of praise for its unique undersea setting and fun meshing of genres. It's not entirely clear, however, why one would choose to play this game instead of a good title in one of the genre's it borrows from, and this is perhaps a crucial problem with Undertow's premise.

Sniper's verdict: