By John Walker on October 25th, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
Here’s what it takes to get featured on Rock, Paper, Shotgun: 1) Have a really interesting looking game. 2) Give us a huge amount of money in unmarked cash. 3) Feature a man punching a shark in your trailer. Depth Hunter 2 went for what is unquestionably the most effective route.
Craig took a look at the demo for the first Depth Hunter, and found it to be a surprisingly charming thing. Slow-paced, as things should be underwater, he speared innocent fishies (albeit not very well), and more enjoyed the serenity of nature’s swimming pool. However, there’s little serene when Pippin “Shark Puncher” Ferraras is around!
SHARK BIFF!
Pippin Ferraras is an official dude. But I won’t rest until he learns to leave sharks alone. If they were wandering into his living room and punching him in the face, then fair enough. But until I see videoed evidence, I refuse to believe they are.
The game is due out some time next year, and this time is apparently based on a TV show called Hunting The Abyss, which I’m sad to say I’ve not seen. However, I do want to venture that if you can free dive to hunt there, it’s not an abyss. So there.
25/10/2012 at 14:05 Hunchback says:
Could be interesting if you can do some underwater sightseaing…
25/10/2012 at 14:12 Ian says:
You’d have a whale of a time.
25/10/2012 at 14:14 KikiJiki says:
You’d just be fishing for compliments from your friends
25/10/2012 at 14:20 Zorganist says:
Multiplayer support would really seal the deal.
25/10/2012 at 14:22 MerseyMal says:
Won’t view the video as I’m porpoisely avoiding spoilers.
25/10/2012 at 14:29 XCrusherX says:
You should stop being so shellfish.
25/10/2012 at 14:44 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
Your impression of Sir Sean Connery is complete Bull Trout.
25/10/2012 at 14:58 patricio says:
I’ve bream waiting for that
25/10/2012 at 15:11 McDan says:
We dolphinatly need to scale back on these fish puns chaps, I’m not squidding.
25/10/2012 at 15:26 jkz says:
Is there no plaice for a single player diving game?
25/10/2012 at 15:45 Ian says:
Alright chaps, we all like a pun but let’s not carp on about it.
25/10/2012 at 15:48 Hardlylikely says:
I’ll change my ways, prawnto.
25/10/2012 at 16:53 DarkMalice says:
Well, at least their heart is in the right plaice, ideas like this need to sea the light of day more often.
26/10/2012 at 07:25 Wther says:
Come on, chaps! Don’t be koi and clam up. These puns are just getting starfished.
25/10/2012 at 14:21 Ross Mills says:
Get ready for some Abyssmal puns!
25/10/2012 at 14:22 DecsterB says:
That would make this a real day one perch.
25/10/2012 at 14:22 The_B says:
Is this the appropriate plaice for this kind of thing?
25/10/2012 at 14:25 Hunchback says:
I’m pretty shark it is
25/10/2012 at 14:23 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
This game lacks depth. Imagine if you could talk to the fish. Then you’d really have me hooked!
25/10/2012 at 14:25 DanPryce says:
I hope this gets multiplayer, because then I shoal coral my mates to come play it at my plaice.
25/10/2012 at 14:32 Hunchback says:
I am not so sushi that multiplayer won’t turn this into crab.
25/10/2012 at 14:29 jussipe says:
Stop seahorsing around and concentrate on the mackerel in hand.
25/10/2012 at 14:35 robjwells says:
Walleye never, a Depth Hunter sequel — thank cod!
25/10/2012 at 14:48 Qwallath says:
I really sink it looks promising, and I’m waiting for its release with baited breath.
25/10/2012 at 14:52 DanPryce says:
I’m impressed no one’s made the obvious pun. I’m going to do it, just for the halibut.
25/10/2012 at 15:20 Hardlylikely says:
I hope the difficulty will scale well, for the sole reason that many seem to flounder when games get too hard on porpoise. From the Games Are Best articles, we know that games are best when they are carefully designed for the right type of player, or else people feel gulled at being lured into buying the wrong game.
I just hope the designer is a good tuna. (kill me)
25/10/2012 at 15:22 Optimaximal says:
Can’t anyone sea all the puns in this thread are total pollocks?
25/10/2012 at 16:38 oyog says:
I always assumed the success of Depth Hunter was a fluke but now I’m not so shore.
25/10/2012 at 14:09 frightlever says:
Need more sandbox exploration games without goals, just cool things to find.
Sandbox exploration games without goats, however, are totally unacceptable.
25/10/2012 at 14:14 GameCat says:
So we must invent a shark-goats.
25/10/2012 at 17:32 tumbleworld says:
Were-goat sharks. It’s the only way forward. (Mmm. Crinos shark-goat. Kebabbed.)
25/10/2012 at 14:20 Hunchback says:
Some might argue that one should go out and explore IRL rather than play simulated exploration games…
25/10/2012 at 14:32 brulleks says:
Some might argue that we should go out and punch sharks on the nose IRL. They’d be equally wrong.
25/10/2012 at 14:42 Hunchback says:
Well maybe if you DO dive and get attacked by a shard, punching it in the face could be the best non-lethal solution for both parties? :D
25/10/2012 at 15:59 brulleks says:
Maybe this could be the next thing for James Cameron to try out.
26/10/2012 at 00:26 Eukatheude says:
The game costs 50€ (or whatever it costs). Scuba equipment and training, on the other hand…
25/10/2012 at 14:15 Lucid says:
Whatever happened to that multiplayer game where you can play as a shark or a diver?
25/10/2012 at 14:20 LennyLeonardo says:
I’m wondering that also, but am too lazy to look it up. It looked quite good.
25/10/2012 at 16:30 Hodge says:
Here we go. It was called Depth, and it has just been put ‘on hiatus’… in a way which strongly suggests that they’re going to try for a Kickstarter.
(It was Quinns who was following it which might explain why it fell off the RPS radar.)
25/10/2012 at 18:43 Lucid says:
Aw man, was hoping we’d be seeing it this year.
25/10/2012 at 14:21 Roz says:
Err, John, who HASN’T been punched in the face by a shark in their living room?
25/10/2012 at 19:26 SuperNashwanPower says:
Persistent Pipin has never been punched in the face by a shark whilst sitting in his living room.
Persistent Pipin is the puncher, not the punchee.
PERSISTENT PIPIN
PERSISTENT PIPIN
PERSISTENT PIPIN
He’s creeping up on you whilst you sunbathe on a beach. And rubbing a fish. Behind a tree. As he watches. In his spandex.
Persistently.
25/10/2012 at 14:22 GallonOfAlan says:
See, we’d be letting ourselves down with punning on this one.
25/10/2012 at 14:22 Snakejuice says:
I was all excited during the first half waiting for the PUNCH but then it was just ‘meh’!
25/10/2012 at 14:24 fencenswitschen says:
…and then the shark came back with a laser strapped on his back.
25/10/2012 at 14:26 billyphuz says:
My dad once told me he was at a press conference for Jacques Cousteau, and when asked about what he does when confronted by an aggressive shark, he apparently replied, “well, I take out my camera, and I bop him on ze nose.” Tried and true practice!
25/10/2012 at 14:31 Roz says:
I read that as your dad was at a press conference and was confronted by an aggressive shark and he bopped him on the nose.
I had a small chuckle and realised I need more sleep.
25/10/2012 at 15:40 Optimaximal says:
No, I read it that way as well…
Oh, wait… #4 hours sleep
25/10/2012 at 14:33 e-dog says:
About that 3: would punching sharkman do too?
25/10/2012 at 14:38 Symce says:
This game seems pretty Fishy to me.
25/10/2012 at 14:39 Lev Astov says:
Ahh a combination of the two subjects I love most, sharks and games. When will games ever depict sharks properly? They should act curious and stay at a distance the vast majority of the time… until you least expect it.
Seriously, though, I’m sick of sharks always being super aggressive in every game. That needs to stop or their undeservedly terrible public image will never improve. Apathy has already let their populations collapse in the last few decades.
25/10/2012 at 14:42 frightlever says:
Wait, are you saying sharks need to be less apathetic and hire PR consultants?
25/10/2012 at 15:48 Sparkasaurusmex says:
If they don’t really care, then what’s wrong with a dwindling shark population?
25/10/2012 at 15:52 Lev Astov says:
Nice.
25/10/2012 at 16:02 brulleks says:
This kind of attitude is how people like Mitt Romney end up as presidential candidate.
The sharks must be empowered to rise up and fight for their rights.
25/10/2012 at 14:46 InternetBatman says:
I really, really want another Endless Ocean. I know it’s for the wii, but my partner and I logged over a hundred hours into each game.
25/10/2012 at 16:34 Hodge says:
I want one of these but without the hunting. An underwater Proteus if you will.
25/10/2012 at 19:14 SuperNashwanPower says:
This should be called “Persistent Pipin’s Porpoise Pursuit”.
What a waste of a photo of a creepy bald man in a skin tight spandex outfit.
26/10/2012 at 05:03 arccos says:
The middle section sounds like Darth Vader smoking from a hookah.