Game: Highwater
Genre: Action, Strategy, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam, (Windows) also available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Series X)
Developers | Publishers: Demagog Studio | Rogue Games
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 7+
Price: US $19.99 | UK £16.59 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: March 13th, 2024
Review code used, with many thanks to Reverb Communications.
Originally released as a Netflix Game on mobile and developed by Demagog Studio, Highwater takes us into a less-explored post-apocalyptic scenario: a flooded world. The flooded scenario is often regarded as the cause of climate change, which is also the case in Highwater.
In this 3D strategy adventure game, you explore a waterlogged landscape, switching between boat exploration and scavenging around on the few remaining patches of land.
Highwater
The people of Highwater are trying their best to adapt to their watery world. You take on the role of Nikos, a teenage scavenger who belongs to a splinter community called Hightower. Previously, the smaller communities depended on resources and support from the wealthy elites in Alphaville.
However, the situation worsens as the residents of Alphaville plan to abandon Earth for Mars. Determined to secure a better future, Nikos relies on his friends and your guidance to enter Alphaville and grab a spot on the departing rocket.
As Nikos, you’ll steer your boat around the watery world and gather needed items and weapons, and you’ll face numerous turn-based battles. Fortunately, at times, you do have companions accompanying you on your journey, allowing for strategic planning to tackle each battle ahead.
Apocalyptic Theme
The post-apocalyptic theme in games is often dark and sad, and it’s not much different in Highwater; it also poses challenges to developers to present a theme like that as an enjoyable concept; again, that’s debatable if Highwater achieved that too!
However, I did enjoy the boat travel, and the simplicity of moving about by boat in a desolate, empty, flooded world was the most enjoyable part of the gameplay; maybe I should have been a duck in real life! Also, while navigating by boat, you stop at pockets of land that haven’t been flooded, and you’ll complete quests for NPCs that you find in the world.
Turn-based Combat
The combat mechanics in Highwater deliver a sense of risk and strategy, mainly because not much is explained to the player in any great detail, and the first time I encountered a battle in Highwater, it was the last thing I expected to come across in that moment.
For instance, when the first combat encounter occurred, I wondered who this mysterious figure I had just fought was. Maybe he was a thug looking for trouble, or he was a father looking to feed his family. However, this was answered immediately after Nikos shouted, “That guy wanted to steal my stuff!”
Right, I thought; I suppose stealing would fit into this world since it is set in a post-apocalyptic setting. But it was rather jarring to me to witness Nikos, who is a child, beat a starving man to death with an oar without any thought or hesitation whatsoever.
Battle Solo and in a Team for No Experience and No Rewards
Each character you meet is distinct and capable, not just in appearance but also in their abilities; some carry weapons and guns, and others use their fists or whatever comes to hand in the environment during the turn-based battles.
For instance, you can push or throw items you have found and use items in the environment to knock the enemy out; you can also push shopping carts towards the enemy and even stun them with a flashlight. I particularly liked using Nikos’ fishing rod to reel the enemy into a hazard or the water. In addition to weapons, Nikos and his team can carry two supplies: food and medicine. The supplies restore health or buff stats and can be found on the various islands.
However, once the turn-based battle is over, you don’t earn any experience or anything for that matter; you either win or lose the battle, and that’s it: no rewards and no experience. So, for me, that made the battles kind of useless in the game, like they were added in as a filler.
Exploring By Boat
It’s evident throughout the gameplay that the apocalypse theme carries a sombre tone, and sometimes, a lonely feeling sets in. Additionally, there is a sense of emptiness throughout the game world, as is typical in apocalyptic settings. Still, as a game context, it is sometimes not very pleasant to play through.
While you can explore numerous spots of land in the world as you move around by boat following the main mission or the side quests, many of these areas of land prove to be empty and just time-consuming. Furthermore, stopping at these islands may lead to battles with enemies. Still, the lack of a guaranteed reward or even experience points takes away the satisfaction you get from the combat.
Visuals and Music
Visually, Highwater is pretty atmospheric, with the desolation of the Earth covered by water. Ruined buildings poke out of the water, decay is all around, and it adds to the sense of a world-ending catastrophe.
While travelling around, Nikos listens to Highwater Pirate Radio for music, news and commentary. The music is so-so; some of it is fine, and I particularly liked the theme music, “The World Ended on a Sunny Day”. Other times, I turned the volume down on my Switch as I couldn’t listen to the racket. And sometimes, the lyrics in the songs are too over-dramatic. The developers probably wanted to show how art reflects this flooded world, but I felt that some of the music did not fit well with Highwater’s tone.
On the Nintendo Switch, the game preforms reasonably well though I did see some frame rate issues during my playthrough.
Warning for Parents
A word of warning: Highwater is rated age 7 PEGI in the UK and Europe and appropriately Teen rated in the USA. Parents should beware that there are scenes in the game that are not suitable for young children, like a row of corpses hanging from Sunken Highway direction signs, and some of the language between the characters is also not suitable for young ears to hear.
Conclusion
Highwater gives off an eerie post-civilisation feel, so kudos to the developer for getting that point across to the player since it is set in a post-apocalyptic world.
As for the gameplay, I have very mixed feelings about Highwater. Firstly, I think that the different elements of the gameplay don’t gel well together. The boat journeys were the most enjoyable part for me, especially at sunset when the sun was creeping down the sky; the artwork illustrated that well, whereas the rest of the gameplay left me feeling kind of indifferent.
Final Verdict: I’m Not Sure 