But while those individual elements resemble a recipe for success, somewhere along the line there were too many cooks in the kitchen. SeaBlade was billed as the Xbox’s first “true arcade shooter,” and in some respects that’s true. Mindless action, blasting incoming craft and navigating a fully 3D world in your ship are worthy of the arcade-shooter moniker. But arcade games are generally easy to control, have an intuitive HUD and maintain a consistent graphical flair. Unfortunately, SeaBlade has none of that.

Gameplay
SeaBlade’s gameplay is relatively straightforward, requiring players to traverse somewhat-contained 3D worlds to pick up hostages, drop off equipment and/or supplies, or fly through targets arranged in a particular order within a given amount of time. While achieving these objectives both above and below water, you’ll be continuously bombarded by enemy craft and stationary turrets that try to keep you from completing your mission.

The HUD you use to navigate the game’s 39 missions uses a tried-and-true formula, with the location of your next objective denoted by a blue arrow and your next airborne enemy indicated by a red arrow. Somewhere along the line, though, the developers omitted the HUD’s ability to identify the location of opposing turrets, which unload the most powerful artillery in the game. While this wouldn’t be a problem in some titles, you’ll encounter more turrets attacking your hull than you will any opposing craft, making the sudden realization that half of your energy is gone even more frustrating.

Perhaps most frustrating is the game’s control scheme. Quite simply, it stinks. The default scheme uses the right analog stick to move your craft, the left stick to control velocity, and the D-pad to strafe left and right. Simply mapping the velocity to the left trigger would’ve eliminated numerous headaches; it’s nearly impossible to successfully strafe left or right while simultaneously moving forward or backward and firing with the right trigger. Unless you have three hands. Or a double-jointed and dislocated thumb. Want to customize the control scheme? Go for it; it only lets you switch the functions of the left and right analog sticks. Either way, if you want to strafe, count on being a sitting duck for the unidentified turrets below you.

The shining point in SeaBlade’s gameplay is its physics model. Flying through the air and navigating the underwater regions “feel” very different, and you’ll notice the ship’s speed and responsiveness slow down considerably when you’re traveling with the whales. (Though you won’t see them, you’ll hear the mating calls of humpback whales underwater.) It’s just too bad that more missions don’t exploit this great physics model; the only times you’ll be able to see it in action is in the target-flying missions or while trying to get below the turrets to avoid their fire.

Graphics
What little you see of the characters and non-game environments will have you begging for more. Straight from a top-notch comic book, the cutscenes and menu interfaces have a style not unlike a more-refined TimeSplitters 2. It’s really quite tasty. Surprisingly, though, the graphical style changes entirely for the in-game graphics, with ship models and environments that resemble the expected fare of an arcade-style shooter.

The ship models have hints of originality, with a look that actually resembles submersible flying craft. Each wing folds and moves as you’d “expect” it to when strafing, the textures and shading are solid, and each craft looks polished and sufficiently metallic.

The environments are a bit “standard,” which is somewhat disappointing since SeaBlade was designed for the Xbox. Whether you’re flying through snowy, watery or mountainous environments, the ceilings are low and the underwater depths are rather shallow, which make the game more claustrophobic than it should be. On the bright side, the environments do show bullet damage underwater, and the effects of shooting while below sea level look believable.

Environmental textures pass muster, but that doesn’t keep them from looking polygonal at times or relying on basic shapes for their form. There’s no draw-in or any framerate problems, but with the distinct flavor of the opening graphics, it’s a shame the rest of the game didn’t follow in those footsteps.

Sound
Unlike many arcade shooters, SeaBlade finds a nice balance of “futuristic” music and muted melodies to ensure that the soundtrack doesn’t get old five minutes into the game. By the same token, it doesn’t necessarily stand out, either. Ditto with the sound effects: they get the job done, but with weapons that often sound similar, you’ll seldom go to bed with the distinct sound of a gatling gun rattling your brain. Reason? It’s not all that distinct.

What you’ll really notice from an audio standpoint is the game’s full use of surround sound, with whales’ mating calls bouncing around underwater, gunfire echoing trough metallic tunnels, and explosions coming from every direction possible. Having recently played other 3D space shooters, this use of surround sound was a welcome surprise.

Replayability
Three multiplayer modes are included in SeaBlade (a deathmatch mode called “Chaos Reigns,” a Tag mode and one called “Moving Target”), but it’s doubtful many people will use them to extend the game’s longevity. For starters, each mode uses the same levels and ships from the single-player game, although some ships will only be available once you unlock them in the primary campaign. Also, you’ll find that both of you will complain about the controls more than gloat over a good kill. While it’s always refreshing to know you’re not alone in your frustration, you’ll likely both opt to turn the game off.

With a name like SeaBlade, it would’ve been nice to see some multiplayer maps that take place entirely underwater, thereby making people focus a bit more on strategy due to their slow speed. Even a new above-water level would’ve been nice, or one in which you could use only the gatling gun or only missiles. But alas, the variety just isn’t there.

Sadly, that’s the tale of SeaBlade. It could’ve been so much better with a bit more attention to multiplayer modes, graphical consistency and, above all, control customization. The game’s not difficult, but the controls make it more frustrating than it should be and inadvertently increase the time required to complete the game. With better controls and more multiplayer modes, the chances of this game finding more homes would’ve increased exponentially.

See more screens on the SeaBlade media page