The story opens with Tom Hansen who was once a hero, but now disgraced. Hansen is now happy to stay under the radar as just one more guy out there saving lives with the coast guard. All that changes when his vessel receives an order to investigate a Russian whaling ship that has already been boarded by an elite military force who failed to report back. What Tom will find there will reawaken the hero he had once known in his spirit, if it doesn’t kill him first. I guess Tom thought he would join the Coast Guard, travel to exotic places, mingle with other cultures, meet and enjoy diverse peoples and KILL THEM.

Tom, a guy in the US Coast Guard on the USS Ravenswood, along with his crew, receives a mysterious order to undertake a hazardous investigation in the midst of a winter storm. The waves surge higher, Tom and his crewmates locate the vessel, an abandoned Russian whaling ship. They board it, but discover that the ship has been abandoned by human life. The seas are too rough and the USS Ravenswood has to return to base. Not long after that Tom and his crew discover something else is on board, something inhuman and very bad for human health, and before you can count the number of fingers on one hand Hansen is the only one left to stop this evil menace. Joining forces with the only other survivor, Hansen must battle the inhuman menace and seek out its very heart for a final battle that could have dire consequences for all of humanity.

Now it is your turn to control Tom’s outcome. The whaling vessel is a maze of corridors with traps and scenarios to conjugate. There are special valves, extinguishers, electrical transformers, barrels, laser mines and switches that can be used to your advantage in combat and sometimes to your unknowing demise. Look for documents that can give hints for survival in this horrid place. Tom is fluent in Russian, so some of the difficult task of wandering about the ship and learning its layout helps. There is a handy map of the whaling vessel included in the game book for needed reference as to where Tom is and may need to go to complete the mission objectives.

The menace Tom faces are Exo’s of many types and varieties. Some lurk in the shadows and come out when least expected, while other Exo’s just come at Tom like hungry jackals to a newborn sacrificial abandoned lamb. The Exo’s are slow and can come as a loner, but mostly they like companionship and come at Tom in packs. Not only does Tom have the Exo’s to worry about and the dangers a loose ship can have rolling about in the high seas, he also faces the Russian mercenaries hired to guard the ship. The mercenaries are under order to shoot anything that moves and Tom is included. A mercenary is wearing armor and not easy to bring down. The Exo’s are undead and have an exocel in their skull that has to be destroyed before they will die. The best way to eliminate any roaming threat is a head shot with the weapon being wielded. There is a brain smash move if Tom is lucky enough to have knocked a mutant down and gotten close enough to it before it gets back up. Other than that it is head shoot, be accurate or die a brutal death.

The game provides Tom with special moves like grasp, critical hit and shove. The grasp is useful if Tom is being washed overboard and needs to grab the railing or edge of the ship before plummeting to the icy waters and death. It is also useful to grab a rail to steady the aim on the weapon for more accuracy. The critical hit is used when Tom is grabbed by an Exo to be strangled or bitten during combat. In this case press the B button repeatedly till the status bar fills and then pull the trigger for the full effect (instant death to the mutant). The shove move is for when Tom is mobbed and needs breathing space and to get his bearings or when surprised by a mutant. Not being alert can end the game prematurely in death. Something to remember is that ammunition is scarce and so are health packs. Use every item wisely or become very adept at hand to hand combat (which is impossible). The dead bodies are the treasure chests for ammunition and booty. There are many types of weapons on board with specialized uses. The spear gun, for example, is your grenade launcher with its gas tipped spears that have deadly AOE, killing and damaging all Exo’s in immediate area of blast. Each weapon has a way to be used most effectively. Practice when you find something new to discover the best use.

The game has a very intriguing story line which leads the player in helpful ways while keeping them in complete suspense. Suspense being scared enough to wish you had many changes of under clothes. I found myself jumping up and flinching like my seat was wired to 220 volts and some morbid pranksters had the controls in another room with a camera on me getting their jolly’s watching me twitch.

The graphics are done in sync with the suspense element in mind. Some places are very dark and dank; others are filled will icy cold water and broken electrical boxes, open fires blaze about and the constant swaying motion is always there. Motion sickness may be a problem for some who don’t have proper sea legs.

I enjoyed the playing of this very difficult game. Only head shooting the menacing adversaries and avoiding all the unknown obstacles along with figuring out just how to navigate about avoiding the traps and pitfalls made this a difficult game. The obstacles can be overcome with time, practice and persistence. The story and wanting to see what was coming next kept me going even when times were tough. I died more times than I would like to remember or even care to count. Persistence paid off and I got to feel the monumental joy of completing this game and prevailing over the creative genius’s that created it.