TODAY: 28, Partly Couldy with a risk of Showers/Thundershowers later this afternoon, with the potential for Showers/Thundershowers developing this evening as well.
TONIGHT: 13, Clearing, with mainly clear conditions expected through the overnight.

>Risk of a late-day Thundershowers on Thursday, slightly cooler on Friday with a risk of seeing Showers in the afternoon. Long Weekend looks cooler with the risk of Showers on Saturday and Sunday. Monday sky conditions clear slightly, however the chance of precipitation remains.

We’re giving away a chatr wireless Samsung Gravity phone with three months of unlimited talk and text service. Worth $280! All you have to do is tell me why you deserve to win! Contest closes July 29th at noon MT. The winner will be posted right here on my blog. Good luck!

WE HAVE A WINNER! Congratulations to James Narfason. You won the chatr package!

TONIGHT: 13, Risk of Showers/Thunderstorms continues. Eventual Clearing.

>More stable conditions expected Thursday and Friday with the warming pattern continuing until the end of the week but cooler conditions expected for the weekend. At this point, it looks like there’s a good risk of seeing some showers on Saturday with less of a chance of precipitation on Sunday. Cooler conditions persist with a chance of seeing some showers for Holiday Monday.

AND – Ross Hull is a such a good sport enjoy the review rose lovers.  Can’t wait until the finale next week!

TODAY: 23, Mainly Sunny

TONIGHT: 11, Cloudy Periods

Clearing on Monday, with warmer conditions expected Tuesday with the risk once again of Showers/Thundershowers. Warming pattern continues until the end of the week, with cooler conditions expected for the weekend. Relatively clear sky conditions look to continue through the long weekend.

Ten years ago Midway made waves with Hydro Thunder. The speedboat racer was not only a hit in arcades, but in living rooms everywhere after getting ported to the Dreamcast and ultimately to the N64 and Playstation. Now, more than a decade later, Vector Unit is breathing new life into the classic with a full-fledged sequel.

The original was well-known for its high tech boats and zany tracks (arctic circle, flooded New York City). Vector Unit is promising to bring back what fans loved “with top-notch visuals, brand new over-the-top themed environments and dynamic water-based racing”. Does it deliver?

The Story

No story here. This game focuses strictly on racing. The moment the title screen surfaces, you hit start, pick your track, pick your boat, and begin racing. There is no sissy introductory race–you jump right in. It’s probably for the better. Imagine trying to carve out a story based on speedboats which race on super unrealistic tracks.

The Gameplay

Hydro Thunder Hurricane plays out like a classic arcade racer. The controls are fairly shallow, allowing you to steer, hit the gas, jump and boost.

There are four main modes to the game. Race speaks for itself. You always start in last place (16th) and must work your way into the top three. Ringmaster (newly added mode) will have you racing around your favourite tracks with the goal of driving through rings. Miss a ring and you’ll have time added to your overall completion time. Gauntlet (one of the more exciting modes) throws explosive barrels into the water. Hit one and your progress around the course will be delayed. Finally, Championship mode chains together two or three of the modes back to back. Complete all the races thrown at you and see where you come out in the standings.

Winning an event gives you points. The more points you earn, the more boats, tracks and events you unlock. You start with almost everything locked so you will have to win a few events before progressing further in to the game.

The boats each have their unique properties. Fans of the original title will recognize a few (Damn the Torpedoes, Miss Behave) as Vector Unit brought back a few fan favorites from the original title. Some have fast acceleration, some are slower but handle better. If you’ve played any generic racer before, you’ll be quite familiar with how it all plays out.

Each boat can perform what’s known as a “hydro jump” (simple jump up out of the water for a split second). Driving in the wake of another boat will give you a boost–so will collecting icons around the track.

The courses are what really make this game shine. They are an absolute blast. From a river that winds through a canyon (which gets bombed from up above by an angry biplane) to an Amazon river infested with giants crocs and other reptilian monsters, the environments make this game lots of fun. Each course has a ton of secrets and hidden passages; each time you play through you may discover a slightly different route to take. The game’s water physics only add to the enjoyment, giving you the feel of racing on real water.

The Graphics and Music

Hydro Thunder Hurricane looks good. Incredible detail has not only been given to the boats and most of the courses as well. Throw in some cool looking creatures and incredible racing environments and you have an impressive looking package. It may not be as colorful as the original but as they say “times change”.

The music is upbeat but fairly generic. While it’s quite good, I wouldn’t say it’s memorable by any means.

The Downsides

My one beef with this title has to be how you are forced to play the same tracks over and over in order to open up new ones. It takes quite a few points to open up some of the earlier tracks. That means one of two things. You can either race the same track over and over, or you can play some of the other modes in the game to amass more points. It kind of feels like grinding for XP in a role playing game. Okay, maybe not that bad, but if you’re tired of the tracks you’ve already opened you’ll begin to lose interest.

The Bottom Line

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an enjoyable pick-up-and-play-racing-title. The game doesn’t have a lot of depth, but it was never intended to. You can play for as little as you want or as long as you want and feel satisfied with your experience. Completionists will have fun trying to find all the hidden items while others will simply enjoy the thrill of the race. A great arcade-style racer.

The Good

Simple controls
Amazing courses
Fun new racing modes
4 player split-screen or 8 person online multiplayer

The Bad

Not enough tracks
Grinding for points to unlock new tracks and race modes

8/10

]]> http://blogs.btcalgary.ca/yawney/review-hydro-thunder-hurricane/feed 0 http://blogs.btcalgary.ca/andrew/monday-forecast-17 http://blogs.btcalgary.ca/andrew/monday-forecast-17#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:28:31 +0000 Andrew Schultz http://blogs.btcalgary.ca/?p=4038

Andrew is off today, but here is Ross Hull’s forecast.

CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 24, Partly Couldy
TONIGHT: 11, Risk of Showers/Thundershowers
>Risk of a late-day thundershower on Monday, cooler conditions for the beginning of the week with warmth as well as more sunshine building for the middle of the week. Long Weekend looks cooler but mainly clear at this point.

Starcraft II is about to hit store shelves and knock the PC gaming world to its knees. Not looking forward to waiting in line to get your copy at midnight tonight? I have you covered! Future Shop has given me a copy of the highly anticipated Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, and I’m going to pass it on to one lucky Breakfast Television viewer!

How can you win? All you have to do is email me at mike.yawney@rci.rogers.com and tell me why you deserve to win Starcraft II! It’s that simple. You must be a Canadian resident to enter. One entry per person, per email address. Contest closes at noon MST on Monday, July 26th.

Future Shop will ship the game directly to the winner’s home. If you NEED to have the game in your hands at launch, you can always stop by Future Shop as they are opening up many locations across the country at midnight tonight!

WE HAVE A WINNER! Congratulations Cam Rice, you just nabbed yourself a copy of Starcraft II! More prizes to come!

Our Cedar Plank Salmon recipe is courtesy of Mr. Brian Plunkett – of “Blu Seafood & Market” — he made it real easy for us !!

Here’s the scoop:
BBQ Cedar Plank Salmon
INGREDIENTS:
>1 Fillet of Salmon (about 1.5 lbs)
>1 tsp. Lemon Juice
>1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
>1 tsp. Chopped Fresh Dill (1/2 tsp if dried)
>1 tbsp. Olive Oil
>Salt, Fresh Ground Black Pepper
METHOD:
Soak cedar plank in cold water for approximately 2 hours, weighing it down with a heavy object. Place the salmon on the plank, skin side down. Brush the salmon liberally with olive oil and worchestershire sauce. Season with dill and pepper.
COOKING:
Put plank directly on the preheated BBQ grill. Close lid and cook over high heat for 25 to 30 minutes. **Important: Use a spray bottle to spray the corners/sides of the plank every few minutes to prevent ‘flare ups’.

SHOW-STOPPER CORN ON THE COB
This is one of my personal recipes – and it’s very easy.
INGREDIENTS:
>Corn on the cob (out of the husk)
>Butter – as much as you like!
>Sea Salt
>Ground pepper (pepper mill is best)
>”Old Bay” seasoning powder – hard to find, so start looking at your supermarket – it’s a ’staple’ for my grilling – you can use it for ANYTHING (cheap too, about $3 – $4).
METHOD:
>Lay the ‘husked corn’ on a sheet of tin-foil.
>Cut off a few 1-inch by 1-inch squares of butter – lay
on top of corn.
>Sprinkle ‘liberally’ with the Salt, Pepper and Old Bay.
>Wrap corn completely in foil – leave on grill for 8-10 minutes – then flip to other side.
>Check corn – and be sure that both sides have some ‘browned’ kernels….
>You’re done !!

CALGARY WEEKEND WEATHER
TODAY: 22, Partly Cloudy
TONIGHT: 10, Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY: 27, Sunny
SUNDAY: 26, Sunny
>Good things come to those who wait (for High Pressure)….the long-awaited clearing is here…Sunshine & Warmer than average temperatures Saturday & Sunday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz.