Make waves with this arcade style racer

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an arcade-style racer where you pit yourself against a sea of boats in constantly changing environments.

While there aren’t many games out for Windows 8 yet, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a good preview of what to expect from Windows 8 gaming. By default, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is set to use touch and motion controls. There are virtual buttons for turning, acceleration, braking, and turbo boosting. You can choose between using touch, game pad, or keyboard in the settings. It’s good to have all those options.

Being a Microsoft Studios product you can expect Xbox LIVE integration where you can view leaderboards and play with your friends. Unfortunately, this early preview version doesn’t have any mutliplayer modes. Hydro Thunder Hurricane only has a single player mode and only offers two tracks and two boats.

Graphics and gameplay for Hydro Thunder Hurricane are very good. It looks impressive with splash graphics and motion blur during turbo boosts. Game play is very fun, with dynamic environments that constantly change. There are even police boats to chase you and your opponents. There are plenty of items to pick up and unlockables in Hydro Thunder Hurricane to keep game play interesting.

Overall, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an impressive look at what gaming will look like on Windows 8. Graphics, gameplay, and an emphasis on touch controls will all be hallmarks of Metro gaming.