From time to time we get mail from people telling us they love Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Which is no surprise, because we think it's ten kinds of awesome. But we still like hearing it from other people because we also think Blood Wake was awesome, so what do we know?
But every now and then we get a letter that's extra special. After reading it we slowly lean back in our seats with a little smile and just let the warmth from the email window expand out and envelop us. It feels like a Hawaiian sunset.
Such a letter is Parnell Lutz's:
To whom may concern and the entire VU team,
Sorry if this is a long winded story, but I thought I would share my excitement and enjoyment to see a fantastic game brought back and executed so well.
I remember as a young person going into the Arcade and seeing HT for the first time. Blew my mind, and became an obsession to find it at every arcade we stopped at. When the dreamcast was released and HT was available for it, my dream of playing the crap out of the game and beating it could become true! This is one of my favorite games, ever. I was at E3 2010 and got to see the game. My childhood memories and excitement erupted with glee. You know, like when you're a child on Christmas? That sparked my desire to play the original again, in its entirety. I went on a mission, bought a DC w/ HT, and HT for pc. I think I went on a month binge of only talking about HT and had it on a few of my laptops so I could play it, everywhere. Got a few coworkers obsessed too, in the process.
I bought Hurricane very soon after release and I love the freaking hydro out of it. I literally cannot get enough of the game. I have put more time into this single game than any other game I have ever owned on a console. This has been the best $20 (I had to buy the expansion) I have ever spent on a game. My excitement and obsession with this game has made one girl hate me and many friends, and coworkers purchase the game. I'm on a mission to unlock everything, almost there. Recently my coworker and myself have been on a mission to beat each others track times. Even playing the same track 40 times in a row to get .10 seconds ahead of said coworker, still does not bore me with this game. The expansion was great, and has added some life and fun. But I am wondering if VU will release another expansion. I really think more tracks would be perfect addition for 2011. The boat selection is good and vast, so even porting the original HT levels to the game would be fantastic. If you can even give me a hint that more DLC would be out, to hold me over, I would appreciate the tip, but understand if you cannot.
Thank you again for making such a fantastic game, and I hope you keep supporting it with DLC, to keep my addicted.
Parnell Lutz
p.s. How do you feel about h2overdrive? I played it, enjoyed it, but still LOVE Hurricane more, so again thank you for bringing it to console :)
Ahhhh. Feels great to get kudos from (a) a fan of the original, (b) a well-written gentleman of letters, and (c) anybody who likes HTH better than H2O.
Thanks, Parnell! I actually answered him personally. The rest of you will have to guess the answers.