Power Boat 2

That much of the action occurs in pretty little bays and harbors, with a highly picturesque landlocked world that includes farms and fences and working chimneys and wharves aplenty only adds to the ambience. Truth is that Arcade Moon could have plopped the player in the middle of the ocean and thereby avoided all that extra artwork. But it didn't, and that's pretty cool.

Powerboat GT is all about the Career. This is the game's central component, and apart from one-off single races and a less than satisfying multiplayer mode (LAN only), the only component. But that's okay, because there's a lot more to it than a simple series of races. Much like Test Drive Unlimited, where you can freely roam the streets of Hawaii in search of... well, just about anything, Powerboat GT allows you to mosey around various locales, free from oppressive restrictions. Perhaps you'll engage is a race, or go visit a potential sponsor that's just communicated with you via email. You can take your winnings and head to the local boat shop to score a few upgrades or an entirely new ship. You can even hop a plane and head somewhere completely different --maybe to find bigger, better races or to lend a hand taxiing far off flood victims to their new home.

As for the actual racing, let's just say it's riddled with more ups and downs than a roller coaster. On the plus side, the competition is tight, the thrill of victory great, and the general actions of your racing peers commendable. And, at least some of the time, all that weird weaponry we discussed earlier is good for a few chuckles. But most of the time, you'll likely wish the explosive frogs and bomb-laden blimps and torpedoes would just go away. But they won't. They can't, because there's no option to do so. It's a shame really, as Powerboat GT otherwise encompasses some of the best boat racing we've seen in any prior game.

You see, it doesn't support joysticks. Or gamepads. Or a steering wheels. Or anything other than the keyboard. Let's let that soak in for a moment--a racing game released in the year 2008 that offers only keyboard control. Granted, resourceful players can remap the default keyboard cursor keys to their gamepad's buttons. But even if they do so, they still won't have analog control. It's all digital, all the way, and that simply doesn't cut it in any modern racer, particularly one that would seemingly benefit so much from the analog option.

Does it come as any shock then that it also doesn't support mice?

Still, even with its foibles, and yes, even with its glaring evils, we can't completely write it off. For a budget-priced game to look this good, feel this deep, and show such signs of credible physics design--even if it can't be properly exploited in the digital domain of the keyboard--somebody back in Slovakia is doing something right. We'd go so far as to say Powerboat GT sits on the edge of greatness. Too bad then that that greatness is hidden under a veil of last-minute goofs.