Steam for the XBox

Well, what can I say, the vibrations of the Ætherweb have carried news of an upcoming steampunk-themed game to me.

Aqua by Games Distillery (it is their debut) is going to be an action-oriented naval shooter which will also include tactical elements and, as I said, it is steampunk-themed.

To quote the official press-release:

The game itself is presented in a fictional Imperial Victorian setting.

Just take a look at the screenshots (click to enlarge):

Aqua - Ships engaging in battle

Aqua - A War Zeppelin

The game, scheduled for release Summer 2010, will be available via XBox Live Arcade and it will also feature a multi-player modus and the option to have additional friendly ships controlled by the AI.

Judging from the graphics I must say I am quite stunned, here are a few more screenshots to prove the point:

Aqua - Battle with Aereal Support

Aqua - Massive Battle

A few words concerning the people behind the game:

Games Distillery is a Bratislava-based development studio founded in 2008. The team of Games Distillery has a ton of experience, the best known projects members have previously been engaged in is probably Anno 1602 and Anno 1503.

Well, I shall keep this game on my radar and pass any additional information on to you. Now I just have to find out who in my inner circle of friends with an XBox can be talked into

a) getting this game and

b) lending me the XBox for a yet to be defined amount of time

Where did I put my hypno-ray projector? Damn, so many things in boxes here already…