Highwater Review (Steam)

Rating: 7
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · March 21, 2024

Highwater Review is a 3D tactical turn-based strategy game set in a post-apocalyptic urban world. Navigate by boat, discover urban islands, and gain new allies as you fight through the flooded region. Amid the Great Climate Catastrophe, the flooded region of Hightower has become a kind of safe zone between the two dry regions: the nearly global ravaged land of the War Zone, and the fortified city of Alphaville, where the ultra-rich live behind giant walls.

Highwater Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
3.17GB download size.
Steam achievements.
Full controller support.
Graphics settings – resolution, v-sync, fullscreen, reflections, and graphics preset.
Subtitle and dialogue size slider.
The game is set in a world that is flooded, your means of transportation is a boat and you can dock at land to explore.
The compass shows your main story objective along with any bonus optional objectives.
Powerful memorable soundtrack that is played as a radio station in the game.
In-game cutscenes and character interactions.
You freely move and drive around the world in the third person.
Combat is turn-based.
Despite the bleakness and despair, it is a nice-looking game world.
Multiple choice interactions.
During combat, you can pick up items and weapons to use them.
Find books and magazines to get a bit of lore.
Boosters can be equipped (up to two items per person) to make combat easier.
The environment plays a huge part in combat, you can use cover, Breakable objects, and even flooring, trap enemies, weapons, smash signs down etc.
Fast forward button in combat.
When in combat you can choose which character to be and select which character you are targeting.
Optional photo opportunities can be found via their markers.
The game saves frequently.

Highwater Review Cons:

Cannot remap the controls.
The mouse cursor stays on the screen when using a controller.
Characters don’t have any voice work.
Driving the boat is clunky and cumbersome.
Combat and general navigation in combat is not as fluid as you would like and can be frustrating.
No camera control when on foot/land.
Land sequences are small in scale and usually have either a fight or a pickup to find.
Markers stay on the compass even when you have cleared an area.
If you have a party and one member dies it’s not an event or even mentioned, instead if you win, the dead characters just come back, and off you pop.

Highwater:

Official website.

Developer: demagog studio

Publisher: Rogue Games Inc

Store Links –

Steam

7/10
Graphics - 7/10
7/10
Sound - 7/10
7/10
Accessibility - 7/10
7/10
Length - 7/10
7/10
Fun Factor - 7/10

7/10

Summary

Highwater offers decent graphics and full controller support. It has a download size of 3.17GB and includes Steam achievements. The graphics settings allow adjustments for resolution, v-sync, fullscreen, reflections, and graphics preset. There’s also a subtitle and dialogue size slider for accessibility.

Highwater is set in a flooded world, with a boat as your primary means of transportation. You can dock at land to explore. The compass shows your main story objective along with any bonus optional objectives. The game features in-game cutscenes and character interactions, and you can freely move and drive around the world in the third person. Combat is turn-based, and during combat, you can pick up items and weapons to use them.

Despite the bleakness and despair, the game world is visually appealing. It features a powerful, memorable soundtrack that is played as a radio station in-game. The environment plays a significant role in combat, allowing you to use cover, breakable objects, and even flooring. You can trap enemies, use weapons, and smash signs down.

The game offers multiple-choice interactions and allows you to find books and magazines to get a bit of lore. Boosters can be equipped (up to two items per person) to make combat easier. There’s a fast-forward button in combat, and you can choose which character to be and select which character you are targeting. Optional photo opportunities can be found via their markers.

Highwater cannot remap the controls, and the mouse cursor stays on the screen when using a controller. Characters don’t have any voice work. Driving the boat can be clunky and cumbersome, and combat and general navigation in combat can be frustrating. There’s no camera control when on foot/land, and land sequences are small in scale and usually have either a fight or a pickup to find. Markers stay on the compass even when you have cleared an area. If you have a party and one member dies, it’s not an event or even mentioned; instead, if you win, the dead characters just come back.

Overall its a fun game but it takes a while to get going and even then it is not as smooth or cohesive as you would like, it is visually stunning, a great world to explore and the combat is deceptively deep and varied and is the real highlight.