Aqua is divided into political power blocs, such as the Aquatoria of the capitalistic, democratically governed Atlantic Federation, the oligarchy of the Arabic Clans Union and the monarchist Russo-Japanese Shogunate.

In the South Pacific lies the Tornado Zone, stirred up by surface storms, where an anarchist pack of mercenaries, pirates, buccaneers and outlaws gathers, ever ready to sell their friends and their souls.

For example, due to the high amounts of fallout in the atmosphere, satellite communication and global positioning are impossible, although some organizations are looking for ways to restore these abilities.

The Aquanox series include the following games, listed by release in chronological order: The player once again jumps into the role of Emerald "Deadeye" Flint.

The former system of upgrading the vessel with a variety of defensive turrets has been simplified by fixing the player's view to the cockpit as well as permitting the usage of only two on-hull-installed cannons.

As the result of this change, the controls of the submarine have been adapted to the first-person shooter's mouse-based layout, removing the need for the joystick, thus the game has compromised its tactical depth in order to increase the intensity of combat.

This change has raised critique among the reviewers, stating that the developers' focus fell inadequately on the visual performance rather than the actual gameplay of its predecessor.

...But while Archimedean Dynasty was a complex, mission-based simulation with trading and privateering, AquaNox is an arcade-style action game that abandons or greatly simplifies those elements.

Combat is fast paced and more similar in style to Quake's, or even a rail shooter's, than it is to the more tactical battles in other underwater sims.

Textures are colourful and extremely detailed, and there are numerous little graphical touches, such as chips that flake off underwater hills hit by your projectile weapons.The game includes a vast amount of true information on oceans, such as origins of different species, their specifics and humanity's adaptation to submarine life.

The game features a large variety of projectile armament as well as a set of torpedoes and a collection of directed energy weaponry, including lasers and EMP launchers.

The torpedo combat is similar to the missile engagements of most flight simulators and space shooters, where the pilot is expected to release flares and perform classic evasion manoeuvres.

The title did not pass Sony's software quality assurance test and as Massive Development had already been closed by JoWood Productions, the release was cancelled.

The demo was created using Unreal Engine 3 and showed a bit of the environment and one ship model prototype along with a hangar interface.