"HD," like "innovative," "visceral" or "Game of the Year Edition," is one of those terms that has been marketed into oblivion. Maybe less so on the consoles, where reaching 1080p is still considered an achievement, but on PC, it's a hollow boast. Take this new announcement for The Ship: HD—a remade and remastered version of the Source mod-turned-full-game The Ship. Given that The Ship can already run at 1920x1080 resolution, I guess new developer Blazing Griffin are actually saying that it'll boast HD-textures. In which case, The Ship: Looks Much Prettier Edition would have been a far more informative title.
Anyway, enough griping because The Ship was great. It's a multiplayer hide-'n'-seek assassination game, set on a series of '20s cruise ships. Each player is simultaneously hunter and hunted, and must track down their quarry while simultaneously avoiding the person tracking them. It's a set-up that would later be used as the basis for Assassin's Creed's multiplayer mode, but The Ship went one further It asked players to avoid committing their assigned murders in front of guards or security cameras, and fulfil a variety of needs, from eating and drinking, to using the toilet and chatting to fellow cruise-goers.
After acquiring the game in 2011, Blazing Griffin took to Kickstarter to fund a sequel, called The Ship: Full Steam Ahead. Alas, it fell well short of the goal. Now they're back with this "HD" edition of the original. To help, they've brought on Jason Kocemba, lead programmer of the original mod and game.
The Ship: HD is due out early next year.
