Have now played 2 acts of Hydrophobia. The game really isnt that bad. 
 
What does bother me a bit about the game is the fact that most of the gameplay consists of finding a key card and then having to find a cipher to open a locked door somewhere. This particular game mechanic repeats a bit too much. The developers should use the security cameras more as an in-game element in opening locked doors. 
 
The really nice thing in Hydrophobia is the combat. With a bit more  puzzles involving environmental destruction the game would be a much better experience. There are lots of exploding barrels and various other things that one can blow up and kill enemies with. Also the gun has different types of ammunition which also brings variety to killing stuff.
 
Hopefully they sell enough in order to make the second part of the planned trilogy to have a bit more variety to opening locked doors and doing things with electronics.
 
Oh and the hacking is pretty annoying. One has 30 seconds to hack stuff and you have to hack the same thing 4 times. And this is on normal difficulty.