Developed by: Dylan Fitterer
Genre: Rhythm
Game System: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
Price: $14.99
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Rhythm games have become a really huge thing in the gaming community. In case you don’t know, rhythm games generally mean games that sync the gameplay to the rhythm of music. Some games like the Bit.Trip series and the upcoming Tadpole Treble use their own musical compositions for the game, while other games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band license existing music for the game. Though the gameplay of these games are very fun, you can’t doubt that everybody has different tastes in music. What if you just want to play your favorite song in the game, even if it isn’t extremely well known? That’s where Audiosurf comes in. Well, Audiosurf, and the sequel that we’re actually talking about. Well, in the case of my Tadpole Treble example there will be a composition mode, but that game isn’t even out yet, so we’re not talking about that today, and I’m getting really off topic aren’t I?
Audiosurf 2 is a unique game in the rhythm genre. Instead of having a small selection of songs that the creators picked, you can now use any song that you happen to have on your computer or can find on the internet. I know what you’re probably thinking. “You still have to manually create a level in the game for each song, right?” Nope! The game uses music visualization to create a level unique to that specific song that feels like that song. The obstacles and visual effects are all timed perfectly with notes in the song. There is pretty much no other game like that in existence.
There are multiple modes in this game, but in every mode you have a ship that flies through the track with colored squares to collect and spikes to avoid. There’s also a wakeboarding mode, where the player is able to distort the song you chose. In all these modes you also can look at the leaderboards to see how well you did compared to other people. Though most songs only have a few scores because literally any audio track ever recorded can be played in this game, but on the bright side that means there’s a good chance you’ll have the high score! That’s cool, right? Right?
The game can get difficult, but the difficulty all depends on what song you chose. I notice that clearer quality audio tracks tend to be more interesting visually and gameplay-wise, but also harder. Oh, and don’t even think about trying to get through the achievements easily by playing through John Cage’s masterpiece 4’33”, because I found out the hard way that the developer planned for that. Instead of having just a simple glide through four minutes and thirty-three seconds of peaceful nothingness, it will instead give you one of the hardest video game levels I’ve ever played. Good game, Fitterer, good game.
One great thing about this game is it’s compatible with the Steam Workshop. With Steam Workshop, people who played this game are able to upload mods and skins for the game to the internet. Any player can easily install these to make the game how they want. Maybe you find the normal level assets boring and want everything to look like an 8-bit Nintendo game. Maybe the gameplay is missing something that you feel should be a part of it. Just load the Steam Workshop, click on an icon, and it will install almost instantly! Long gone are the days of mods for games being gray-area illegal! Wait, that’s still true in most cases. … Why? It’s not illegal to put stickers on a coffee maker you bought. Why are games any different? Eh, that’s a rant for another day.
Overall this is a really fun game. The choice of literally every song in existence is a great option that gives people of any musical taste what they want, and the game really knows how to make the level feel like the song you chose. On top of that it’s really easy to install modifications of the game to make it look or play differently and the normal gameplay is very easy for beginners to understand. Overall, I give this game 8 silent audio tracks out of 10.
Genre: Rhythm
Game System: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux
Price: $14.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhythm games have become a really huge thing in the gaming community. In case you don’t know, rhythm games generally mean games that sync the gameplay to the rhythm of music. Some games like the Bit.Trip series and the upcoming Tadpole Treble use their own musical compositions for the game, while other games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band license existing music for the game. Though the gameplay of these games are very fun, you can’t doubt that everybody has different tastes in music. What if you just want to play your favorite song in the game, even if it isn’t extremely well known? That’s where Audiosurf comes in. Well, Audiosurf, and the sequel that we’re actually talking about. Well, in the case of my Tadpole Treble example there will be a composition mode, but that game isn’t even out yet, so we’re not talking about that today, and I’m getting really off topic aren’t I?
Audiosurf 2 is a unique game in the rhythm genre. Instead of having a small selection of songs that the creators picked, you can now use any song that you happen to have on your computer or can find on the internet. I know what you’re probably thinking. “You still have to manually create a level in the game for each song, right?” Nope! The game uses music visualization to create a level unique to that specific song that feels like that song. The obstacles and visual effects are all timed perfectly with notes in the song. There is pretty much no other game like that in existence.
There are multiple modes in this game, but in every mode you have a ship that flies through the track with colored squares to collect and spikes to avoid. There’s also a wakeboarding mode, where the player is able to distort the song you chose. In all these modes you also can look at the leaderboards to see how well you did compared to other people. Though most songs only have a few scores because literally any audio track ever recorded can be played in this game, but on the bright side that means there’s a good chance you’ll have the high score! That’s cool, right? Right?
The game can get difficult, but the difficulty all depends on what song you chose. I notice that clearer quality audio tracks tend to be more interesting visually and gameplay-wise, but also harder. Oh, and don’t even think about trying to get through the achievements easily by playing through John Cage’s masterpiece 4’33”, because I found out the hard way that the developer planned for that. Instead of having just a simple glide through four minutes and thirty-three seconds of peaceful nothingness, it will instead give you one of the hardest video game levels I’ve ever played. Good game, Fitterer, good game.
One great thing about this game is it’s compatible with the Steam Workshop. With Steam Workshop, people who played this game are able to upload mods and skins for the game to the internet. Any player can easily install these to make the game how they want. Maybe you find the normal level assets boring and want everything to look like an 8-bit Nintendo game. Maybe the gameplay is missing something that you feel should be a part of it. Just load the Steam Workshop, click on an icon, and it will install almost instantly! Long gone are the days of mods for games being gray-area illegal! Wait, that’s still true in most cases. … Why? It’s not illegal to put stickers on a coffee maker you bought. Why are games any different? Eh, that’s a rant for another day.
Overall this is a really fun game. The choice of literally every song in existence is a great option that gives people of any musical taste what they want, and the game really knows how to make the level feel like the song you chose. On top of that it’s really easy to install modifications of the game to make it look or play differently and the normal gameplay is very easy for beginners to understand. Overall, I give this game 8 silent audio tracks out of 10.