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Audiosurf Review (PC) by Fr0dus Maximus |
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Written by Fr0dus Maximus
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Sunday, 08 June 2008 |
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Search for Audiosurf (PC) at the Game Addiction Store (Click Here).
Audiosurf is an award winning puzzle/rhythm game. Developed by Dylan Fitterer of BestGameEver Interactive Game Design and Invisible Handlebar. Released February 15, 2008 on Valve's digital distribution platform Steam for $10. It takes any MP3, WMA, and other audio formats and creates a track for the player to “Ride the Music”.
You, the player, take control of a floating spaceship/boat-like craft looking somewhat similar to ones on Wipeout to collect colored blocks. The visuals of Audiosurf are simplistic but yet are amazing to look at. I have found myself looking at the background more than the track itself in some songs. Plus, when you hit a colored block there is an explosions of the same color in the background. There are four different ways to control the ship in Audiosurf. You can control by mouse, arrow keys, number keys, and a gamepad. It also supports the rumble feature on the 360 controller. Out of the four choices the mouse feels faster, more stable, and feels smoother than the other choices.
In game there are a total of six different game-types each identified by the character. There's Mono, Pointman, Vegas, Eraser, Pusher, and Double V. There are 14 selectable characters divided into the difficulties and each having their own unique abilities. There are three characters in Casual Characters (Easy), six in Pro Characters (Normal), and five in Elite Characters (Hard). Depending on the difficulty and character your experience will be different. In Casual, if you overfill a column on the board you will lose points. In Pro or Elite, if you overfill a column you will be given a respawn timer and won't be able to pick up anymore blocks until the timer is up. In all the game-types to obtain a high score you need to collect at least 3 of the same colored block connected either vertically or horizontally. One may also get multiple bonuses for a clean finish, getting a certain amount of blocks, filling all of the grid with a single color, and etc. Ironmode is a great way to gain extra points, it gets harder and faster no matter what song you choose.
Mono is the only game-type that uses only two different color blocks. The main goal in Mono is to collect the multi-colored blocks while guiding your way through the gray colored blocks. In Casual, Mono really doesn't have any abilities. In Pro, Mono can spread it's fins to obtain blocks in other lanes and the ability to jump. In Elite, Mono still uses it's fins and is now able to remove any gray blocks in it's board in exchange for points.
All the other game-types use multiple colored blocks for points.
Pointman can pick up blocks to be used later in the song. This game-type also has hint blocks and shoulder lanes on all of the difficulties. Pointman Elite has the ability to hold multiple blocks. Vegas can shuffle the board by moving into the shoulder lane for a few seconds. Eraser and Pusher do not have Easy difficulty versions, while Vegas is only available on Normal. Double Vision mode has four lanes instead of the conventional three and two ships instead of one. The left ship occupies the left two lanes and is controlled by the keyboard while the right ship occupies the right two lanes and is controlled with the mouse.
All a person needs is any supported music file and there ya go. It auto-collaborates the track to the beat of the music. Bumps for the bass, a hill for a slow down or slower song, downhill for fast up beat songs, tunnels for a major part of the song, and turns and loops are somewhat of a mystery to me at the moment. The color of the blocks in Mono also change depending on the music itself, cooler colors such as: Blue, Violet, etc. for slower parts. While hotter colors such as: Red, Orange, etc. for faster parts.
Out of all the game-types Mono is my favorite. This game has endless possibilities for those that have a ton of music. One like myself that has over 80 GB's worth of music I have found that I have been playing some songs that I have long forgotten. I could easily sit down and play this game for over 3 hours in one sitting and still not get enough. I can also just sit down for 10 minutes and bust out a few quick songs to feed my addiction. Every time I hear a song on the radio, internet, or anywhere else I just want to get my hands on it on Audiosurf and only once before in my life have I had the same feeling with music as I do with Audiosurf and that was with Rock Band a few months ago.
The visuals are amazing, the controls are solid, and all the game-types are all fun. The feeling I get when listening to music because of Audiosurf is one of the best feelings in the world to me. This game is definitely a buy for only $10.
Visuals: 9.2
Audio: 10
Controls: 8.6
Replay: 9.6
Fun Factor: 10
Overall: 94.8% |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 June 2008 )
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