Friday, May 1, 2009

BNG Reviews Audiosurf


Presentation: 9/10

Gameplay: 10/10

Fun Factor: 10/10

Total Score 29/30


Note: This review was conducted on the Steam copy of the game.


Audiosurf is a music game with a difference: it uses YOUR music.


Not MY music, my music sucks. YOUR music. The good stuff.


The game allows you to choose songs and creates tracks that match the song, gaining and losing intensity as the song does.


In terms of gameplay, it seems somewhere between a puzzle game like Bejeweled and a racing game.


Some of the modes trend more toward a racing feel while others are more puzzle-y.


Besides the fact that it turns your music into a frenetic gameboard, that's another thing I liked about audiosurf: it has lots of modes that make a real difference in game. 14 modes to be precise, spread between three difficulties.


Taking a mode you played before, using Mono as an example, which appears in all three difficulty levels, has a completely different feel when bumped up to the next higher difficulty.


Audiosurf also has a great community aspect, allowing you to see how your score racks up against players locally and worldwide.


I picked some obscure songs at random from my collection and found that almost every song in my collection offered SOME competition. But if you want really heavy competition you'll need to pick more popular tunes.


Audiosurf helps this along with a feature called "audiosurf radio" which is a selection of free songs included in the game that are rotated out on a weekly basis. These songs form a collective backbone and are always some of the most popular and difficult songs, allowing you to really compete against the world.


Of course, if you're not ready for the pressure of representing your country, you can play offline or just stick to the lower difficulty levels.


In short, there's something here for just about every type of gamer. Whether you want a mellow, stree-free game you can pick up and play for 5-10 minutes or a frenetic game where you're trying for perfection to be in the global top ten audiosurf is a game you owe it to yourself to try.


No comments:

Post a Comment