Amplitude review

Just one more beat and an autoblaster is mine!

What is the current obsession with games focussed on music? Admittedly they seem to assure a decent quality soundtrack, but do these games developers honestly expect us to be physically moved by the beat when we are asked to hit various buttons in time with the music? If so, then it looks like I fit into their expectations perfectly. Within two minutes of loading Amplitude I was dancing like I was in a club (yes they have seats in clubs too).

Amplitude, the sequel to Frequency released mid last year (in the UK at least), takes a very similar style to its forebear, but spices it up with new tracks and obviously more features. Garbage, Pink, David Bowie, P.O.D., Weeker, Blink 182, Quarashi and nineteen other artists that are slightly less to my tastes have graciously supplied tracks, though the beauty of music timing games seems to be that since you have to get into the beat and nod your head in time, you do develop an affinity for all songs; an essential task considering many of the riffs and vocals are used as the beats to copy.

Hit the beat

Knowing the songs you're meant to be playing helps when trying to hit the more complex patterns.

For those of you unfamiliar with Frequency, the basic principle is to construct the song you are listening to by playing the separate tracks for a couple of bars each. Before any musically disheartened gamers tune out (would you respect me more or less if I told you that pun was intended?), the game can be mastered with about the same musical knowledge as you needed for Parappa the Rappa; as long as you can hit a selection of three buttons in time, you’ll be okay. Gameplay takes place on a kind of highway that runs through a variety of psychedelic cityscapes and rooms, depending on the song playing in the background and which fully justify the epilepsy warning in the manual.

This highway has multiple lanes (one for each of the instrument tracks – drums, bass, guitar, vocals, synth and whatever else is used in the song) and you control a kind of spacecraft that can move between the lanes at will. On each lane is a series of discs that show you when to hit each button (if it is on the left side of the lane you must push L1, the middle R1 and the right R2) and after successfully ‘playing’ a lane for around two bars the entire lane will disappear and play automatically for a certain amount of time, allowing you to move onto the next lane and try to get all the parts playing.

Or you could just put in a CD

Look at Garbage singing, your character playing guitar or anything other than the lane and you'll screw up.

The gameplay mechanics, as complex as they are to describe, work incredibly well to bring together a frantic test of skill and judgement. Naturally the further away a lane is to your current lane, the harder it will be to seamlessly start playing that lane after your current one, so you may miss a bar, forfeit points and deplete your health bar. That’s right, not only can you hear how badly you do, but you are judged on it. Make a successful bar clearance and you’ll gain energy, while if you miss one you’ll lose it, bringing you ever closer to the inevitable end of either the entire song (i.e. winning) or running out of health.

That’s not where it ends either, since certain notes have special power up icons that can be collected merely by playing those notes. These include the Autoblaster which when executed will automatically clear a lane (for the moment), relieving pressure until the next bar or lane appears, the Slo-mo which will gradually slow down the song for a brief period to make it easier to perform the more complex riffs. I was surprised at how slowing down disturbed my normal flow and beat so little, but perhaps the most interesting power up is the Freestyler which will elevate you above the lanes while you move your glowing dot around the screen to ‘freestyle’ scratching or ambiance. This can usually be made to sound fantastic, even with minimal musical talent.

Who has time to look around?

A two player Duel... who's gonna spell out Amplitude first?

Staying focused on the track ahead of you is essential if you want to play as much as you can and keep all tracks going (though it’s interesting to hear each part play louder as you’re riffing on that lane to help you out), so it took until I saw someone else playing the game before I really appreciated the visual splendour and variety of the game. Screens showing clips from the music video as well as shots of your chosen dancer (totally customisable from a selection of unlockable parts) are on screens flying past your lanes while charged pulses seem to glow and flash whenever you hit a beat.

As an extra time waster (and believe me, it will suck it up), you can remix each track by choosing the timing of each of the elements on the lanes in a special Remix mode that lets you freestyle through the entire thing once you’ve complete it, or save it and post to the Internet if you have access to a network adapter. While you’re on the net, you can also play multiplayer in a four-player match that sets you trying to hit the most beats and gain the most points (up to four players can also indulge in a little music making without being online if you’ve got enough friends to hand).

Unlock your inner musician

Complex patterns ahead, low health and no score multiplier suggests you need to bob your head more.

While playing through the single player mode, amusingly titled ‘Boss Tracks’ are unlocked by completing up to three tracks in that level (out of five to play), and a further ‘Bonus Track’ unlocked as well as the next level by beating the Boss track. Once unlocked, each song can be played in its original version in the Soundtrack mode, furthering the idea that when you have a license, why waste it?

Ultimately, as simple and plain as the game may seem, it remains an incredibly challenging and intensely addictive product, so if you’re in the market for any kind of musical experience, Amplitude comes highly recommended not only from myself, but from David Bowie apparently… though having a song in the game, he may have a biased opinion.