Audiosurfin’
I was slow to jump on the Steam bandwagon, but I’m beginning to be a believer. Audiosurf, the first SteamWorks game, was just released on the PC a few days ago and it has done nothing but impress.
Audiosurf is a rhythm/puzzle hybrid that features the music on your own hard drive. The game analyzes the song and spits out a racing track for you to play that dips and bumps in time with the music. It’s very reminiscent of Rez in that respect, and the pace of your “vehicle” on the track matches perfectly with the tempo of the song. Slow, melodic moments will have you cruising uphill, then the beat kicks in and all of a sudden you’re plunging down the mountain at breakneck speeds as lights pop in the background.
I’m surprised how songs of all genres seem to work well with this game. You might think techno tracks would be best, but I’ve tried Mozart, J-pop, and jazz and they all fit in well (though experimentation with individual tracks is required).
I’ve mentioned that this is a rhythm/puzzle game, but there’s actually several modes within Audiosurf. The puzzle modes have you collecting different color bricks on the track and matching like colors, which is decent. But my preferred mode has nothing to do with puzzles and more with pure ninja reflex. The track will be littered with either gray bricks or color bricks, and your task is to weave around the gray and collect the colors.
Nothing I type can capture the game so download the demo and give it a shot. You can only try 4 of your songs before the demo locks up, but it’ll give you a good idea of what to expect. Alternatively, check out this video. If watching this doesn’t get you interested in the game, then it’s not for you. And as the video shows, yes the game works with any mp3 you want.
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