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Should You Get
Beat Hazard
Beat Hazard is an arcade-style shooter a la Asteroids with many of the usual conventions,
such as powerups to increase your firepower, missiles, shields, and super-lasers. You collect
points by destroying enemies and driving up your point multiplier. It's primary selling
point is that it is music-based: levels are generated from the music, be it in-game or
any track from your library.
I've played games that tried to do things like this before and I have to admit, Beat
Hazard does a pretty good job. Different music tracks will prouduce different levels and
the intensity of the music does affect the gameplay. The faster and more complex the
music, the faster and tougher the enemies will be, though to compensate, the power of
your weapons is also tied to the music, leading to some epic shootouts where your ship is
spraying a barrage of death beams at the endless enemy horde.
The visuals are... epileptic in their intensity and pulsate in time with the music, and catch
the beat pretty well, though you tend not to notice what with the ceaseless flashing
of light and color. I could see them tiring some peopl out or being grating, but fortunately
you can do them down as you wish- or increase the intensity.
As you play, you collect cash which allows you to purchase perks to increase your point
multiplier, the item drop rate, as well as new weapons and difficulties, all of which
you'll need as you grow accustomed to the game and seek our bigger challenges with longer
tracks- and I should note, the levels are as long and varied as your music. Beethoven's
Egmont Overture is a pretty good level.
Nonetheless, after a couple of hours playing, everything will start to look the same, and
you will have seen all the enemies and bosses the game has to throw at you. While it's novel
to be able to "play through" your music, I found myself becoming a little dissapointed,
as I started to see all the ways it matched the music in only a very general sense, and
I started to lose interest. That said, that's my opinion. Beat Hazard is a game I can definitely
see some people absolutely loving, even if I myself don't feel as strongly. It's a fun
way to listen to your music and quite a spectacle- but on this one, I suspect Your Mileage May
Vary.