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I mostly disagree with you on this. I never really liked Audiosurf, since I didn't much care for the gameplay (I only like particular puzzle games), and although I could see how the music affected the art style, I never really felt a strong connection between the music and gameplay. Beat Hazard, on the other hand, has the obvious sync between music and your shooting strength, as well as the more subtle graphical effects, enemy wave size and formations, and boss battles. The game uses immediate, short term, and long term reactions to the music, in order to ensure that every song makes a unique game experience.
My main fault with the game is that success really depends on the tempo and energy of the song, so you'll always do better with an intense rock or techno song than some light jazz or a crooner. Of course, because of this focus on tempo and energy, when you do play a really intense song, the gameplay gets equally intense. There's nothing like hitting a rousing refrain in a song right when a huge wave of enemies, or a boss, show up, which lets you rack up points fast. I'd never been a fan of bullet-hell games (which I define as shmups where the majority of your focus is on dodging enemies and attacks), but something about the game got me hooked.
As for the general design of the game, I'll admit it is a bit simplistic. It was designed by a single person, though I believe that was also true for Audiosurf, so that can't be an excuse. However, the game was originally made with XNA as an XBLA Indie game, so there may have been programming limitations. With the relative success it's had on Steam, though, the game will be further refined, as there's a lot of room for growth. Different ships, more enemies, and new powerups could all be added as DLC or in a sequel. There have already been several free updates adding/tweaking features, and as this post shows, the developer is continuing to improve the game (such as planning to add co-op). I would definitely disagree that it was "barely designed at all"; in fact, that's pretty insulting to the work that the developer had, and continues to put into it. Beat Hazard is a great experience on its own, and I can't wait to see how the game evolves and expands in he future.
My main fault with the game is that success really depends on the tempo and energy of the song, so you'll always do better with an intense rock or techno song than some light jazz or a crooner. Of course, because of this focus on tempo and energy, when you do play a really intense song, the gameplay gets equally intense. There's nothing like hitting a rousing refrain in a song right when a huge wave of enemies, or a boss, show up, which lets you rack up points fast. I'd never been a fan of bullet-hell games (which I define as shmups where the majority of your focus is on dodging enemies and attacks), but something about the game got me hooked.
As for the general design of the game, I'll admit it is a bit simplistic. It was designed by a single person, though I believe that was also true for Audiosurf, so that can't be an excuse. However, the game was originally made with XNA as an XBLA Indie game, so there may have been programming limitations. With the relative success it's had on Steam, though, the game will be further refined, as there's a lot of room for growth. Different ships, more enemies, and new powerups could all be added as DLC or in a sequel. There have already been several free updates adding/tweaking features, and as this post shows, the developer is continuing to improve the game (such as planning to add co-op). I would definitely disagree that it was "barely designed at all"; in fact, that's pretty insulting to the work that the developer had, and continues to put into it. Beat Hazard is a great experience on its own, and I can't wait to see how the game evolves and expands in he future.
Let me clear things up. I feel that in terms of art, the game is very lacking. The graphics themselves are very barebones, and in my opinion, ugly.
And you are correct when you talk about the ways that it syncs with the music, however most of the time its not very obvious and I find that rather than playing a song that is affected by my music, I find I am zoning out and playing a very generic shooter. When it works, it works well, however there are many points where I feel the creator could improve, especially in contrast to Audiosurf.
I am aware of the improvements, they are great additions that ironed out some of my frustrations. But as of now it feels more like a proof of concept than a full game.
Coop was actually in the Xbox version from the start I believe. It was probably more work to put it in the PC version on release due to the varying control schemes.
You touched on the game being dependent on tempo, and that is very true. I find a lot of times that if I am not playing an uptempo song I am failing due to low bullet output. Which is sad because I want to play all my songs, not just the fast ones. Audiosurf works much better in that regard.
If you check my Steam profile you will see that I've been playing it quite a bit, so there are good points, at this moment however its not a complete package to me. But give it time and hopefully there will be much more. There is a lot of work graphically that has to be done though.
As an aside, I would recommend playing both Beat Hazard and Audiosurf with an Xbox360 controller. It makes the experience much better in my opinion. The controls work best with the controller, and you get some cool vibration functions.
And you are correct when you talk about the ways that it syncs with the music, however most of the time its not very obvious and I find that rather than playing a song that is affected by my music, I find I am zoning out and playing a very generic shooter. When it works, it works well, however there are many points where I feel the creator could improve, especially in contrast to Audiosurf.
I am aware of the improvements, they are great additions that ironed out some of my frustrations. But as of now it feels more like a proof of concept than a full game.
Coop was actually in the Xbox version from the start I believe. It was probably more work to put it in the PC version on release due to the varying control schemes.
You touched on the game being dependent on tempo, and that is very true. I find a lot of times that if I am not playing an uptempo song I am failing due to low bullet output. Which is sad because I want to play all my songs, not just the fast ones. Audiosurf works much better in that regard.
If you check my Steam profile you will see that I've been playing it quite a bit, so there are good points, at this moment however its not a complete package to me. But give it time and hopefully there will be much more. There is a lot of work graphically that has to be done though.
As an aside, I would recommend playing both Beat Hazard and Audiosurf with an Xbox360 controller. It makes the experience much better in my opinion. The controls work best with the controller, and you get some cool vibration functions.
