Game Classification

Beat Hazard is a single screen arena shooter where the behaviour of enemies, gameplay and visual effects are dynamically adapted based on the chosen soundtrack. Just like Audiosurf about any custom music track can be imported to alter the game experience. Players control a small ship and need to survive waves of enemies. Only one level is provided, but the ship's firepower and the opponents dynamically change by analysing the music. During slow sections the ship's weapon is very weak and only a few enemies appear. When the rhythm and beat is built up, the weapon will gradually slow stronger, ending in large gushes of lasers (the beat hazard weapon) with different colours and visuals flashing along with the beat. At that point larger ships often appear and they can take a lot of damage before exploding. Players do not need to match the music in any way contrary to other games where the gameplay is centered around sound.

Defeated enemies, and objects such as rocks and space debris leave behind a number of modifiers that remain persistent regardless of the changes in the music. These include power-ups that increase the sound volume or raise the ship's firing power, provide bombs that clear the entire screen, or grant score multipliers. Multipliers are also awarded by not firing for five seconds (Dare Devil) and every 30 seconds that are survived (Survivor). When the ship is destroyed all upgrades are lost and generally a few more tries are provided before the game ends. There are three difficulty modes and a survivor game mode along with sessions that consist of single tracks and where multipliers are gradually dropped. The overall score is stored across sessions and moving up ranks opens up starting bonuses and provides other types of benefits. The gameplay works best with tracks that have a consistent and fast-paced rhythm. Slow songs generally numb the experience through a lack of firing power and enemies. An online leaderboard is also included. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : Macintosh - PC (Windows) - Xbox 360 (X360)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/beat-hazard/