Amplitude

"Amplitude- One of the Best Music Games Available"

have always had a lot of respect for Sony- They are a company, while as rich as they are, still continue to release quality titles, regardless of the fact that they won't be major sellers in the long run. Recently, we've had "Ico", one of the best, most original, and underrated games so far on the PS2. Sony published it, and despite poor sales are are apparently already planning a sequal. Last year, the same happened with Sony's "Frequency", which, despite its low sales numbers has recieved a sequal in the form of "Amplitude". With these games in mind, it's great to see such a huge label releasing such quality titles.

Amplitude is a music game, an American version of Japan's "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Beatmania" series, if you will. While no dancing is required, Amplitude requires the ultra quick reflexes which are common place among Japan's quirky music sims. Except this time, it features songs we all know. Among the some 26 songs in the game, there's music from Pink, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Quarashi (that really cool band from Iceland that were out here for last years Big Day Out), David Bowie and heaps more.

The main aim of the game is to succesfully complete sections of the tracks of the song- whether it be drums, vocal, bass etc. As move along in the game, the combinations you have to pull off get harder and more complex. But fear not, the 5 gameplay modes, ranging from Mello to Insane, means that anyone can play. Frequency, by comparison, had only 3 gameplay modes, and the only way to unlock all songs in the game was to beat the hardest mode. That wasn't cool.

Many more features have improved Amplitude from the original. The graphics are much more advanced, with backgrounds flashing and moving as you hit the right notes, even with the songs lyrics flashing occassionally in the distance. Even your own personal character (who you build, Tony Hawks Style, another difference from the original) dances and plays the music as you do. While it's hard to see all this going on while you're playing, it makes a much more enjoyable game to watch.

The online mode is pretty cool, it's simply the multiplayer version of the game... but online. The only problem is that there's hardly anyone online- as of this review I've only had the oppertunity to play 11 games online against some random Italians and Germans- Which in itself is pretty cool.

As I mentioned before, this game can be playable to anyone with some sense of hand-eye co-oridination, but the harder modes are certinally not for the "unco". But with practice, even they can master this game. By comparison, Amplitude is much easier than Frequency- which was one of my complaints about the original. It was so hard, that I never even got to play some of the songs! This time, however, there's only one extra song to unlock in the harder modes. One of the reasons it's easier- it's MUCH harder to get a game over while you're playing, thanks to the handy new power-up checkpoints.

Remixing songs remains an option, like the original, and even has new multiplayer and online features (create tracks together, or download other peoples tracks). A cool addition is also the soundtrack, where you can listen to the full tracks of all your favourite songs from the game, in their original state.

As a fan of the DDR series (even though i'm not that good), I naturally took a major liking to this game- it is simply 'awesome', and easily the best music game of the year. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes music or music games. This game has been made especially for you. Enjoy!

Score Breakdown (Out of 10)
Graphics- better than the original, more interactive backgrounds, and a really cool opening movie. Still nothing that special though, but then again, this game isn't about the graphics. 7.0

Sound- This game is about the sound, the music, and because you can even make your own... it rocks... 10.0

Gameplay- New options make it playable by everyone, but it certainly is not a game which will be liked by everyone. A major improvement on the original, nonetheless. 8.5

Replay Value- Highly Highly Addictive. And the remixes and online/multiplayer modes keep it going for ages. Just to give you a bit of an idea- I'm STILL playing Frequency, and this is even MORE addictive. 9.5

Final Score- The best music game so far this year! Much better than the original... and simply great addictive fun. Highly Recommended! 9.5

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/04