Amplitude

"One of the best music games ever."

It seemed that Frequency was destined to be a hit. Being one of the most original titles since Parappa the Rapper, it was easily the best music game of 2001. Instead of a standard “listen, repeat” formula found in Parappa or Space Channel 5, you had to unlock different parts of a song (like the base or drum line) by hitting buttons at the right time. So, if you began to fail, then all the music would stop...it was a nice effect.
However, it was quickly overshadowed by every other high-quality game released for the PS2 that year. Well, Harmonix decided to start off fresh again with the sequel, Amplitude. With innovative changes to the Frequency formula, Amplitude looks, sounds, and plays like a classic.

The shallow story of Amplitude is really just the same as Frequency. You are an online mix artist with your own avatar (called a FreQ.) You find songs and “mix them up.”

The basic gameplay in Amplitude is not for anyone to pick up and play. It takes many hours of practice to even get past many of the songs on Normal mode. Each level in Amplitude is based of a song. Your little blaster pod moves around each track, trying to shoot away at little notes that hold the song's music or vocals. Depending on which track you are on, you could unlock the drums, synth, bass, guitar, FX, or vocals of a song. Each track is composed of three different parts, and buttons are assigned to one part.

Amplitude original control scheme allows use of the shoulder or face buttons, but when the game is flying around you, it ends up being much easier to use the shoulder buttons (with the use of three digits, instead of the face buttons just using the thumbs.) Once a song is finished you get a point total (different tracks earn you points depending on the difficulty, and if you can keep going without missing a track or screwing up, the points get multiplied.)

One thing different from Frequency is that instead of using the octagonal track system, they decided to use one flat plane, making it easier to see what track is coming up next. Also, the tracks are now color coded, so it makes it easier to tell what track is coming up next. Otherwise, the game is pretty much the same, which is a great thing, since Frequency is still feels fresh and fun to play.

Along each track, you can collect power-ups, to increase your point total, or make it easier to finish a song. There is the Auto-blaster; which automatically clears a track for you, Score doubler; which makes each track's point total double, Slow-mo; Where everything is slower to make it easy to perform combos, and Freestyler, which is the biggest change from Frequency. Every time Freestyler is activated, you move away from the action, and get to personally add scratching and synth sounds to that song. You get huge amounts of points, and it may just save you from a Game Over.

Everything about Amplitude is about points. Amplitude's music selection is separated into a group of songs, and put into five different levels, but only three are available at the beginning of each level. By beating the original three songs, you unlock the boss song, so you can go to the next level. However, if you get a certain amount of points, the extra song is unlocked, so it makes you want to keep playing to perfect each song.

Graphically, Amplitude is still one of the best looking games on the Playstation 2. Everything in the game has a wonderful style and look to it, with every song having it's own different world. For the lighter, bubbly pop songs, the worlds are filled with light colors and smoother geometric designs, while the hard, rock songs have black worlds with angular, harsh geometry. Each world is a joy to look at, even though there is only a few times when playing do you get to look at it. Little video screens show parts of the song's music video (if they had one.) Other times may have neon signs crawling around, writing the name of the artists or song. But, the best graphical effects go the playing field itself. If you choose a close-up view with your pod, then you can actually see little lasers being shot at the music notes, a nice touch. Power-ups, like Slow-Mo, have little blurring effects given to them.

The customization of your FreQ has been tuned down for Amplitude. In Frequency, you could select from a wide variety of shapes for each body part, so anything you made looked like an abstract art piece. In Amplitude, you have 3D FreQs, so less can be changed. Want an all black robot with blue spikes for hair, or a Popeye-like caricature wearing a mini-skirt? You decide.

Unlike Frequency, which focused more on techno, Amplitude reached out to find a broader audience. Along with the techno, there is pop/rock, hard rock, and remixed pop songs. A handful of popular artists, like Weezer, Blink 182, David Bowie, Run-DMC, Slipknot, and Garbage lend a song alongside less known artists Logan 7, Freezepop, and BT. There is also a soundtrack option in Amplitude that allows you to listen to any song in the game, which is nice…if you love the songs. And with the selection that is available, Amplitude is a music game for everyone, not just people who like J-Pop.

Amplitude's online play is solid, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. The online ranking system takes into account if you finish first, second, third, or fourth in a game. Then, it looks where players similar of rank to you finished, and then changes your rank accordingly. It is hard to get inflated rankings Playing the game with friends/strangers online is just like the single player game, but there are two new power-ups that can give you the upper hand on your opponent, the Bumpers and Crippler. Both do exactly what the name implies, bump people off lines and cripple the lines that person is on, making it almost impossible for anyone to finish it. The Online mode makes Amplitude a game that takes a very long time to get bored of.

Amplitude should have been a hit. However, it's gameplay, not featuring guns or big explosions, was overlooked by most of the gaming public. Sadly, most games today that try to do something new are quietly passed on. If anyone was willing to pick up Amplitude, they will find a fantastic game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/04