Review: Beat Hazard (XBLIG)

Developer: Cold Beam Games

Publisher: Microsoft

When you think of ‘music games’, what is the first thing that comes to mind? It’s those rhythm based games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, isn’t it?  With Beat Hazard, we are introduced to a different take on the ‘music game’ genre, in glorious Asteroids style.

The game is a two stick shooter, much like Super Stardust HD, but rather than face pre-set waves of enemies, the music you are currently listening to affects the game as a whole. The game features ten songs, each creating a different experience. That’s not very many levels, is it? Well, providing you have some music on your Xbox hard drive you can potentially have unlimited levels. Has your music got to a quiet bridge? Then you’ll be shooting at fewer enemies and your gun will shoot slow, methodical bullets. Listening to some heavy music? You’ll be firing a huge laser at many enemies, as the background flashes like fireworks. The effects here are stunning.

The objective is to collect volume markers to power up your song and the game to the maximum, and hold out from dying until the end. Gun power-ups can be collected in a flash, leaving the rest of the song for you to collect multiplier tokens and bombs which destroy everthing on the screen when detonated. To gain score multipliers, you can simply collect these tokens, or complete certain tasks within the game such as surviving for a few minutes or taking a break from the shooting for a few seconds.

When everything kicks off in your song, the visuals do too. The vibrant colours begin to contrast with the background and merge in with each other, swaying like the Northern Lights against a dark sky. The colours and styles are always changing, with everything linking to the new colour scheme right through the entire song. Choosing a song that has a fast beat is not recommended if you cannot handle bright, vibrant colours that are always flashing and changing. The enemies are often asteroids that break apart or small space crafts that only aim to destroy you, with a healthy dose of large ‘boss’ ships that will destroy you in a heartbeat (or a musical beat, to keep things related).

The game works very well with Drum and Bass music, with the pounding beat influencing the fast gameplay. This is not to say that if you do not like this style, you shouldn’t buy this game. I tried mine with Machine Head, and the heavy guitars worked wonders for the gameplay. I also attempted to play along to AC/DC, which worked out pretty well, with the guitar riffs reflected in the game.

Beat Hazard is an amazing little game for music lovers and people who like games alike. If you love these two things, you’re on to a sure winner with this game, offering endless fun with all your tracks.