Amplitude

The day I received Amplitude, I sat at my Playstation 2 and played for four hours straight. Through burning eyes I had finished normal mode. Now, a few days later, I’ve almost completed Brutal, and have only completed about three songs on Insane. They’ve done it again – the good people over at Harmonix and Sony have released another addicting rhythm game for the Playstation 2. The first one was known as Frequency, a game that placed you in a hexagonal tunnel of music. Your job was to press a button as a musical note passed through the corresponding target, causing the note to be played. Various power-ups and difficulty settings made it more interesting…but enough about Frequency.

If it’s your first time playing a game of this nature, I highly recommend going through the training. At first Amplitude can be very confusing and very frustrating, but go through the training and start on an easier difficulty setting. Amplitude is played exactly like Frequency, where you press the assigned buttons at the right time to release “musical energy.” Advanced training will teach you how power-ups work, how to get them, and how to use them. The rest is up to practice.

After training, you’re ready to tackle the levels. Amplitude is broken up into areas that hold three songs and two bonus songs in each. The first bonus song (or “Boss” song) is unlocked after completing the three regular songs. The second bonus song is unlocked after accumulating a certain amount of points total within the area.

As you complete areas, the areas to follow become increasingly difficult. Towards the end, the songs are considerably more difficult than the ones you started with. This is nice, because you’re slowly getting better as you progress. By the time you finish a certain difficulty, you’re ready to start the next one.

When you look at a game like Amplitude, you realize that graphics don’t matter too much. Well, after playing Amplitude I tried going back to Frequency and discovered that graphics do matter. Everything has been brightened and the colors have been made more vivid in Amplitude. These improvements make it much easier to follow the flow of the music and to see where to go next. Amplitude is fun to watch even if you’re not playing. The backgrounds range from giant cyber cities to colorful, flashing tunnels. Some levels have the actual music video playing on giant screens in the background as well, all while it flashes and flickers to button presses.

The Freqs are back from Frequency, except now they’re in full 3D. For anyone that is not familiar with Freqs, they are an in-game representation of you. In Amplitude, you pick different features such as head, arms, legs, torso, and a variety of accessories to decorate your character to your liking. The choices of Freq parts are fairly expansive from the beginning, but you can unlock even more by completing the Boss songs. During songs, your Freq will dance in his own window to the side of the screen and play the instrument that you are currently playing. Your Freq is also what other players will see when playing online, so make him cool and unique!

Amplitude is a solid single player game, but it just wouldn’t be complete without a multiplayer mode. Amplitude has a very unique multiplayer experience…one that is not found anywhere else. When playing on your own, the only thing you have to worry about is hitting all the notes and completing the song. Once you start a multiplayer game, you realize that completing the song isn’t as important as screwing up your opponents. As you’re trying to finish a certain loop, it’s very common for someone to bump you off your track, or steal it completely. By the end of the song, Amplitude looks more like a space war than a music game. There’s also a new Duel mode where players try to match each other’s beats. It’s like an Amplitude version of HORSE.

I believe Amplitude is a title that everyone should give a shot. It’s an easy enough game to pick up and play on the easier songs, but also very challenging and intense on later levels. It also has one of the most fierce multiplayer modes I’ve ever experienced – especially in a music game! If you have a PS2, try Amplitude out. You just may be pleasantly surprised.

Gameplay: 9.5
Amplitude runs and plays flawlessly smooth. The enhanced visuals help guide you through the song while making it more enjoyable overall. Plus, with all the new gameplay modes, Amplitude has definitely evolved since Frequency.

Graphics: 9.8 
The graphics are a huge improvement from the first. The backgrounds are more colorful and detailed, the notes are bigger and brighter, and the entire level reacts to your button presses.

Sound: 8.9
No one is going to like every song on Amplitude. Since they tried to appeal to all audiences there’s a wide variety of tunes. Also, on certain songs the audio seems unbalanced; certain channels may seem louder than the others, drowning out the vocals, guitar, etc.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty stays pretty constant throughout the entire game. You have the choice of Mellow, Normal, Brutal, or Insane. Pick wisely…even veteran Frequency players may have trouble with Brutal. All it takes is practice, and anyone can master their favorite song on Amplitude.  

Concept: 9 
Even though it’s the same concept as Frequency, it still is one of the most unique games on the market. It may seem like another Dance Dance Revolution spin-off at first glance, but given a closer look one will realize that it’s much different. In Amplitude, you actually make the music.

Multiplayer: 9.5
The excitement and intensity that comes with playing Amplitude online is hard to find anywhere else. Not only do you have to try and complete the song, but you also have to watch your back for attacks from other players.

Overall: 9.7
It’s very unfortunate that Amplitude will not reach as many people as it should. Just like Frequency, it is overlooked for not having guns, babes, or a killer story. Amplitude is one of the most involving, intense, and addicting games I have played in a long time. Anyone with a PS2 should play this game.