Beat Hazard

 
Developer: Cold Beam Games
Steam Release: Apr 2010
Hours Played: 18.1
Similar To: Bullet Candy / DubWars / Ion Assault / Waves
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips



GAMEPLAY
If glittering asteroids that explode in a kaleidoscopic dazzle sounds spectacular and pumping pulsating music gets your juices flowing then putting the two together should be a delight for the senses. Truth be told this Asteroids-inspired twin-stick shooter provides the ingredients for just such an experience. You begin with your ship in the middle of the screen as asteroids gently dance and float around you; all is calm as you hold back on firing to get your multiplier up. Then as hostile ships enter the fray you start blasting away creating those sparkling explosions. Couple this with your favourite music and you get the added aural nourishment. Power-ups like extra missiles and laser beams can be picked up to help you fight the cause along the way.


BALANCE & PACE
The intensity and beat of the music is linked to the spawning rate of your enemies which means when the music quietens down, the enemy count decreases. As the music's beats increase however, brace yourself for a hit of intensity as more numerous enemies are whisked into the screen. You also get about 2-4 boss fights per song. The result will most certainly rock your world as it's a cracking gaming experience. Each game lasts for as long as the track takes to run its course and you can jump straight back into the action to beat your score or play a different song fairly quickly. However, the game is good to play for about 30 minutes before it can get a touch overwhelming.



PRESENTATION & DESIGN
As their slogan states, the game is powered by "YOUR" music but unlike Audiosurf, Beat Hazard comes loaded with its own album of 23 tracks which means you can play the game straight out-of-the-box. However, bringing your own music to the table adds that extra dimension. Once set up (the game should detect your music on your system) you simply scroll through the titles and select one to play. You get easy, normal and hardcore settings and (later) insane or suicidal. Menus provide a satisfying swish as you zip through but there is definitely an over-abundance of scrolling and digging to find the track you want. More tracks listed on one page would definitely have countered this slight annoyance. 



PROGRESS SYSTEM
Progress comes by acquiring progressively higher scores for each track. This is greatly helped by collecting floating $10 cash icons as you play that can then be used to buy permanent upgrades and power-ups at the Manage Perks screen but they do take a very long time to max out. Menus can initially seem confusing and managing perks might also be a bit of a head-scratcher but it soon becomes clear. Finally, high-scores set at the most difficult setting are shown underneath each track at the Select Track menu. Green indicates that the player managed to complete the entire game with lives intact whereas yellow means all lives were lost before completion. 

  

CONCLUSION
As you can tell, I was well impressed with this game. If you love rhythmic and melodic tunes along with pumping beats then playing it to Beat Hazard is an experience that will grip you like a warm embrace. The only gripe I have with it is scrolling through the many tracks to find songs. These are listed by opening folders and sub-folders like a windows document which can be fiddly and why I think it may have been better to list album tracks just on one page so you can select and go directly to the song you wish to play. The choice to remove poor tracks entirely would also have facilitated the process greatly and prevented wading through the mud. Nevertheless Beat Hazard has its rightful place among the elite arena shooters.