Waveform

Developer: Eden Industries
Steam Release: March 2012
Hours Played: 3.1
Similar To: None That I Know of
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips



GAMEPLAY

Due to its simplicity, this is one of those why-hasn't-this-been-done-before games. The screen moves slowly horizontally to the right and starts with the appearance of a wavy line from the left. The wave approaches a series of circles, in a fixed configuration, that moves in from the right. With the simple holding down of the left mouse button you manipulate the frequency of the wave so that its path crosses that of the circles. The more circles you hit, the higher your score.  Moving the mouse to the right and downwards stretches the wave flatter like a spring being stretched, while moving the mouse upwards and to the left essentially squashes the line like an accordion being pressed in so that its peaks and troughs are steeper and higher. 

BALANCE & PACE

As the line strikes the circles, a satisfying popping sound occurs along with small explosions adding points to your score. A level or wave if you will - (in the Pluto or Neptune levels anyway) only lasts a few minutes but it's extremely challenging to hit all the circles. In fact, my personal best is 98% for the easiest level with the rest averaging at around 70-80%. Extra challenges get added as you proceed such as getting the line to go through hoops to increase the multiplier, avoiding nasty black squares and having to change the path of the line more and more quickly. The idea is that as you proceed through the game, you get better and can thus go back and crush earlier levels.



PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The soundtrack for the game is airy and ambient with a twinkling feel to give it its out-of-this-world quality. The blips and bleeps are also melodic which gives the game that friendly and welcoming vibe. Sound-effects are subtle and have a suitably futuristic edge. I also always like to hear a satisfying thump or thunk as I click on various things in the menu. Graphically, things are kept solid and simple. The feeling of being in outer-space pervades and the wavy line is appropriately pale contrasting nicely with the circles. You hit Play and are taken to the profile screen where you play one of three profiles. Click on your profile and you're taken to the level select screens. There is one screen for each planet in our solar-system which you scroll through in carousel-like fashion. 


PROGRESS SYSTEM
Planets have about eight or so cubes around them which represent levels. At the end of each, you're given a score and some stats and clicking Continue takes you back to the level-select screen once again. Progress and stats are done well but I do like to know, beforehand, how many levels await me; Waveform does not let you know this. Your Select Level screen starts with Pluto. and as you complete levels you unlock the next cube and then go onto the next planet with a similar amount of levels to complete. The stats screen is all well and good but the best feature is the star system. Here, a bar rises upwards to show how well (as a percentage) you've done. For each 10% you get a star. Conveniently, hovering over a cube in the Select Level screen tells you how many stars you have earned for that level.

CONCLUSION
Waveform is great to dip into for a 20 or 30 minute session and what's more is a unique, one-of-a-kind game. Although I have only done the Pluto and Neptune areas it also never makes you feel angry or frustrated like some other games do. Like Bit. Trip Runner it is also a game that cleverly and painlessly trains you to get better; you make a mess of it, learn what you need to do, put the skills to good use and get it right next time. It also means you can go back to earlier levels and have a better chance at picking up those extra stars you couldn't get first time round. Good, solid fun.