Audiosurf: Indie Game, Ride Your Music (Review)

A Music-based Puzzle Racer that Adapts Audio Files into 3D Levels

Apr 28, 2009

Addictive indie title Audiosurf creates a fast-paced match-three colors puzzle game, with as many levels as the player's music collection.

Through a process that seems like magic (but what is simply ingenious programming code), Audiosurf analyzes any song the player chooses and creates a unique 3D level out of it. The level's shape and speed are determined by various factors such as the song's tempo, melody, instruments, vocals, and more. Ride Your Music is an apt slogan for this unique rhythm based puzzle game.

Indie Game Audiosurf Review - Puzzle, Music, Racing game hybrid

After loading up Audiosurf, players are prompted with the option to select a track. For those with limited music libraries, Valve includes the entire The Orange Box soundtrack (which includes music from Half Life 2, Team Fortress, and Portal).

But for those of us with music libraries that stretch the capacity of a 30 gig iPod or Zune, The Orange Box soundtrack simply serves as a demo of its true capacity. Audiosurf can play any song from virtually any format. The following is a list of all supported audio formats:

After selecting a song, the game will automatically analyze various aspects of the track, and craft a fully three dimensional level. Since the speed is measured by the song, players can only move left or right between several columns using either the keyboard's directional arrows, or by moving the mouse left or right.

While the player's spaceship floats forward, various colored boxes slide down the track similar to Guitar Hero or Rock Band. By moving the spaceship into the colored box, the color will be stored in that column. By collecting three of the same color all next to one another, the colors will disappear and the player will receive points.

Warmer colors such as red and yellow appear during tense moments during the song and are worth more points, while cooler colors such as blue and purple appear during more frequently during calm moments and as such are worth less points.

A larger combination will yield much more points, and several powerups assist the player in creating large color clusters. Each song has its own unique difficulty, and the player can shoot for high scores on online leaderboards (tracked by the song's tag info), or simply shoot for bronze, silver, and gold medals.

Levels Generated from Audio Files in Audiosurf

The real question is not how it works, but how well does it work. The answer to that question is: surprisingly well. Each song played in Audiosurf is unique, and simply trying out different songs from various genres is an adventure in and of itself.

When playing Can't C Me by 2Pac, Audiosurf offers a bumpy ride with numerous tunnels to accenuate intense moments in the song. When playing The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, Audiosurf creates a rollercoaster ride of sorts, with some calm uphill moments, followed by intense downhills and tunnels.

Songs with heavy beats such as rap and techno will offer a bumpy ride similar to a whitewater rafting trip, with numerous colors to collect, while songs featuring mostly strings and vocals with less obvious beats and bass create a smoother, calmer gameplay experience.

The full game comes packed with numerous different "characters" (or modes, some of which are co-op), spanning across three different difficulty levels. Players who simply want to absorb the music and visuals should stick with the casual, while players that want to conquer a tough challenge and reach for high scores can give the tougher difficulty modes a shot.

Players can download the demo of Audiosurf from Valve's Steam, or purchase the full version for $9.99.

The demo allows for only a limited number of song plays, and only the "Casual" difficulty modes, but it should last long enough for players to decide whether or not it's worth the asking price. But with nearly limitless replay value, it's difficult to turn down at a mere $10.

The copyright of the article Audiosurf: Indie Game, Ride Your Music (Review) in Music Video Games is owned by Bradley Kairis. Permission to republish Audiosurf: Indie Game, Ride Your Music (Review) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.