Audiosurf - PC

Everyone loves music. Or, at least likes it. Listening to music is one thing, but have you ever though of "riding" it? Dylan Fitterer has created great way of doing so, and its called Audiosurf.

Audiosurf is an independently developed game for the PC that is digitally distributed by Valve Corp. (Steam). The player chooses a song and "rides". The game loads up a track and chooses the background color that best suite the tempo, volume, and overall sound of the song selected. For example, if you were to choose the song "The Rockafeller Skank" by Fat Boy Slim, then chances are the system will choose to use a white background, because the song is very upbeat. Playing something like "Idealistic" by Digitalism, which is a lot darker and "bassier", for lack of a better term, will more then likely come up in a black background. The previously stated is the most amazing part of playing Audiosurf. The fact that you can choose to play any song you have on your computers hard drive and the track will change to better suite the song.

The amazing mechanics don't end there. Another amazing thing the track will do while playing is change the angle of the slope you're continuing down. If there's a part in the song that is slower or quieter, the slope angle upwards. If the song has a section where there is a lot going on, or the tempo increases, then the track will slope downwards and move much faster.

There are many different modes to try out in Audiosurf. Each one is filled with blocks called "cars". These cars are traveling in the opposite direction as your car. If you're playing in the Mono mode, then the cars will either be grey or coloured. Your objectives in this mode are to avoid making contact with the grey cars and collect as many coloured ones as possible. If you're playing in any other mode, then your objective is to collect coloured cars in groups of 3 in order to wipe them off the track and gain points.

Audiosurf does a good job of keeping its players happy. Every week, Dylan will release a few playable tracks for everyone to use. This causes some automatic competition among the online players. Scores for these songs and any others you play are posted online as long as you are connected and logged in, so everyone will always be reaching for that #1 spot. There are also achievements implemented into the game that are also fun to go after when you're looking for a challenge.

Audiosurf not only excels in the area of audio, but visually it's just as good. With a decent graphics card and the settings turned to max, watching Audiosurf is almost as much fun as playing it. Every time your car hits another, a firework-like explosion of what ever color you hit will go off in the background. This makes the game a real visual pleasure.

Overall

With new content every week plus what ever new music you pick up, you will never get bored of this game. With its great range and low price, Audiosurf is a must have for any one who is into games like Guitar Hero or even F-Zero, along with anyone who just loves music.

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