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Amplitude Impressions

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    Amplitude Impressions

    I just got hold of this sequel to Frequency and here are my initial impressions:

    I would guess that the game has been given a much bigger budget than the prequel as they seem to have spent more time on the presentation, it offers the ability to play online from the main menu and some of the artists involved are more high profile (Garbage, David Bowie and Run DMC). The graphics in-game where you control the music and the background images of the artist in question have also been considerably improved.

    The first time you play the game you are forced to go through a tutorial explaining what to do which is a great idea for people new to the game but not if you've played the first and are familiar with the mechanics.

    For anyone who's not played Frequency before I would suggest reading the review on the site as this will give you an idea of what to expect . It looks they have decided to go with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach with the way the game plays. You use the same controls in the same way pressing the buttons in time to the commands on screen. One difference is that the "level" is now set out on a plain a bit like the flat level from Tempest instead of a sphere from the first game but this does not really affect the way that the game plays. You are given more visual clues as to how to build up chains for example a new path will be highlighted with a 2X symbol as you approach it so you know where to move to when you reach the end of your current path.

    Power ups remain from the first game while a new power up has been added which seems to replace the freestyling from the prequel but I've not figured out how to use it yet.

    The structure of the game is based on five levels each with five songs. If you complete the first 3 songs on a level then you unlock the Boss level which seems to be no different other than you are given a "Rez" style introduction i.e. something along the lines of "Boss virus initialized blah blah", which I thought was a bit cheeky. The fifth song is only unlocked once you have gained a certain cumulative score from the other four songs in that level. This gives the game a certain one more go mentality as you strive to increase your scores in each by the amount needed to unlock the bonus song.

    They seem to have achieved a happy medium with this game. Offer more of the same to fans of frequency while still making it accessible to the (many) people who never played it.

    #2
    Thanks for the impressions man. I loved the first one even though I will never be able to reach the expert stage later levels. My only worry for this one is the music. I hope the game still contains some of the more underground tunes that made the first one so great. I am so scared that some marketing people ****ed up this game by putting popular music on it to give it a broader appeal. David Bowie and Garbage = ner, Ethan Eves and Freezepop = yay.

    (Still, I never liked Powerman 5000 but had great fun with them on Frequency)

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      #3
      This game definitely smacks of the Marketing people getting involved with some pretty commercial tracks on there (Pink ). I read somewhere that a load of the artists were from Sony's own label but I don't know if that is true. Of the tracks played so far there are some great ones on there too - something for everyone!

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        #4
        Is this out in Japan now, or only in the US?

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          #5
          It's made by Harmonix a US company I think and released by SCEA so I don't think they've released it in Japan.

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            #6
            Originally posted by goldbricker
            It's made by Harmonix a US company I think and released by SCEA so I don't think they've released it in Japan.
            Looks like I will wait for the PAL release instead then.

            Do the graphics complicate the gameplay at all? I have seen a few screenshots and it looks like they have made the environments too complicated, and might take your eye off the button combinations.

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              #7
              Originally posted by lordcookie
              Do the graphics complicate the gameplay at all?
              No not at all, the environments are definitely more detailed but you are so focused on the task at hand that you barely notice it. I suppose it's designed to impress the people who are watching the person play.

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                #8
                Excellent stuff, I can't wait for this one. I only have a PAL PS2 so will have to wait though.

                Good call refering peeps to the NTSC-UK review

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by goldbricker
                  Originally posted by lordcookie
                  Do the graphics complicate the gameplay at all?
                  No not at all, the environments are definitely more detailed but you are so focused on the task at hand that you barely notice it. I suppose it's designed to impress the people who are watching the person play.
                  Good, good. I guess the original frequency screenshots could have looked confusing too. It's a shame they got rid of the tunnel though. Although it didn't offer anything gameplay wise compared to the flat playing surface, it just looked better.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by PeteJ
                    Good call refering peeps to the NTSC-UK review
                    Just doing my bit for the cause

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