Sound and Vision

It's been a few days. I'd make an excuse, or, at the very least, explain myself, but I've got an issue of Computer Weekly in front of me with an article about blogging in it, and they reckon you shouldn't even mention that you've been away. So I've screwed that one up already.

A few posts ago I mentioned the excellent Audiosurf, a synaesthetic computer game which makes roller coaster-style racing tracks out of your favourite mp3s and then asks you to race upon them. Synaethesia in gaming is something that I find interesting, and I'm always looking to play other examples.

So imagine my joy at finding Synaesthete, an abstract isometric shooter made by students at the Digipen Institute of Technology. Based upon the solid arcade foundations of games like Robotron, Synaesthete builds its whole experience around an excellent dance soundtrack which influences both the visuals and the enemy patterns. The conceit of the game is that you're controlling an antivirus program in a collective electronic conciousness, but what that really means in that you're a little white guy and you shoot stuff. The difference is that the targetting of enemies is handled for you, leaving you to concentrate on movement and rhythm.

This rhythmic element plays out in the form of a Guitar Hero-like grid that is overlain on the screen whenever enemies approach. Coloured squares scroll down it, representing the notes of the soundtrack playing in the background. You have to tap keys on your keyboard in time to the squares, with the strength of your firepower depending on how close to the rhythm you are.

I'm not really sure I'm explaining it very well, so here's a gameplay video that does the job much better than I can:

It's not perfect, if I'm honest: most of the time you can concentrate on pressing the key that corresponds with the left-most column of the grid; that column represents the kick drum, and it's by far the most simple rhythm to follow. You're rarely given much of an incentive to move away from it, which makes things much easier than they could be. But hey - it's free, it's fun, and it moulds together sound and vision in a way that makes me quiver with joy.