LTTP: Amplitude (2016) If you like rhythm action games you NEED to play this

S

*Splinter

Member
I picked this up a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale. Never played (or even heard of) the original but at £4 I figured it was worth a shot.

God damn this game is incredible. It eases you in gently at first, there are only 3 buttons for the actual rhythm matching and my initial impression was that it might be too easy (I swear I think this at the start of every rhythm game and I'm always wrong). The track switching mechanic seems tricky at first but with a little practice you get used to reading ahead.

So what made me love this game? Everything.

I loved the feeling of progression. Every night that I sat down to play this game I could do something I couldn't the day before. Segments that seemed impossible one day would be effortless just a few days later, and yet there was always something new to aim for. The difficulty curve from that gentle intro to "how am I even doing this?" was absolutely perfect throughout.

I loved the soundttack. Ok, it's not the kind of music I'd listen to on its own but it was perfect for the gameplay. Punchy drum beats and lots of fun synth sections. There's a decent amount of variety, from the chilled out "All the Time" to the crazy frantic "Digital Paralysis". 30 tracks in total and every single one is a blast to play AND great to listen to (except maybe Crazy Ride which is kinda cringey).

I loved... the way it gameified something I already enjoy in music. Ok that's a bit abstract, but when I'm listening to music at work I generally tap my fingers along to the beat. Except, not just the beat, I'll tap along to whichever part of the song interests me at the time, maybe the vocals in the chorus or a nice guitar solo or a recognisable bass line. I just thought it was really clever how they mimicked this with the track switching mechanic.

Do I have any complaints? Not really. I could always ask for more tracks, but it looks like DLC isn't happening. The lack of online multiplayer is a shame, especially as the (local) multiplayer modes look fun. I was slightly disappointed when I tried to download the soundtrack, only 10 of the 15 Harmonix tracks were released, and the remaining 15 are (mostly?) available online but not as a single package.

And I want to play this in VR let me play this in VR Harmonix please Harmonix patch in VR Harmonix I'll give you... five of my fingers to make this VR Harmonix PLEASE

*Ahem*

Your thoughts, GAF? Why did noone tell me about this masterpiece sooner?
 
Yes this is an insanely good game. I funded the Kickstarter and I don't regret it for a second. Played it a lot.

Gameplay wise, it is a good as the original PS2 game, although no licensed soundtrack this time around.
 
Agreed. It's a fantastic game and it's really fluid to play. My only gripe is the terrible soundtrack which is truly woeful.
 
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(she's bi)
 
No one told you about it because it's the least impressive game they've produced in this genre, at least IMO.

The game itself offers little new, and the song choices are just fucking terrible. It's maybe one of my most disappointing releases in years after loving the original Amplitude, Frequency, and the various iterations of Rock Band that were similar.
 
I really liked the campaign mode and the cool stuff that happens at the end. That final song gets me so hyped.
The gameplay is so addicting and it makes me sad that there isn't any DLC.
 
I think it's great, and disagree with negativity associated with the soundtrack. It's pretty good, it just doesn't have the licensed content that people wanted.

Gameplay wise I think its the best game they've made, but I of course would have liked more variety from the soundtrack too. Still, the best rhythm game on modern consoles, in my opinion.
 
Vincent Grayson said:
No one told you about it because it's the least impressive game they've produced in this genre, at least IMO.

The game itself offers little new, and the song choices are just fucking terrible. It's maybe one of my most disappointing releases in years after loving the original Amplitude, Frequency, and the various iterations of Rock Band that were similar.
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This is pretty much how I feel. It has literally three or four good songs. The rest are awful, especially coming off of the brilliant OSTs of its predecessors. Even the licensed songs are questionable. They picked the worst songs for Amplitude from Transistor and Crypt of the Necrodancer. Why wouldn't they pick a more vocal track from Transistor or the iconic 1-1 theme from CotN?

The gameplay is just fine, but games like this live and die on the music, and this is the worst OST Harmonix has ever produced.


To be fair, though, maybe OP never played the originals. That would drastically shift expectations.
 
Im a massive Amplitude (PS2) fan and I couldn't get on with the new version. I'm prob in the minority but it was the popular game during my high school period so everyone used to play it a lot in multiplayer, I played it through college and University.

This one just didn't click with me at all. I think it might have been because the demo music was pretty lame, didn't paint a good picture for the rest of it.
 
I was recommended this game last year by someone who loved the PS2 original, and I really enjoyed it. Perfect game to sit back and zone out. It is so satisfying to nail a tricky section, especially when the tempo really gets going.

The campaign tracks are hit or miss, but mostly fun to play. I wish the game would've sold well enough to justify DLC.

I loved Guitar Hero back in the day, but having a whole set of peripherals thee days is a pain. Being able to scratch that same itch with just a controller is great.
 
cj_iwakura said:
To be fair, though, maybe OP never played the originals. That would drastically shift expectations.
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This is true. Seeing all the negative posts about the soundtrack surprised me a little, perhaps it actually helps that I don't usually listen to this kind of music. Might explain why the only rock-y song is the only one I don't like.
 
I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's very enjoyable. The soundtrack selection wasn't that great to be honest. Overall, Thumper is a much better game in all the aspects IMO.
 
*Splinter said:
This is true. Seeing all the negative posts about the soundtrack surprised me a little, perhaps it actually helps that I don't usually listen to this kind of music. Might explain why the only rock-y song is the only one I don't like.
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I did not play the original and it seemed to me that my friend who is a long time fan was quite disappointed in the soundtrack.

I thought the songs were goofy at times, but it made for fun gameplay so I didn't mind much. My friend felt like it was a complete departure from the original and had disdain for the dubstep tracks in particular.
 
*Splinter said:
This is true. Seeing all the negative posts about the soundtrack surprised me a little, perhaps it actually helps that I don't usually listen to this kind of music. Might explain why the only rock-y song is the only one I don't like.
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Crazy Ride by Insomniac Games is an abomination.
 
Lylo said:
I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's very enjoyable. The soundtrack selection wasn't that great to be honest. Overall, Thumper is a much better game in all the aspects IMO.
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I loved Thumper (in VR!) but think Amplitude is far better. Thumper's visuals and feedback are great, but it has no variety and the lack of difficulty options really hurts it. It doesn't take long to S rank the whole game and there's nowhere to go from there.
 
I was disappointed by Amplitude on PS4. I enjoyed my time with Thumper and Aaero more than Amplitude. By no means a bad game, just not as good as I was hoping.
 
MrS said:
Crazy Ride by Insomniac Games is an abomination.
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Excruciating

NateDrake said:
I was disappointed by Amplitude on PS4. I enjoyed my time with Thumper and Aeero more than Amplitude. By no means a bad game, just not as good as I was hoping.
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I've been considering Aeero. I played another game that uses the analogue sticks like that (forget the name but I think there was a skeleton in a space suit?) and found it kind of awkward. Will probably pick up Aeero evenatually though.
 
I loved the new Amplitude. It's the first and only project I ever backed on Kickstarter. While I do agree the soundtrack could have been better, there were still some solid tracks on it. Dreams in particular was great. I loved the story of the "campaign" too. Thought it was clever.
 
I hadn't played the original but I backed it on Kickstarter and thought it was a very well made and polished game that has the same problem that Rock Band 4 had at launch which was being very bare bones. I had a lot of fun with it but Once you go through the career mode there's no real reason to keep playing other than try to jump up the leaderboards. I'd still play it today if it had online multiplayer because none of my friends are really interested in it. I played the multiplayer at PAX East so I know it's fun but I can't get that anymore. But it's definitely worth it if it's on sale.
 
I enjoyed it but I'll agree with everyone that says the soundtrack is underwhelming most of the time. What's disappointing is that remixing, a staple of the franchise since Frequency released in either 2001 or 2002 is gone. I'm also disappointed in the multiplayer, as Frequency was one of the first PS2 online games, and they included multiplayer trophies but what are the odds of knowing someone at your skill level (expert/super) irl?

I also didn't like how Harmonix's behavior got kind of negative when they didn't receive the highest tier funding. They would laugh off suggestions of DLC on their Kickstarter and it felt like they tried to do the bear minimum because they didn't get everything they asked for.
 
Rainer70 said:
I enjoyed it but I'll agree with everyone that says the soundtrack is underwhelming most of the time. What's disappointing is that remixing, a staple of the franchise since Frequency released in either 2001 or 2002 is gone. I'm also disappointed in the multiplayer, as Frequency was one of the first PS2 online games, and they included multiplayer trophies but what are the odds of knowing someone at your skill level (expert/super) irl?

I also didn't like how Harmonix's behavior got kind of negative when they didn't receive the highest tier funding. They would laugh off suggestions of DLC on their Kickstarter and it felt like they tried to do the bear minimum because they didn't get everything they asked for.
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That's interesting (and unfortunate). I did see their abysmal explanation for the incomplete soundtrack release. Something like "we wanted a soundtrack that tells a story, so we only included the tracks with lyrics".

Like... what?
 
*Splinter said:
That's interesting (and unfortunate). I did see their abysmal explanation for the incomplete soundtrack release. Something like "we wanted a soundtrack that tells a story, so we only included the tracks with lyrics".

Like... what?
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Not only that, but I don't think they ever made the soundtrack available to non kickstarter backers and they never gave a reason why. It wasn't until months after the game came out that someone finally put the soundtrack on youtube. For literal months after the game came out I couldn't listen to my favorite songs anywhere, which is kind of insane.

Fun game, though! I still prefer the original PS2 game, but I'm glad Amplitude 2016 exists. It was great to go back to that style of game.
 
As a massive Frequency and Amplitude fan, I was on the Kickstarter day one, and it was my most hyped upcoming game.

The gameplay turned out perfectly fine, but the music...

Yeesh.

Edit: Also, this game begged for DLC to help remedy the terrible tracklist, but Harmonix just dumped it out and moved on.

Edit 1.5: The "story" mode was an absolute cringe-fest.

Edit 2: If you really want a special rhythm game, you owe it to yourself to play Thumper.
 
I hate using the PS4 controller with this game so much. Does anyone else have R1, L1 issues? Is there a good way to get a PS2 controller to work on ps4?
 
5taquitos said:
As a massive Frequency and Amplitude fan, I was on the Kickstarter day one, and it was my most hyped upcoming game.

The gameplay turned out perfectly fine, but the music...

Yeesh.

Edit: Also, this game begged for DLC to help remedy the terrible tracklist, but Harmonix just dumped it out and moved on.

Edit 1.5: The "story" mode was an absolute cringe-fest.

Edit 2: If you really want a special rhythm game, you owe it to yourself to play Thumper.
Click to expand...

Let's not forget how to stop it from failing completely, they offered free PSN credit to backers over a certain tier. It really smacked of desperation.

Oh, and the wave of layoffs that followed.
 
cj_iwakura said:
Let's not forget how to stop it from failing completely, they offered free PSN credit to backers over a certain tier. It really smacked of desperation.

Oh, and the wave of layoffs that followed.
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Wasn't there also some big issue with the PS3 version not coming out until waaaaaaay later?
 
5taquitos said:
Wasn't there also some big issue with the PS3 version not coming out until waaaaaaay later?
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It took a couple months or so, and also didn't have the cutscenes from the PS4 version. As a then-PS3 only backer, that kind of sucked. But at least it happened.
 
I freaking love this game, and unlike most I actually really enjoy the soundtrack for the most part. Picked it up when it was free during the PSN glitch, and once it locked me out a few weeks later I ended up buying the game anyways. I loved rockband back in the day, but had loads more fun with this game and it's whole synesthesia aesthetic. Still play it every once in a while when I'm in the mood
 
cj_iwakura said:
Let's not forget how to stop it from failing completely, they offered free PSN credit to backers over a certain tier. It really smacked of desperation.

Oh, and the wave of layoffs that followed.
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I think you're misremembering. One of the tiers promised you all the DLC for the game. When it got delayed and all the DLC for the game ended up being included with Amplitude, they gave everyone PSN credit for the expected value of all the DLC at that tier.

edit: yeah that was a specific tier

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great game. I was a heavy backer for it.

really wish they added a remix mode :''''''(

FyreWulff said:
I think you're misremembering. One of the tiers promised you all the DLC for the game. When it got delayed and all the DLC for the game ended up being included with Amplitude, they gave everyone PSN credit for the expected value of all the DLC at that tier.
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In some cases they gave more PSN credit than expected. iirc I remember getting more than the game was worth (but nowhere near how much I backed it with)
 
FyreWulff said:
I think you're misremembering. One of the tiers promised you all the DLC for the game. When it got delayed and all the DLC for the game ended up being included with Amplitude, they gave everyone PSN credit for the expected value of all the DLC at that tier.
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Ah. Yeah, I don't recall that at all. The layoffs were still very messed up. Its like they were counting on the KS to keep the company afloat.
 
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