Beat Hazard (Xbox 360)

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Description

Beat Hazard is a single screen arena shooter where the behaviour of enemies, gameplay and visual effects are dynamically adapted based on the chosen soundtrack. Just like Audiosurf about any custom music track can be imported to alter the game experience. Players control a small ship and need to survive waves of enemies. Only one level is provided, but the ship's firepower and the opponents dynamically change by analysing the music. During slow sections the ship's weapon is very weak and only a few enemies appear. When the rhythm and beat is built up, the weapon will gradually slow stronger, ending in large gushes of lasers (the beat hazard weapon) with different colours and visuals flashing along with the beat. At that point larger ships often appear and they can take a lot of damage before exploding. Players do not need to match the music in any way contrary to other games where the gameplay is centered around sound.

Defeated enemies, and objects such as rocks and space debris leave behind a number of modifiers that remain persistent regardless of the changes in the music. These include power-ups that increase the sound volume or raise the ship's firing power, provide bombs that clear the entire screen, or grant score multipliers. Multipliers are also awarded by not firing for five seconds (Dare Devil) and every 30 seconds that are survived (Survivor). When the ship is destroyed all upgrades are lost and generally a few more tries are provided before the game ends. There are three difficulty modes and a survivor game mode along with sessions that consist of single tracks and where multipliers are gradually dropped. The overall score is stored across sessions and moving up ranks opens up starting bonuses and provides other types of benefits. The gameplay works best with tracks that have a consistent and fast-paced rhythm. Slow songs generally numb the experience through a lack of firing power and enemies. An online leaderboard is also included.

Screenshots

There are no Xbox 360 screenshots for this game.

There are 28 other screenshots on file for other versions of this game.

Part of the Following Groups

• Beat Hazard series
• Game Engine: HGE
• Genre: Dual / Twin-stick shooter

User Reviews

There are no reviews for the Xbox 360 release of this game. You can use the links below to write your own review or read reviews for the other platforms of this game.

The Press Says

411mania.com	Nov 18, 2010	8.5 out of 10	85
OMGN: Online Multiplayer Games Network	Jul 20, 2010	8.5 out of 10	85
Eurogamer.net (UK)	May 14, 2010	6 out of 10	60

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Dammit	10	Sciere (255575) Apr 29, 2010

Trivia

iTunes and m4a file support

The developer released a separate piece of DLC for the Windows version of the game on Steam in May 2010 to play non-DRM iTunes, mp4 and AAC files inside the game. It costs around $1 and the cost is to cover the per copy license fee needed for the patented AAC decoder.

Related Web Sites

• Beat Hazard Developer Interview (interview with a developer about the game on XBLA & XBLIG Ratings (9th November 2009))