Amplitude HD Reviews
While some more star power in the soundtrack would have went a long way, and the way Harmonix artificially pads the game's length with its song unlock requirements is ridiculous, Amplitude remains an exciting blend of rhythm action and electronica that does well by its predecessors.
Amplitude won't take over your Rock Band party nights, but it might be quirky enough to give you a few evenings of trippy, challenging button mashing. If you enjoy music games, give it a try.
Amplitude manages to be both a throwback, and as relevant as ever. This feels like a Harmonix with the shackles off, free to unleash their creative side onto the rhythm-action genre once again. With its initial simplicity, mesmerising visuals, and a great marriage of music to game mechanics, Harmonix have given the world a better Amplitude. One that is simply a superb title.
The new game is full of fantastic modern electronic tracks. Sadly there are no big licensed artists to be found, but there are plenty of Harmonix favorites like Freezepop and Symbion Project. My favorite tracks include Perfect Brain, Dalatecht, and Crystal.
This is a game clearly made for long-standing fans, and made by a passionate team that strived to recreate the gameplay experience of the original on modern hardware. In that sense, Amplitude is a total success. The way that the game draws you in with its psychedelic visuals, how your brain switches off and your fingers become one with your DualShock, the satisfying way that the tracks disintegrate when you clear them – it's all here. If you can forgive the game's problems, you're left with a very solid rhythm game, and an experience that's as fresh today as it was 13 years ago.
Amplitude is a labor of love, polished to a beautiful shine and put into fans' hands by a developer that truly cares about the experience they are offering in revisiting this cult classic. Despite its clean exterior and simple, yet fun gameplay, I fear many will be rather quickly turned away by the steep difficulty curve and a track list that is only good, not great.
It's nice to see that Harmonix can still keep the beat going, even after the commercial success of Rock Band 4. Amplitude may not be as big a game as that is, but it's still a terrific experience, whether you go it alone or bring some friends into the fray. The soundtrack, while more "indie"-based, is a blast, and the gameplay delivers all the goodness we've come to expect from the brand. Now then, how's that HD port of Frequency coming along…?
Suffice it to say, Amplitude may not be a perfect game that includes every single thing a fan of the previous games could want, but it certainly met my high overall expectations. It's not often that I find myself "buying in" to a crowdsourced project, and rarer still that I would spend more than the typical cost of a game on one, but I'm definitely pleased with the result of doing so this time around.
Amplitude hasn't got the high-profile tracks or acts to make it as a blockbuster music game, but it has got the gameplay chops, the visuals and the soundtrack to make it as hypnotic, score-attack arcade game. On that level it's still a little short on long-term appeal, but as accomplished and horribly addictive as anything Harmonix has produced.
This revival of the 2003 cult classic is a rhythm game driven by the synesthetic idea of physically interacting with sound.
Amplitude sadly missed the mark. It feels bare, awkward, and incomplete. There isn't a ton of content and the song selection won't keep players hooked. Maybe this is one Kickstarter the gaming community should have passed on.
The plastic peripheral-slinging music game developers at Harmonix have returned to their roots with a modern remake of Amplitude.
Amplitude lacks both the visual and audible punch its predecessor delivered, but the gameplay still manages to be immersive, intense and often enjoyable.
This exclusive reboot for PlayStation features all-new music and visuals, but fails to live up to the original.
Amplitude has the potential to be a great game, but the lack of innovation of the formula and the rather lackluster tracklist keep the game from ever being more than simply ‘okay’. For its retail price there’s a decent amount of content, but there is simply no incentive to invest a lot of time into it in a single session. Perhaps if Harmonix ever decides to expand upon the experience with DLC or a potential sequel Amplitude could be what it aspires to be, but until then the game could be classified as a nice callback for the fans.
Amplitude is a labor of love on its creator's part. What it has to offer is a testament to Harmonix's mastery of the genre: Its simple yet deeply challenging gameplay and psychedelic graphics have been honed to near-perfection, and each distinct part of every song carries its own, faithful patterns and challenges. The critical flaw is that there's simply not enough content to go around.
Amplitude is a game trapped in the PS2's past but brought back through the developers' passion. There really isn't any innovation in this version, but it's not expensive so a lot can be overlooked. This game works best at a college dorm party or somewhere with lots of friends. But there's little more to do once everyone has gone home.
A unique concept album that challenges your mind and your dexterity
A welcome return of a classic
Amplitude could have been something special again; instead, it ended up falling flat.