Geeky Friday #1 - AudioSurf

Thats right folks, in an attempt to boost my blogging habits, I’ve decided to create a (hopefully) weekly feature here on PyroWinter called Geeky Friday. Since last year when I shut down The She Geek I’ve missed having somewhere to vent my “geek-ness” online; thus this little feature was born.

This week to start us off on the right foot, I’ve decided to shamelessly promote a new game which I found through one of my friends here at college, and that game is called AudioSurf.

Now by this screenshot, you can already tell that AudioSurf is filled with bright colors (and they’re customizable too). You are in control of a small jet-car which is rocketing down the “music highway”. Personally, I equate this more to the “acid trip with soundtrack highway” but regardless, you’re going to be bombarded with a multitude of colors from the beginning to end in each and every round.

The object of the game is to collect the colored squares while avoiding the gray ones. You have three lanes, and each time you hit a colored square, it moves into the queue on that lane. Touch three or more of the same color in your queues (blocks can be in multiple lanes - i.e. 2 in first lane 1 in second), to clear them and receive your points. You don’t automatically clear them once you’ve gotten three because the game gives you a grace-period which allows you to potentially pick up more blocks of that color and increase your bonus. If you hit a gray block, it gets suck in your lane queue, and only disappear after a certain amount of time.

Sound fun yet? If yes, hang on tight because it’s about to get even better. The best part about AudioSurf is that rather than dealing with a mundane game soundtrack that you eventually get bored of and quit playing, AudioSurf lets you choose your own music. Thats right you pick your own songs. As long as the song is in a compatible format (mp3, m4a, etc), you can have AudioSurf load it up. The game automatically detects the rhythms, vocals, etc of the song and generates a custom musical highway for you to play on.

The speed your car moves at is directly influenced by the speed of the song your playing to. If the song is slow, the track tilts up and everything slows down. If the song is fast, the track tilts down and you rocket along at breakneck speeds. Throw in some random banked curves, more gray blocks than you can imagine, and in-opportune speed-ups, and you’ve got yourself one wild ride.

The game also comes with several different modes such as Mono (only have to deal with one color), Eraser (gives you the ability to erase blocks of certain colors from your lane queues, Double V (you control two cars), and many more. These options are also available on different levels (beginner, pro and expert) which all come with their own little quirks and bonuses. If you’re feeling really brave, you can check Ironmode at the bottom to add in some extra hardness. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve been told it’s quite difficult. I’ve only really played Mono and Eraser modes, but I do look forward to trying out the rest.

You can get a trial version of AudioSurf from the website, but it only allows you to do 5 songs before it expires. But the nice thing is, the full version only costs a measly one-time fee of $10. AudioSurf also requires you to download and install Steam, which is a high-powered gaming server which lets you download games, add them to your account, and then access them from any computer. If you have games such as Half Life 2, or The Orange Box, it’s likely you’ve already got Steam installed. The Steam panel will keep your game installations up-to-date automatically, and give you information on other games you may enjoy.

All in all, I’m not ashamed to say that I am now completely addicted to AudioSurf and may be ignoring everything else for a while while I play. Yes, I’m a bad person.