(PS2) Amplitude (Frequency 2) drops 3/25 - early thoughts
 

I know I'm not the only one picking this up... who else is heading to the store tomorrow for this? Gamespot had the release date for this as today, but since stores don't get their shipments in until Tuesday, then I guess it's dropping tomorrow. I'm curious to see what Frequency fans, as well as people new to the series, think about this one. It looks like the inactive tracks are a little harder to see, which will make it harder to switch and not lose your multiplier.

I'm interested in it, but won't be picking it up this week. Zelda gets all my attention for at least this week. In some cases big name titles can come into stores night of release (like Zelda today). I doubt Amplitude would be considered big ticket, so I would expect it tomorrow.

I'll be getting it and Zelda tomorrow!

FS

I'm definitely picking this one up tomorrow. Never really had any interest in it, but the demo was very addictive. Online play should be sweet.

Played the online demo with the Network Adapter. Unfortunately I traded in my Frequency game at gamestop before I knew I was going to get a NA. some of the guys online are fraeakin' insane!! It's like they have the dexterity of a meercat and the reflexes of a mongoose.

I had no idea meercats were so dextrous. :)

I loved Frequency, and I will be picking up Amplitude along with Zelda tomorrow. I played the demo, and it was awesome. It does play just like Freq. but is that a bad thing? I think not.

I am not all that great at the game, so if anyone who isn't great would like to get together for a game, lemme know.

I recently picked up Frequency and love it.

I'll probably get Amplitude once it gets down to the $20-$30 range.

That's great news... I haven't played the demo yet. Although it does bum me out that the tracks are laid out flat next to each other, instead of in the tube-shape like they were in Freq... that let you see everything, pretty much.

It looks like the ratings are good so far as expected. By the way, can anyone with IGN Insider post the review? I wanna see if they mention any new songs besides the ones that everyone knows (Slipknot, Papa Roach, Herbie Hancock, etc.). Gamespy's review revealed that Korn was in the game. :-o

My question is, will this game be a cinch for somebody that can beat expert mode without breaking a sweat? Half of the difficulty of the first one was getting used to playing the game and working up to the harder songs. Seems like easy and normal modes would be a breeze for Freq vets.

argh! Just called my local EB and they said that they won't be getting it until Wednesday.

Oh, well...I guess I'll just have to play Zelda to tide me over til tomorrow. :)

And Best Buy's website says that it drops for them on 3/27. Grrr.

I've played the demo of Amplitude, two songs on the demo, Garbage's "Cherry Lips" and Quarashi's "Baseline." I'm a Freq vet, I've beaten the game up and down, the only two songs I really have trouble with are the Insersect vs. Robotkid song and the second Symbion Project song.

As for Amplitude, they have four difficulty settings, Mellow, Normal, Brutal and Insane. Insane is not available on the demo, so, being a Frequency guy, I dove right in and played Brutal mode with very little problem dominating the song. I hope Insane is a little more challenging. I think the game will be MUCH easier for Freq vets because, as stated, part of the challenge of Frequency was getting used to the gameplay. Now, I can do some of the songs in Frequency on Expert in my sleep, I imagine that Amplitude will be much easier.

That's not to say I won't enjoy it. I still play Frequency all the time, trying to beat my high scores and so forth. Also, it's fun to make remixes.

My only problem with Amplitude isn't necesarily the highway style tracks. Although I do prefer the tunnel, it's because I like the ability of switching from the last track to the first seemlessly. If you could press right on the last track and have it take you to the first track, then it would be fine. Also, they ditched the freestyle tracks (at least in single player mode) and there are no bonus multipliers, only the multipliers you earn from streaks. However, you can get up to x8, which is pretty awesome.

Honestly, Harmonix could have just taken the same exact game, thrown in 27 new songs and I would have been happy. I'm pleased to see that they are trying something new. Although I balk at the inclusion of so many mainstream artists. One of the charms of Frequency was all of the underground music that was on the disc. Granted, they had a No Doubt track, but also Roni Size, QBert, Dub Pistols and Sugarcore. One or two mainstream artists isn't a bad idea, but it seems to be the focus of the new game. I guess I'll just be playing the Freezepop track over and over.

Anyway, I'm super pumped for this game, it's been a tough wait, but come tomorrow, I'll be rocking out with the new tunes.

My local GameSpot/Funcoland said that they should get it in today, so I'll be snagging it today as well.

Well, it looks like I stand corrected on a few facts. #1 is my the misinformation I laid out that the focus was on mainstream artists. There are a few (Weezer, POD, Garbage, and Quarashi) but they still have underground goodies like Symbion Project, Akrobatik, Freezepop, DJ HMX and others.

The other good news is that this is actually challenging, even to a Freq vet like myself. It took me some effort to beat Brutal (by effort, I mean I had to replay a few songs) and Insane is looking like it's going to take me a while. I can't wait to try the online features, I'm sure they will be awesome once everyone gets the game.

Also, there are multipliers, but they function a little differently. Instead of giving you up to x6 for a bonus, it doubles the value of the line itself (so 8 lines are worth 16 times your multiplier, etc.).

There is also a freestyler, but it is a bonus capture like an auto-capture or a point-doubler.

I'm still disappointed that it's a highway style and not tunnel style. I really prefer that aspect of Frequency, it's very difficult to maintain your multiplier when your cursor is on one side of the screen and the only available track is on the opposite side.

So, for those curious to some random guy's thoughts, I'll break it down IGN-style in my own words:

Presentation- 9.0- Easy to navigate, and trippy to look at, the menus are crazy with the fun attitude.

Graphics: 8.0- Fun backgrounds that can actually co-exist with the game (Frequency's backgrounds made it near impossible to play, I always use "No Arena"), and a fun new Freq builder which allows to make your interactive little dude. The more songs you beat, the more options you get to tweak your Freq.

Sound- 10.0- Kick a$$ tracks up and down the line, from remixes of old school RUN-DMC to hard core thrash metal of Slipknot to the super happy Freezepop, the selection is superb.

Control- 7.0- Essentially the same as Frequency, shoulder buttons and the d-pad to move from track to track. The highway style track gets serious demerits as it's actually a regression from the superior tunnel style of Frequency

Lasting Appeal- 10.0- Really infinite replay value here. I still play Frequency, trying to beat my own high scores. Remix mode also eats hours of my life away. With the addition of Online mode, there is really no reason ever to stop playing this game ever. In fact, what the hell am I doing on the computer?

Overall (not an average)- 9.5

Great news, bcelmins... thanks! I'm even more excited to pick it up now. :)

Seriously, bcelmins, that was a great review. Can't they fire some of those morons at IGNPS2 and hire you instead? Great job! I might have to pick this one up too.

How many tracks are available?

I think around 25 tracks.

I got through about 4 on normal difficulty before turning it off for the night. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I almost feel like the game is a step backwards. The "highway" setup is not as functional as the "tunnel" setup from the first game... it's really frustrating to get done with a track on one side of the highway, come back over, and realize that you lost your bonus because there was this track on the other side of the highway that you didn't even see until now. Also, just audio-wise, I feel like the first game worked my subwoofer more. I had to turn down the volume on the first game... this game, I feel like I need to turn up the volume, and turn up my sub while I was at it.

Okay, now the positives... the graphics and general presentation are head, shoulders, and torso above Frequency. And I love watching my Freq bop along to the music with the appropriate instrument... and he grooves in time with the music, a really cool touch that I wasn't expecting.

In the end, I feel like the game developers took two steps forward and one back.

But don't forget, they DID add the arrow to let you know which track to go to so you can continue your combo...I think this makes up for the highway tracks, and makes it easier to find where to go to next!

FS

The arrows are nice... but still, if they're all the way on the other end of the screen, you can't see them. At least, I can't, especially with all the other visual input from the "arena" background. Maybe I just need to work on looking waaaaay ahead. I just hate it when game sequels "fix" what isn't broken, and break it.

The Tempest-like tunnel was one of the best parts of the first game. This 2D road idea looks like junk to me.

Besides the restricted movement, I'm having a blast with Amplitude.

Has anyone tried out the online mode, yet? I logged on yesterday, but didn't play anyone. When I checked out the rankings, the leader had already played 55 games. :eek:

He (or she) is probably up to around 300 by now.

I got to try to online mode today, and I was glued to the PS2 for like 4 hours playing against various people. Someone had to pry me away from the TV.

Anyway, I love the online mode. I played around 50 sessions, and lost most of them. I'm ranked like 175 or something. But, I'm slowly making my way up the ladder.

The highway system is fine for multiplayer, I think. It still sucks for solo, though. I think that Harmonix is trying to feature the online mode this time around.

Picked up the game today. I feel that the highway isn't as cool or functional as the tunnel. With the tunnel you could pretty much see all of your options at once. The highway is a bit more restrictive, as it's hard to see tracks when your on a far side. Streaks are a little tougher to maintain if the next track isn't adjacent to you than it was in Frequency. Also, I don't like the freestyle being a powerup instead of appearing whenever you have deadtime. In Frequency, you are pretty much active throughout the song, while I spend myself not doing anything for long stretches in Amp. Note, this is my experience from Brutal mode.

I haven't played all the songs yet but I don't like the inclusion of a couple of the songs. The Papa Roach track in particular is a clunker.

The graphics as noted by others are great.

Ugh, add Slipknot to the crap songs list. Bands like Papa Roach and Slipknot do not work in this game. Powerman 5000 and Fear Factory have an industrial sound that worked in Freq. Something like KMFDM would have been so much better than these crappy metal bands they used.

I've never got around to playing the original Frequency but I really like music/rhythm games.

Should I play Amplitude first or the original Frequency first?

Frequency still holds up well and is probably dirt cheap by now, so I would give it a shot first.

One way that I've been combating the "crap, the next track is on the other freakin' side of the screen" situation is using the auto-completer (or whatever it's called) power-up on the track, and that gives me time to get over. Using a freestyler power-up also gets you out of that situation and usually drops you back down into a better one while maintaining your current multiplier.

Static, that's true. However, I was still able to maintain a streak throughout entire song on most of the levels in Frequency without using any powerups. Powerups are more important in maintaining streaks now.

Still, this game is great if you liked the first. It's just a shame that this wasn't an XBox game so we could get some new songs in the future.

My roommate bought this game yesterday afternoon and played through Normal, Brutal and then Insane all in one day. He played a little bit today. He's almost totally finished with it except for the last bonus song on Insane which is the first thing to give him a real challenge. I started on it this afternoon and played through easy and normal (which I'm almost done with) and will probably move on to Brutal by tomorrow.

We don't like it as much as we liked Frequency... it's okay, but it's just not as good as the original. :/ I like a few things better about it, but not enough to make the game better - or even as good.

Does anyone have a complete listing of the tracks on Amplitude? On Frequency, I basically loved every single song, except for the industrial tracks (Fear Factory = :yack: )... I especially digged Level 5.

Oh, and the difficulty level - are people breezing through because there's a ton of energy, or are the patterns so easy that maintaining your streak throughout the entire level is no problem? For example, on Level 5 of Frequency, I can get to the end of almost all the levels with no problem; it's just that I can barely get my multiplier up to x4, let alone stay there.

I'll probably pick it up this weekend unless half the tracks are in the vein of Slipknot... still working on beating the 27th song on Frequency.

Can you guys help me? I've never played anything like this before so I don't under what the freestyle power up is supposed to do or how to use it effectively.

Thanks!

Thong

Use it when you have a high multiplyer or are hit by particuraly hard tracks.

I'm currently stuck on Slipknot on insane. There are so few levels left, but they will probably take me longer than the rest of the game. Anybody else after playing Amplitude for awhile go back to Frequency and beat a few songs you weren't been able to get before?

Also for those with a network adapter, there's a tournament up at http://www.ocgn.com/tournament.asp?tid=20 that should be pretty fun; I love the online competition and games.

Herbie Hancock on Insane is kicking my ass. :( Up 'til now, almost every song was fine to beat on my first time through it, and then on my second time, I'd get the score I needed to help unlock the bonuses on each arena.

How do you sign up for the tourney?

There was a bug that is now fixed, on that page there should be a small grey 'Join Tournament' option.

And despite hearing many people having trouble with Rockit 2.002, I never did. Papa Roach was the first one I had to really practice, but Herbie Hancock wasn't too difficult.

Btw, what buttons is everyone using? I'm currently using L1, R1, Circle. I tried Square, R1, R2, but couldn't get my fingers to respond to my brain fast enough. :D

Thong

I used to use L1, R1 and whatever button is on the right... square or circle. I realized that wasn't gonna cut it once things got faster, so I went back and re-learned using the L1, R1 and R2 as the game suggests. That's really the only way to go once it gets really difficult. There's a trance you go into - your fingers work on their own. If you try to control your fingers, you'll mess up. I've done some bars that look impossible and I'm left thinking "how the hell did I just do that?!?" I look at my fingers as if they are alien. Anyway - I'm not quite in the zone yet, but getting there. I think too much. I'm halfway through brutal and my roommate finished the game days ago.