Imagine a mash-up of Wipeout and Guitar Hero. Now add to that the ability to use any song on your computer and you have an inking of Audiosurf. Using an algorithm to compute the rise and fall of the track along with placement of blocks, this game has as much reply value as number of songs in your music collection and then some.

The basic idea is that you direct your vehicle to collide with colored blocks that were placed in time to the background music. While an interesting idea all by itself, Audiosurf adds the ability to use any song you own to create a new route. The game then mixes it up even more by adding three different degrees of difficultly, number and speed of blocks, with different characters that embody different types of play. Maybe you would like to collect a single color, collect and save blocks as you go or even play along with a friend, this game as all of those options.

Once you have mastered a single song and racked up a high score, you can post your scores and compare with anyone else who has ever played that song. Even if you do not like to compete with other players, you can compete with yourself to get personal achievements that can later be used as bragging rights from your Steam account page.

Notes:

• I first had in mind to just play the demo, which I did, but found I liked the game so much that I just had to buy it. The demo gives you the ability to test the gameplay with a limited amount of characters and only five songs. Depending on your song selections, you can get over a single hour’s worth of play in one sitting.
• I recommend that your song selection be songs both that you are familiar with and that have a steady rhythm to them. While some songs that have off beats or even mixed beats can be fun to play, the pacing of the level to match the song can slow gameplay at times.
• If you purchase this game via Steam, you get along with it the soundtrack to The Orange Box.

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