Amplitude

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 51
  3. Negative: 7 out of 51

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  1. Captiosus
    Jan 6, 2016
    7
    There was a time when the original Amplitude almost never left my PS2. I was hardcore about finishing all of the tracks on the hardest difficulty. 100%'ing Robot Rockerz (Komputer Kontroller [aka Kasson Crooker, aka Symbion Project]) on Insane back in the day still makes me smirk - that track wasn't for the meek. That said, having now finished all 15 of the campaign songs on IntermediateThere was a time when the original Amplitude almost never left my PS2. I was hardcore about finishing all of the tracks on the hardest difficulty. 100%'ing Robot Rockerz (Komputer Kontroller [aka Kasson Crooker, aka Symbion Project]) on Insane back in the day still makes me smirk - that track wasn't for the meek. That said, having now finished all 15 of the campaign songs on Intermediate difficulty I give the game a solid 7. My biggest issues with the game are:

    The soundtrack is hit-or-miss and since there very little deviation in the types of EDM presented, it all starts to blur together. The original had good remixes of then popular tracks that fit with the futuristic theme and still made sense. For instance, I really enjoyed tracks like Run-DMC, Herbie Hancock, and David Bowie on the original as the mixes fit with the style but helped keep everything from feeling too similar. Even the in-house offerings in the original were more diverse; compare Cooker's DJ HMX 'Cool Baby' track to his later, more difficult tracks in the original. Unfortunately, by the third 'lobe' in this new version, I was pretty tired of the electronic dub, house, and drum-and-bass tracks (and I usually REALLY enjoy EDM). I don't know what MozartBananas is talking about but I do very much "get it" and Harmonix wasn't scared to add tracks outside of EDM back in the original Amplitude and it was better off for it. Go listen to the Crystal Method remix of P.O.D.'s "Boom", one of the first tracks in the original game. It fit the style just fine while offering diversity of songs throughout the game. I get that this game probably didn't have the budget for a bunch of licensed track remixes and that's a bit of a shame, IMO.

    Why do I have to replay the entire campaign instead of being able to select specific lobes and replay them like the original Amplitude did with the beat factory locations? This is a step backward and makes me not want to play campaign again. I can just as easily play the tracks on harder difficulties in quick play. Meanwhile, some of the best songs aren't in the campaign (looking at you, Synthesized 2.0). While the concept album design of the campaign is interesting, there's no compelling reason to do it again as it doesn't change nor does it offer tracks unique to campaign alone.

    The difficulty curve is a bit nutso this time around. I remember moving up from normal to brutal to insane on the original game and feeling challenged but not overwhelmed as I gradually stepped up. This time though, the step up from Intermediate to Advanced is painful. I'd argue that Advanced is almost as hard as Insane was on the original Amplitude, especially given the tracklist and its overuse of 130bpm and higher tracks. There's very little to gradually ease you into the increase.

    And finally: I have now tried on three different TVs and, try as I might I simply cannot get the damn thing synced right. Thankfully the game has a small bit of forgiveness in the timing so it doesn't impede gameplay TOO much (though it's not as forgiving on Advanced or Expert). That said, I still find myself losing streaks because the A/V sync is just a few milliseconds off no matter how I try to calibrate the timing with the in game options.

    Multiplayer is pretty fun but suffers the same limitations due to the tracklist and difficulty curve.

    Overall it's a decent game, solid, but not as solid as the original. I just don't feel the same need to go back and really nail these tracks like I did with the first game due to the issues above.    … Expand
  2. Kenmei
    Jan 11, 2016
    7
    Good sequel to one of the original Rhythm series. It's a good example of a good Kickstarter game as well. The tracks are pretty weak though. I understand the theme of Dance/Electronica music that permeates the game but the songs are not very good. There are some good songs scattered among the lot but the majority of them are not very good. Plus the ramp up in difficulty will throw someGood sequel to one of the original Rhythm series. It's a good example of a good Kickstarter game as well. The tracks are pretty weak though. I understand the theme of Dance/Electronica music that permeates the game but the songs are not very good. There are some good songs scattered among the lot but the majority of them are not very good. Plus the ramp up in difficulty will throw some players off. I like that they brought back the series but it's a bit underwhelming for me.… Expand
  3. vreynauld
    Jan 6, 2016
    5
    Amplitude 2016: It has the gameplay of the original but it's missing all of the spirit and charm. The most important part of a rhythm game is the soundtrack and this one is a disaster. Nothing but electronica that sounds the same from song to song and the very few exceptions are buried behind grinding the boring songs endlessly. For a company that once went out of their way to find indieAmplitude 2016: It has the gameplay of the original but it's missing all of the spirit and charm. The most important part of a rhythm game is the soundtrack and this one is a disaster. Nothing but electronica that sounds the same from song to song and the very few exceptions are buried behind grinding the boring songs endlessly. For a company that once went out of their way to find indie acts for their Rock Band catalog, there's no excuse for this joke of a playlist. Just another example of the failure of crowd-funding a game based on nostalgia alone. Save your money, download a PS2 emulator and play the original on your PC.… Expand
  4. vahn
    Mar 10, 2018
    7
    I played the original Amplitude (and its prequel Frequency) like crazy back on the ps2 era - alongside Gitaroo man and Space Channel 5 part 1 and 2 - and I can't even begin telling how many days I tried attempting getting 4 bars on all songs on expert. Plot Twist: I didn't make it.

    With that said, this game is...okay, but at the same time I can't really judge it properly because music    I played the original Amplitude (and its prequel Frequency) like crazy back on the ps2 era - alongside Gitaroo man and Space Channel 5 part 1 and 2 - and I can't even begin telling how many days I tried attempting getting 4 bars on all songs on expert. Plot Twist: I didn't make it.

    With that said, this game is...okay, but at the same time I can't really judge it properly because music taste is always a very subjective and touchy manner.

    Let me start by saying what's good and improved about the game: the controls are more customizable and feel more responsive, something that the original seemed to lack. It's so much more responsive now that patterns I failed in the original I can do them easily here and I believe it's both thanks to the options and the controller.

    Graphics are great: stylized and colorful...but for some reason, it feels closer to Frequency than Amplitude itself. Not bad but just different

    There are 30 songs (up from 26 of the original) and most of them are hit and miss...I'll come back later.

    Honestly the game does feel better, but there are things that just didn't click with me: for instance the campaign is a lot shorter and doesn't allow you to choose which area to play, forcing you to replay the game from the start.
    Campaign mode has only 15 songs - 12 main songs + 3 secret songs - and once you're done unlocking them you need to play more to unlock the remaining ones: not a bad way to make you play the game but the original had a fun campaign too! Overall it's short and forgettable but it is stylish.

    Most songs are hit or miss, but let's be fair: music is a very touchy and subjective manner and songs I might dislike, others might love them. Personally, I loved a few of them like Phantoms, Dalatecht and Dreamer, but many others just didn't click with me. It's also a nice touch to play songs from other games, like Crypteque from Crypt of the Necrodancer and Unfinished Business from Skullgirls or even Impossible from Transistor, so kudos.
    But Frankly I still prefer the original Amplitude and Frequency OST and while I didn't expect this game to have a proper soundtrack like the others, I guess I expected more...but again, subjective tastes: check the OST yourself to see if you like the songs or not.

    The game also lacks customization: in Amplitude you could customize an avatar with pieces of gear to make it look weird or not - heck even Frequency did this, albeit much simpler. In here all we get to change is the ship from 4 (Raven, Chubs, Boxy, Shogun) and while their design is slightly different, it's not really a big deal.
    There's also no Remix mode! Granted I never used it in the original - I sucked at it - but It's still nice to be able to change and remix your songs! Too bad!

    And one last thing that I noticed...now I'm not a super player of this game, but I found the difficulty to spike rather uncontrollably sometimes. Some songs on expert can be really crazy and near unbeatable, but some others are actually rather good and tame. On top of that there's 5 difficulties now (Super) and you unlock it by beating the entire campaign on expert, which is incredibly difficult! If you thought Spaztik was tough or Komputer Kontroller was nasty, get ready for a beating of your life!

    In conclusion, I think this game is good, very good, but I also think they should've made the songs more varied: Frequency OST had this issue too and I remember getting bored pretty easily, while Amplitude made it all better by giving more variation in the song list (from techno, to drum and bass, from rock, to trance). I didn't expect much honestly because this is a kickstarted game, and funds are limited. Overall I think it's a good remake and I hope for more in the future.

    And since it's only 20 bucks on the psn store, it's worth the price.    … Expand
  5. painava
    Jan 16, 2020
    6
    Enjoyed the gameplay, the songs not so much. It's a pretty short game, but there's challenge for those who wish to go for perfect scores.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 59 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 28 out of 59
  3. Negative: 1 out of 59
  1. CD-Action
    Mar 30, 2016
    65
    The gameplay is still great, but Amplitude’s content is scarce and electronic soundtrack (half of which was composed in-house) is simply boring. [03/2016, p.61]
  2. Games Master UK
    Feb 26, 2016
    85
    Terrifically addictive and filled with songs that you'll want to play repeatedly. The RSI will be worth it. [Feb 2016, p.83]
  3. Play UK
    Feb 24, 2016
    80
    A fitting tribute to the PS2 classic, albeit on that will struggle to hold the attention of those without solid rhythm action skills or fond memories of the original. [Issue#266, p.64]
See all critic reviews »