I recently talked about games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but there is another title that I do not believe I have ever mentioned: Beat Saber. Set within the same genre as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Beat Saber is a virtual reality (VR) rhythm game that requires the player to swing VR hand remotes in cadence to whatever song is being played. It is pretty fun, and Beat Saber has all kinds of game modes and music tracks you can choose to play.
 
 Recently, I have been playing Beat Saber on my computer through my Steam account. That being said, this review is not about Beat Saber at all.
 
 You see, as I was looking through my Steam library to install Beat Saber, I came across an old collection of games called Audiosurf and Audiosurf 2. While not exactly rhythm games like the three I previously mentioned, they are both great games nonetheless, so I re-installed them alongside my VR game.



{:_:}  NOW IT'S TIME TO GET FUNKY  {:_:}
 
For those of you who do not know, Audiosurf is a music-driven puzzle game that uses your personal music library to create unique racetracks. The game takes all sorts of audio files like MP3s and M4As to procedurally generate levels full of "cars", which you need to collect, as well as any obstacles you will need to avoid. The goal of the game ultimately depends on what game mode you select. There is one game mode called "Mono Mode", for example, where you are just dodging the grey obstacles, but there is also a "Multi-Color" mode that requires you to gather same-color car sets in order to gain points.
 
 There are multiple colors that a car will be randomly assigned, and each color has a set amount of points that will be given to the player after a successful matching sequence. The matching is done using a grid below your player icon; the lane you are using on the map also determines which grid section your cars will be placed in.
 
 Ultimately, there are three grid sections, and if you fill one up completely, then the grid resets and points are accrued. However, If you "chain" a set of cars together, meaning if you collect a large set of one specific color in the entire grid, then your score multiplies exponentially once the grid is reset and the points are counted. This process is usually called "cascading", as the multiplier for the points grow significantly for every car counted within the grid.
 
 There is a bit of strategy to cascading when you play on higher difficulties, as well as when you play on different game modes, and it can be a lot of fun.
 
 
 
 {:_:}  DJ, TURN IT UP LOUDER  {:_:}
 
In my personal opinion, Audiosurf's game modes and difficulties are what truly make it stand out among similar puzzle games. And, I would argue that the difference between its playstyle is what makes it better than other titles like Beat Saber and Guitar Hero.

The game uses your own customized music playlists for the levels, so you can make your catalogue as large as you want in contrast to the limited options you receive from other titles. Not only that, but the game also procedurally generates levels in real-time based off the music, making each level as complex as you want it to be via your difficulty choice.

Personally, I love doing pro levels using my EDM playlist. I set the game to puzzle mode, and it offers a pretty significant challenge, as I am attempting to match sets using four different colors, all the while avoiding grey blocks that randomly spawn between the numerous cars that are generated for the fast-paced music. The puzzle mode I just discussed is that multi-color game mode I highlighted earlier in my review.

There are a couple other game modes, "Mono" being one of them that I also touched on briefly. The other is called "Ironmode", which completely locks your grid to a set size. Should you attempt to collect any cars that will surpass the boundaries of your grid, you automatically lose and will have to replay the level. Ironmode is alright - I personally have not played it as much as the other two, so I do not know just how insane it can get.

As for difficulties, pro is probably the medium difficulty of Audiosurf. There is a casual difficulty, which allows you to match sets using only three different colors instead of four. It also allows you to pass through grey blocks without ever giving you a penalty, which is pretty nice.

Elite difficulty, however, is unbelievable. In the 10-plus years I have owned this game, I have really only been able to complete two or three elite levels using that EDM playlist I mentioned earlier. This difficulty requires you to balance 5 separate color matches, and it also introduces "folded" blocks that require pattern creations to score. It is unbelievable just how difficult some levels can get, and I am thinking about uploading some YouTube videos of my most-recent attempts, should you all be interested in seeing that in the future.



{:_:}  PLAY CLOSING TIME BY SEMISONIC  {:_:}
Overall, Audiosurf is an incredible game, filled with great music (your own tunes), fun visuals, and a unique game design that never really seems to get old. I would not say it beats games like Beat Saber and Guitar Hero, but it does have enough of its own unique mechanics and features to be a memorable and fun substitution. I highly recommend checking it out if you have the chance. It can mainly be found on PC, so Steam and the Microsoft Store.
 
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading the review. I know I said it was going to be out a few days ago. But, I ended up disliking what I had for the initial review, so I re-wrote it. Then, the website went down, so I had to play IT for a whole day to figure out why I could not publish anything. I deeply apologize for the wait, and once again, thank you for your patience and time.
 
If you all enjoyed the review, please share it with your friends - I would love to keep the discussion going! If you have an opinion you would like to share, follow me on Instagram or Patreon and send me a message! You can find links to those two accounts on the "About Me" page of this website.
 
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Anyway, thank you all again for reading. As always, I am Zlink Plays, and I will see you all in the next one.
 
PEACE OUT!!!
 
 
 
I give my Daft Punk songs a 9 out of 10