Way back in the days of the PS2, before we had Guitar Hero and the short-lived rhythm game craze that followed, Harmonix, developers of games like Rock Band and the upcoming FPS Chroma were still doing what they currently do best – making rhythm games that go beyond the simple “plastic instrument” genre. While that is a fine genre in and of itself, the oversaturation of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band led the incredibly powerful rhythm game trend to become something now regarded as niche, only a few years after the craze began to de-crazen. Well, Harmonix didn’t react to this shift by becoming… Well, Activision, they reacted the best way possible: keep doing whatever the hell they want, and doing it really well. So, given the current moderate success of Harmonix’s library, why are they on Kickstarter? Well, folks, they have a passion project going, and it’s a remake of the game that first brought their take on rhythm gaming into the mainstream eye: Amplitude.
Let’s get one thing straight here: Amplitude was and still is completely awesome, and that’s probably partially to blame for this Kickstarter’s $844,000 pull, but Harmonix has recently posted an update letting us know that phase 1 of their 3-phase development cycle is coming to an end. Phase 1 had a lot to do with optimizing the original Amplitude engine to work in glorious HD, in addition to adding a world building system to help the team bring the world of Amplitude to life as quickly and as easily as possible. Aside from that, the engine is faster, it runs smoother, and it just overall works, feels, and looks better. The end of Phase 1 will also signal the end of story development, helping the collaborating artists form their ideas around the comprehensive style and feel of Amplitude, creating what the developers call a “concept album” atmosphere.
If you’d like to learn a little more about the new Amplitude, coming to us from rhythm game legends Harmonix, you can visit their website or Kickstarter, the combined forces of which should get you properly excited for the revival of one of rhythm gaming’s crowning achievements.
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