There really is no avoiding Valve/Steam these days as news comes in that Audiosurf, one of the IGF finalists for a number of categories (including the Seumas McNally Ãœber Special Prize won by ‘The Underwater’ last year), will be released to buy on Steam this Friday, accompanied by a free demo.
For those that don’t know, Audiosurf is a kind of music-rhythm-puzzle game where you drive across a track designed by the music you choose to play. Layout, mood, and the placement of the score-arousing coloured blocks are all affected by the type of song you choose to play. Choosing your ship at the start also determines the overall difficulty of your challenge and the style of play, where some ships will initiate a typical match 3 colour system (come back! It’s not a flashy Bejeweled clone, I swear! You can’t play Reggae Remixes of IK+ in that for starters) and other ships like the Mono-types which turn the game into an insane test of reflexes as you dodge grey blocks and try to collect the colourful lumps of pointage between them.
Price will be the wonderfully squiggly number of $9.95, though as usual customers will get a pre-order discount of 10%, so check it out if you feel like taking a chance. Included in this release is also a free copy of the Orange Box soundtrack, which, given the nature of the game, is a pretty sound deal. Through the new Steamworks feature you’ll be able to gain achievements for your profile and rub your ego at the same time (but can you do it whilst patting your head?). It’s a solid package at great price, but I can’t help feeling a little shunned. We get the full game of this, but not even a taste of Noitu Love 2?
Where’s the love, Konjak? Where’s the love?!