I recently gained a lot of interest in rhythm games. I’m not particularly good at them; in fact, I’m quite awful, but I really like the concept of building gameplay from music, especially since no two games do it the same way.
My first encounters with this genre were through games with charted levels, but I eventually started looking into titles with procedural generation, like Audiosurf and Beat Hazard 3, which eventually led me to Melody’s Escape 2.
Melody’s Escape was originally a 2D platformer, but its sequel managed to transition into a 3D runner quite nicely. The player doesn’t exactly have control over the character’s movement, but the animations look fantastic and are synchronized enough to make it feel like the player is in control.
The game is unfortunately lacking any streaming support since Melody’s Escape 2 builds the entire level at once, so the player can actually see the obstacles. It doesn’t seem like there are any plans to add it in the future, as it doesn’t match with what the game is going for, so it’s only enticing for people who host their music locally.
This is corroborated by the game’s fantastic level generation, as it makes up for gaps and dead space with clever usage of slow-motion and walking sections. The game can handle songs pretty well, unless there’s just a long silence with nothing happening.
Melody’s Escape 2 does a really good job at adapting music into gameplay, with different animations depending on the song’s BPM or hold notes that adapt to vocals and instrumentals, which only serve to enhance the cathartic feeling of playing your own music.
You can read the game’s Steam description below:
Melody is back, with vastly improved audio analysis algorithms that transcribe the energy and intensity that you feel when listening to music into a synchronized gameplay experience, with a captivating and dynamic obstacle course synced to the beat of your music!
Melody’s movement speed will match the energy and intensity of your music, from walking during very calm parts up to all-out sprinting when your music explodes!
KEY FEATURES
Use your own music library: works with any digital music file from your hard drive.MP3, FLAC, OGG, WAV, M4A and many more DRM-free formats are supported!
Includes 14 licensed music tracks with hand-mapped levels (with various musical styles)
Works with almost all music genres and styles!
Each action input is synchronized to the music
New music analysis algorithms, with vastly improved tempo detection!
The game is set to have a Steam workshop soon, and the developer is already working towards mod support. The modding update also added skins to the game, which are a nice extra touch. I am personally hoping for VR support in the future, as I think there aren’t enough VR music-driven games available.
Melody’s Escape 2 is also another example of how much Steam’s Early Access has changed, as it feels really complete right now, but the developer still wants to add more features to the game to call it a full product, which is commendable in today’s gaming landscape.
Check out our Beat Hazard 3 preview as well, if you are interested in more games that build levels based on your musical library.
Melody’s Escape 2 is available for Microsoft Windows (through Steam’s Early Access).
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