- Concept
- Graphics
- Sound
- Playability
- Entertainment
You cannot help but love a game that lets you choose the soundtrack, and that provides enemy attacks coordinated with the beat and tempo of the music you have chosen. Having the ability to make the play of the game faster paced, or calm down the barrage of enemy attacks, is empowering.
You will of course be reminded of Geometry Wars when you play Beat Hazard Ultra, but if you have never played Geometry Wars then this may seem very innovative for you. The fact of whether or not you know the other game does not matter, as long as you enjoy shooting spaceships out of the sky, you will be having fun, and the fact that these spaceships are keeping time with your music selection just makes everything better.
Concept
You will find this game action packed, paced to the music you choose, and full of fun. This is like playing your favorite spaceship shooting game, while listening to your favorite songs, and if you choose to play the multiplayer version, while going head to head with your friend. You are originally equipped with default weapons to use to manage the onslaught of spaceships, and you have three bombs you can use when the going gets too tough for you to handle any other way. When you employ one of these bombs, you are pretty much going to wipe out anything that is on the screen in front of you.
If you get the ultra expansion pack you will have three additional weapons to add to your personal arsenal, and these weapons are bad. You get micro missiles that once you engage will actively seek out the strongest of your opponents for you. The second weapon you will receive will be the Reflect Shield which will cause anything that is too close to your ship to bounce away from you, and give you time to regroup and get ready for the next line of spaceships. Last but not least of these three weapons will be the Ultra Beam. When you use the ultra beam you can cut a path directly through your enemies. Whatever you point the Ultra Beam at is going to be annihilated, leaving you with a clear path of escape. The simple fact that this game, along with the purchase of the Ultra expansions is still under $15, makes it even better. You do not have to pay a lot in order to have hours of fun.
Graphics
The visual effects are changed by the musical soundtrack you play, and that makes the look and experience of the game change for each player, and according to the musical accompaniment. The arrival of the spaceships that you must eliminate are directly in time to match the tempo of the music you have chosen, so you will be more than pleased with the visual aspects of the game.
Sound
If you do not like the soundtrack that you hear when you are playing it is your own fault, because you control the music. The game is played to the songs you choose from your musical library. That means everyone will have to give the sound portion of this game a 5.0, or the best rating on their rating scale.
Playability
The only drawback you may find concerning the playability of this game will be if you just do not like shooter games, then you will not like playing. For the player who likes to shoot, who likes action, and who likes to combine the two elements, then this game is awesome. You do not need to be an expert in order to play the game, and you will equally enjoy the game if you are an expert. So the game is great for just about any player, with any skill level.
Entertainment
This game is very entertaining. You have spaceships that you need to shoot down to protect yourself, and those spaceships come to attack you in time with the music you are playing. You can always change the pace of the game, and change the way you play, by changing the soundtrack you can change the way the game is played, because you increase the tempo of the music, and that increases the speed of the spaceship attack.
Replay Value
Because the game can be changed by the changing of the music you decide to play, you can give this game a 5.0 on the replay value. You will definitely want to play again and try slowing the tempo in spots, or increasing the tempo to make the spaceships come quicker, and to try getting different weapons, and different power ups for the weapons. There are so many different scenarios that you will want to play many times, and try all the different combinations you can think of.
