Amplitude

Overview

Amplitude is a PS2-exclusive rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is a direct sequel to 2001's Frequency, Harmonix's first console music/rhythm game. Amplitude improves upon a number of points from Frequency, boasting a larger and better soundtrack, refined gameplay, better environments and deeper character customization. It was released on March 24, 2003 in North America and in Europe on September 26, 2003.

Amplitude was well-received by critics and praised for it's incredibly addictive, challenging gameplay and excellent, varied soundtrack. It also fared better commercially, selling far better than Frequency.

Amplitude's online servers are closed as of February 26, 2007.

Gameplay

Amplitude is a rhythm game that has the player hit notes scrolling down an arc-shaped chart track split into multiple sections. Each lane on the chart represents a different instrument in the song and players must 'activate' the instrument by hitting all the notes in a two-bar sequence. Activating a track will play that instrument for a set duration while missing a note in a sequence will skip the current sequence, requiring the player to re-try the next one. Playing sequences from lane to lane without missing a beat will build a multiplier. The end goal of the game is to attain the highest score while activating all of the tracks. Missing a sequence will cause the player to lose their current multiplier as well as making them lose a percentage of their health meter. When the whole meter depletes, it's game over. Amplitude also has a handful of Power-ups for the player to use in a song. Like the currently-found Star Power/Overdrive functions, the notes on the charts are replaced by different shapes (The shape varies depending on the power-up) for half of a sequence. If the player hits all of the shaped-notes, the power-up is awarded to the player and can be used once. A power-up unlocks as the player progresses through the solo career and are as follow:

Amplitude features a host game follows which go as follow:

Solo

The main mode of play. Players progress through a 5-tier campaign with a created DJ called "Freqs", unlocking new songs, power-ups and Freq customization options. Players go through the game's Solo campaign by playing three songs, then beating an unlockable boss song. Points scored in each tier are tallied at the end and unlock a bonus song when past a certain amount. Each tier is based on a style or genre of music, which are (in order): Neotropolis (Starter Songs), Beat Factory (Beat-music), Metaclouds (Rock), Elektro Kore (Electronica/Techno) and Blastlands (High-BPM Electro/Rock).

Multiplayer

There are two modes of play for multiplayer, those being Splitscreen or Online. Both play the same. Players duel against each other, trying to unlock the most tracks and scoring as many points as possible. The points are tallied and the player with the most points wins.

Remix Mode

Remix Mode is less of a game mode and more of a song editor. This mode allows players to take any track they've unlocked in the game and create remixes by placing notes down on the game's note chart. Each track can be tuned to obtain different kinds of sounds. Players can then save their remixes and play them in a solo-mode or could upload them online on Amplitude's servers, allowing other players to download and play the remixes alone or against others.

Soundtrack

Neotropolis

Beat Factory

Metaclouds

Elektro Kore

Blastlands

• Underlined songs were written exclusively for Amplitude.
• * - These songs, despite being under different artists, are all made by Kasson Crooker, a Harmonix employee and one of the founders of popular synthpop band Freezepop.
• ** - This song is only unlockable on Insane difficulty.