Video games are an art. Sound Shapes perfectly demonstrates this. By adding a musical touch to the core gameplay mechanics each level not only turns into a challenging platformer but also a song. Every action gives off a beat, a guitar strum or even a piano note. So the way you play determines how the song plays out.
It’s something which I have seen before in gaming. Beat Sketchers for example combined drawing with musical beats but sadly didn’t really hit the high notes. Execution of this type of gaming hasn’t been the best but Sound Shapes without a doubt has broken this trend.
Simplicity is the key to its success. The object you control, which is a quite bizarre looking small ball, can only move, jump and sprint. It can also stick to lightly coloured surfaces. So it’s a basic platforming game. However, the player is also told to avoid the colour red. If you touch red objects the ball is destroyed and you return to the last checkpoint.
The level design is wonderful. It’s all 2D but there’s a variety of different terrains, objects and red enemies to come across. The colour scheme is very vivid and fits each type of level and also resembles the current song of the level.
Avoid red. Make sure to collect all the beats.
You won’t just be trying to reach the end of the level. Scattered throughout are little beats which you must collect. Each beat is a musical note so the level acts as a musical score. By collecting more beats you gradually build up the song turning it from a single piano note into a full melody on loop. This is where Sound Shapes excels.
There are five albums in total to get through which each album offering four levels on average. Each album is unique in terms of the terrain you will cross and the objects and red enemies you will encounter. One album is very retro with pixel shapes and moving objects which remind me of space invaders, where as another album focuses more on a garden approach with long green vines being used heavily.
There may be songs which you don’t like. This was the case for me, I wasn’t a fan of a certain album but it didn’t stop me enjoying the levels. You will find though that you will enjoy the final album the most; the songs are really good the levels are exciting to play through. There was something about the levels which made them stand out from the rest.
The final and most enjoyable album.
This is only just the campaign mode. Sound Shapes offers so much more. Upon completion of the last album you will unlock Beat School and Death Mode. The latter is of a very different nature to the campaign mode. In Death Mode you have to collect a certain number of beats before the timer runs outs, whilst being restricted to one part of the main level. There is one death mode level for each campaign level.
I don’t like Death Mode at all. It turns a very relaxing game into an infuriating one. Collecting the beats doesn’t come down to a case of skill, its luck. The spawning of the beats is random so sometimes they may appear right next to each other or other times across the other side of the screen. The level is filled with red objects and enemies to dodge and moving platforms to adhere over. So it’s a bit tricky to say the least, but if you are lucky with the beat placements then they are easy enough.
Luckily Beat School is a lot less infuriating than Death Mode. Before I talk about Beat School it is best to mention that it is part of the Editor feature of the game. In Editor you can create your own levels using the terrain and objects you have come across in campaign levels. Also you can create your own beats and songs. The Editor mode uses a grid. Placing the beats higher up the grid means they are a higher pitch, the lower down on the grid and, you guessed it, the lower the pitch.
There are loads of beats and objects to choose from to create your own levels so they can be immensely varied. It’s not complicated to use at all but is probably easier to use on the PS3 rather than the PS Vita. This is only because the touch controls can become fiddly. Once you are finished creating you can publish the level to the online community.
Now back to Beat School mode. You have to listen to a small melody then try and copy the melody onto the screen by placing beats using the grid feature of the editor. It can prove challenging to those without a musical ear, and even to those with one! I really liked this mode and certainly found it a lot less frustrating than Death Mode. Sadly there are not many melodies to work through and you find just as you are getting the hang of it it’s all over.
How Beat School plays.
There’s more to Sound Shapes. Moving back to the Editor once you have published a level or even if you haven’t you can head over to the community section of the game. Here you can try out levels other people have published, or keep a close eye of any levels which your friends have published or played. At the moment there is a thriving community and a lot of well designed community levels to try. I even came across a Journey inspired level which followed the same colour scheme as the game and the creator had also used Sound Shapes musical abilities to re create the sound track.
Sound Shapes adapts the Play, Create, Share philosophy. This reminded me of Little Big Planet which seems to have played as something for the developers of Sound Shapes to work towards in terms of quality and the community features. Sound Shapes is very much its own game though.
Upon purchase of Sound Shapes you receive both the PS3 and Vita version. You can also sync both versions of the game in settings to transfer your saves over and allowing you to also receive any trophies earned on both systems. It is a bit temperamental though as it doesn’t always work. The feature allows you to play on which ever system you fancy at the time whilst being able to use the same save which is very handy indeed.
Pros/+
- Simple game mechanics
- Music integrated perfectly
- Wonderful level design
- Play, Create, Share
Cons/-
- Infuriating Death Mode
- Temperamental Cloud Sync
Sound Shapes is one of the best games to release on the Vita and on PSN as a whole. The musical capabilities and level design are endless with the editor mode and community levels. The campaign levels are also a joy to play through and Beat School should take your fancy. Death Mode I feel lets Sound Shapes down as it is completely out of place with the relaxing nature of the game. Apart from that Sound Shapes never really does play a note out of tune.
9/10
Tested on PlayStation Vita
