Beat Hazard
Mechanics:
Move (any direction)
Fire (any direction)
Super Bomb
Ultra Beam
Micro Missles
Reflect Shield
For all of these mechanics, the response feels immediate. The animations for the special power-up attacks do not lock the player out of further action, so the continuous feedback loop is not broken—i.e. when the player fires micro missles, he/she can also fire the ultra laser before the missles even finish firing. Movement and fire commands are instantaneous as well, allowing the direction of both to be changed completely (and even simultaneously) within the 100ms gap. This feedback loop and immediate response time produces the “zone” of real-time control necessary for Swink’s definition of game feel.
In Beat Hazard, the player’s avatar can collide with other objects and the edge of the screen. These are experienced by the player through either the avatar exploding and losing a life or stopping motion, respectively. Movement provides input to the correction cycle of placement. This falls under the definition for simulated space. Learning to move in this space effectively is critical to playing the game well.
For polish in Beat Hazard, everything is first and foremost bright and sparkly. Exploding objects (such as the enemy ships and debris) release a colorful shower of sparks to give the feel. The player’s primary weapon is similar enough in appearance to these sparks to complement it, but different enough to where the player can tell the difference so he/she can judge his/her performance based on the sparks flying. In the background, there is a smoke effect, as well as some smaller pieces of debris and stars, to give the feeling that an epic space battle is occurring. These effects move in relation to the screen as the player moves in order to give the feeling that the player is actually traveling through space. Since the game (it’s called Beat Hazard, of course music is in there somewhere) is based on music, the player’s weapon flashes different colors and changes in spread as the music changes. The stars in the background also pulsate to the music, as well as a “Beat Hazard” indicator at the bottom of the screen which releases sparks and pulses to indicate that the player has fully powered up his/her weapon. These effects produce a feel similar to a music visualizer and make the game feel somehow attached to the music. This game is very heavily polished.
With fast paced, very responsive real time control, a simulated space, and extensive polish producing a specific feel surrounding the music, it is safe to say that Beat Hazard falls within Swink’s classification of games with “game feel.”
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