Beat Hazard 2 rocks up with music streaming support
When music fights back
You know what's better than chilling out and relaxing to your music in peace? Being attacked by it. We know what that's like from 2010, when Beat Hazard came along and turned our Mp3 files into levels in a twin-stick arena shooter. Beat Hazard 2 is now back to do that again, only this time it can generate bads from anything that's playing on your computer. Boot up the freshly released early access version with Spotify running and you'll be fending off Goldfrapp before you know it.
That "Open Mic" support has to be Beat Hazard 2's standout feature, in a world where "powered by YOUR music" games that can actually plug in to the way you actually listen to music seem... otherwise non-existent? That's not all that's new though. It's prettier, for one thing.
That might be a bit too pretty. It's hard to make out what's happening in that trailer, though I'm hoping it's either easier to read when you're in the pilot seat or there's an option to tone those explosions down.
This time round, your tracks also procedurally generate bosses. I like the idea of battling monstrous spaceships that somehow embody the characteristics of my favourite songs, though I'm struggling to imagine how that works in practice. Maybe it'll just be Mark Chadwick's face gurning at me.
The devs are aiming to spend nine months tuning up the game in early access, during which they'll add Steam Workshop support and more varied bosses, enemy ships, perks and weapons.
Beat Hazard 2 is available now on Steam Early Access for £12/$16/€14.