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Bit.Trip Flux

by Karlie Yeung - January 8, 2011, 10:03 pm EST
Total comments: 3

Beat evolved.

The final game in the series looks to be a fitting ending. Only so much can be seen in the first area, the part I've played so far, and there is definitely more to come in the other stages.

Flux plays very much like Bit.Trip Beat, with the same control scheme. The game is basically mirrored, with the paddle is on the right of the screen and the dots fly from the left. The squares to hit are now all the same color, and there is more speed variation. Bonus squares are colored grey, and difficult to collect requiring really fast movement since they are placed far away from where your paddle should be next.


The three areas are now subdivided into levels within, with checkpoints after each one. The first area is called Epiphany. When you die, you return to the last level that you passed with a few points taken off your score. It seems that you have unlimited continues. Even with checkpoints, the game is no easier; it keeps throwing things at you and you're constantly racing to move into the right spot. It does make it less repetitive, as you are no longer playing sections that take several minutes over and over due to being stuck in one spot, but you are also more likely to be stuck in the same spot time after time due to the increased complexity.

Circles have been added that are to be avoided, and they can be laid out in rows or just in front or behind a square that you need to return. Adding dodging gives you exactly twice as much to do. At one point in the level you are forced to take the power-up that shrinks your paddle, as you need to fit through the gap between the line of circles coming at you, whereas in the past, you could have skipped the power-up and the bonus for completing that section.


Flux is still all about patterns and music. The beat matches perfectly with the timing of the paddle. As this time, the speed of the squares is more varied, it's closer to playing the melody of the track than the rhythm. The backgrounds change as you move up the ranks as before, and there are more modes than the three from Beat. The black and white Nether mode only makes a sound if you miss a hit, but moving backgrounds have been added.

On the surface, it's Bit.Trip Beat evolved, but the more you play, the more you see that it has elements from all the other Bit.Trip games that add to the gameplay of Beat. I've barely started; there is much more content to be seen here.

Talkback

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)January 09, 2011

So, it's basically Bit.Trip Beat crossed with Bit.Trip Void. While I liked both of those games, I'm not sure if this is really the natural climax. I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed with the revisit to these concepts - like I said, they're a lot of fun - but at the same time, I was expecting them to build to a crescendo and go out with a bang for the 6th game.

Pixelated PixiesJanuary 09, 2011

As a huge fan of this series, this sounds underwhelming. I was kind of hoping the final entry would include gameplay from all the previous entries, perhaps even transitioning between them midlevel, that would be really cool and intense.

I'm also worried by this statement, "it's closer to playing the melody of the track than the rhythm". Those Bit.Trip games which have been less rhythm based, such as Void and Fate, have been for me the least fun entries in the series.

What I meant by playing the melody of the track is that at times in the past games it seemed like you were just keeping rhythm, here you're clearly playing the music. In fact, it's nearly impossible to play without the music, which means you're in quite some bother stuck in Nether.

I won't update my impressions for now, as my opinion hasn't changed. I've just finished the first area though, and it was much longer than I expected. The boss was fun, I got lucky though and did it after only a couple of tries. In a way it's not that difficult. The boss is: It's literally Arkanoid and Pong, break through the enemy's walls and hit the goal before he hits yours.

It's getting to the point where I get nervous when I start on a new stage (stages are levels within each of the usual three areas) as I know if I mess up it's back to the checkpoint! Sometimes there's a lot going on at once.

Since there are checkpoints all over, I haven't seen the higher levels much so far since there's less replaying. I've only made it to Ultra a couple of times (level 3, assuming you start at 1) and the sound was completely different.

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Bit.Trip Flux Box Art

Genre Rhythm
Developer Gaijin Games
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Bit.Trip Flux
Release Feb 28, 2011
PublisherAksys Games
RatingEveryone
eu: Bit.Trip Flux
Release Feb 25, 2011
PublisherAksys Games

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