DIYgamer

You All Need to ‘Groov’ [XBLIG]

This is going to be a bit of a rant. From time to time at DIYgamer, one of us contributing editors feels positive enough about a game to the point where we can share our findings and musings with all of ye, the indie community. We basically spotlight a title and attempt to break it down in a compact manner so as not to interrupt the flow of your day. So let me tell you a little something about how my day went…

See, there’s really not much to do on Sundays but work and–as in my case, if you’re a student–homework. It’s days like these that make me turn on my XBOX and peruse through the long list of indies to find something that catches my attention. In this case, it would be Groov from Funkmasonry Studios. Now, I don’t do this often; I don’t usually concentrate on solely one game unless I’m cluing you in on a press release or doing a preview/review, but I felt it was my duty as a member of the indie community and as a lover of music.

I think there’s a lot of potential for music to be a powerful element in gaming. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly already is. But generally speaking, music isn’t one of the main elements of a game in terms of gameplay mechanics (especially as often as I’d like for it to be). Almost every game has its own music, with most developers utilizing a soundtrack. But music can do much more than simply build the atmosphere. Rhythm is a part of life; everything has rhythm. Whether it’s the cadence of your heartbeat or the idea that every morning brings a new day, rhythm is clearly a part of every day life.

So imagine my surprise when I sat down to play Groov, which costs only 80 MSP ($1), and found out that Groov is almost entirely based around rhythm. Groov is easily described as a twin-stick shooter; it offers little thought, requires more of an adept reaction time and is one of those brilliant pick-up-and-play titles. But what sets Groov apart from other twin-stick shooters is that its foundation is built on music. Each bullet you shoot coincides with the beat. If you simply hold the right analog stick without pause then you will hear the song to its full extent. Theoretically, you’re playing a twin-stick shooter so that’s what you’ll be doing the entire time anyway. But if you choose to screw around, what’s interesting is that the game will go along with the beat of the music. You can’t just shoot whenever you want to but, rather, that’s under the control of the game (or more specifically, the music). Whenever the rhythm speeds up, bullets come more frequently; when it slows down, the bullets come less frequently. This adds quite a bit of depth and strategy to the experience. You’re not simply flailing your character about and killing everything in your sight because…well, eventually you have to increase your accuracy otherwise the difficulty becomes overwhelming.

Groov doesn’t slow down on the content, however. For that same dollar, you get three game modes. The first is titled “Original Mix,” the second–unlocked once you’ve beaten the first–is “Expert Remix,” and finally there’s the “Jam Session” mode–unlocked by beating the remix high score. As basic as Groov is, it even contains a “Help” section. Believe it or not, the “Help” section is a sound enough inclusion that it can teach you a couple of things. For example, I had no idea that the right trigger slowed everything down up until I looked through the “Help” section. This slowdown mechanic contains a twist, though, as it “can only be activated along with the downbeat of the music (ONE two three four).”

Groov is honestly one of the best games that the XBOX Live Indie Games channel has to offer. At only 80 MSP ($1), it’s no damage to your wallet and should be an easy purchase for those with leftover points.