Now, after having incorporated plenty of feedback into the game’s beta version, Fitterer has released the final edition of Audiosurf 2, offering fans and newcomers its special rhythm experience.

Does Audiosurf 2 manage to deliver a stellar performance or should you keep on surfing past this music game? Let’s find out.

Gameplay and multiplayer

Audiosurf 2 doesn’t have a story or anything remotely close to a narrative, so it relies on its gameplay mechanics to delight fans and keep them coming back to its different modes and maps.

The core gameplay is simple in theory, as you control a tiny space ship, in most modes, that cruises in a three-lane path. You need to hit blocks to increase your score, while avoiding spikes. You accumulate blocks on your equalizer-like display and earn even more points when you top everything up.

In practice, Audiosurf 2’s main Mono mode delivers a fantastic rhythm experience as the blocks, the path, and the speed manage to sync up very well to any type of song you’re currently enjoying. The result is a hypnotic experience that’s intense and addictive.

While the game doesn’t have its own soundtrack, you can employ the songs you already have on your PC by using the in-game browser and the auto-detected files. Unfortunately, the actual search mechanic is a bit erratic and the game doesn’t allow you to set a main music folder for easy access. As such, if you have your music scattered throughout your computer or stored in multiple sub-folders, you’ll have to click around quite a lot.

Fortunately, you can also employ all the tracks found on popular music service SoundCloud. There are easily accessible categories such as Most Popular, but also Song of the Day. If you log into your own SoundCloud account, you can easily see tracks from your favorite users and artists.

The Good

• Intense gameplay in most modes
• Varied songs via Soundcloud
• Beautiful standard and user-made skins
• Great community

The Bad

• Interface isn’t that great
• Track-creation system doesn’t always produce fair results
• Leaderboards can emphasize your lack of skill

Conclusion

Audiosurf 2 is a worthy successor to the original experience. While Mono mode is, of course, the main star, you can find quite a few other interesting modes that provide a change of pace. While on its own the game is quite good, by factoring in the user-created modes and skins, Audiosurf 2 becomes even better.