Music is one of the most powerful, most evocative videogame elements that is rarely touched upon in reviews and previews. Even if it is, any mention is typically limited to a brief blurb. That's why games that weave their soundtrack so deeply into their gameplay systems are worth the extra notice. That's why you should strongly consider Band Saga, a new rougelike PC shooter that generates levels and obstacles based on music.
Musician Roger "Rekcahdam" Hicks and musician Hillmon Ancrum have teamed up for this project, which has taken to Kickstarter to secure funding. The soundtrack itself is consists of FM synth — the type of sound that the Sega Genesis is able to produce — and the randomly generated levels and obstacles are synthesized based on that music. While you can compare the game to Audiosurf in that sense, you unfortunately can't upload any song you want. However, skilled musicians can use the built-in FM sequencer to compose their own Genesis-quality tunes.
As an added treat, Rekcahdam has already uploaded the game's soundtrack to Bandcamp. There are a lot of strong contributors on the album, such as Fez composer Disasterpeace, Mega Man rapper Mega Ran, Metroid Metal's Stemage, Plants vs. Zombies composer Laura Shigihara, and others. You can snatch the whole thing for only $5.
The Kickstarter has amassed just uder $10,000 of it's $26,000 goal with 15 days left to go. Band Saga is currently scheduled for release on Windows, Mac, and Linux in early 2015, but there are stretch goals for PS Vita, PS4, and 3DS versions as well. The game will also be at the Tokyo Game Show this weekend, so anyone in the area ought to check it out.
