GAME: Inside My Radio
Published by: Turbodindon and Seaven Studio
Released by: Iceberg Interactive
At the start of writing this review for Inside My Radio I was going to say that Guitar Hero and Rock band have a lot to answer for, but the more I think about it, this kind of game stems way back to the days of Parappa the Rapper and maybe even physical toys (remember them, kids?) like Simon and so on.
The point is that rhythm games have been on the go for a long time and trying to do something fresh in a genre that has been around for ages is a tough ask. This game does try to be original and more fun, which in some ways it does, but there is a fundamental flaw that really restricts things to the point where you wonder whether to part with your hard earned in the first place.
Let's start with the good bits. The story and the graphics are colourful and bright, making you enjoy your play through. Taek, Root and Barry are the 3 characters you control and they all have a specific genre of music that they are centred around. Taek is more the electronica and dance guy, whilst Root is the reggae and ska man and finally Barry brings up the Saturday Night Fever rear with his blend of disco. As much as the characters are vibrant the gameplay doesn't really expand on that. There are a few little puzzle sections, don't get me wrong, but for the most part there is the straightforward task of going from left to right using timing in everything you do.
The actual mechanics are pretty simple. Every action apart from movement has to be timed to the beat of the tune that is playing in the background, with no exceptions. This can be difficult if you have no sense of rhythm whatsoever, but if that is the case for you or, and I say this with genuine seriousness, if you are hard of hearing, you can still play the game using the help markers which can be stuck on using the shoulder button. This puts a ring around your character that lights up at the timing of a beat so that you can feel less pressurised as you progress through the levels.
The music itself is also pretty cool. It isn't too off-putting and doesn't really grate on your ears, which in this kind of game in particular is always good. They are actually good tracks, as well as just being there for a functional purpose, although I'm a little peeved because my own favourite genre of music is portrayed as an evil bully in this game and is only used as a boss battle. Rock doesn't actually feel like it is in there for all that long, but I guess something is better than nothing, right?
That is the good stuff out of the way, so now we can move onto the bad things. First off is the length of the game itself. Inside My Radio is almost criminally short, to the point that it makes every Call of Duty look like a 3 hour epic movie in comparison. I clocked the game from start to finish at a little under an hour and a half.... That isn't a typo by the way, it was 90 MINUTES!!! To me, any game that clocks in a time under a minimum of 4 hours on an indie title has to have a back up, some sort of multiplayer bait to hook in the player from his single player campaign completion.
You can probably guess what the second biggest point is going to be from that, can't you? There is no multiplayer option. Normally some games can be forgiven this because it can't feasibly be done, but in this instance it isn't an excuse. A platformer with rhythmic elements could be made into a multiplayer competitive level finisher without much effort, or even allowing the players to use their own music, like Vib Ribbon used to do, but none of this is on show. All you have is a level select and a new game option which wipes all your progress from before.
This leaves me in a difficult place with Inside My Radio. It is a decent little game, but little is the operative word here. There is no substance beyond the 2 hour maximum and unless you really dig the tunes and want to listen to them in the hope it's an interactive playlist then there really isn't a lot of replay value to this at all, and that is a shame. If it had been double the length I think my opinion on this would have been a hell of a lot different, but it is just really hard to give it a high accolade when you could technically watch a movie and still be waiting for the end in the time it takes to get through this.
I do like this game though. It is harmless and tries to do something a little different, but it is the gaming equivalent of a Saturday night takeaway in that you get something nice, but there isn't enough sauce to make it memorable or at least as enjoyable as it should be. I have seen more expensive games offer less in enjoyment and as much as the time issue is big, it doesn't feel like it is a complete deal breaker, but it certainly doesn't help matters.
If you have a lot of cash wasting away in your Xbox Live account and you want something to kill time for a few hours then this wouldn't hurt. For the rest of us that may need to watch our money due to the DLCs and Season Passes coming our way soon then you would seriously have to have a think before buying this, but if you don't feel too bad about game length then I can't say this is a bad thing to go for because it has an innocent heart to it and is nice to look at and fun to play. Just don't expect your money back from it.
Thanks once again to the Xbox Community for the chance to review this.