A 2 Steam

1...2...3...KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby)

This game (much like it's name) has an interesting, if but checkered, history. It arrived in my library Steam way back in 2011 not long after it was "released". It came out as a in-progress title long before Early Access was a thing but the game looked striking, wasn't pricey and had a number of updates quickly following.

Then the updates slowed. Then it became an Early Access title retroactively. Then nothing. Last update was 2013. The current rating of Mostly Negative reflects how people feel about this.

But how do I feel about this game?

It's changed a lot over the years - I've checked in on it now and then when I see an update to see the what's new and different but it's been more or less the same game.

The basics of DTBLAUB (yup that's how I am going to refer to it as) are simple - you fly through a music generated "level" in first person using your mouse to control direction and rotation (staying still but the level rotates around you, clockwise or counter-clockwise). The goal is to score points by flying through collectibles (coins, blue "suns", etc.), flying close to objects (without hitting them - which if done enough times fails the level) and hacking special glowing objects (fly close and hit the space bar). The difficulty and speed are controlled more by the music than anything else.

DBTLAUB is nice to look at, the visuals are striking and intense, which is actually what drew me to the game in the first place, but like a lot of the game they quickly become repetitive variations without being creative outside of a couple of special levels.

The music that comes with the game is fairly good electronic style beats that while initially enjoyable begin to annoy after hearing the same song 4-5 times in a row when failing a level (the number of times I failed a level at the 94% mark was infuriating). After a couple of attempts at a level I found myself muting the game until the next level. 

It still feels so very much proof of concept than even a semi-fleshed out beta. 

I found DTBLAUB to be repetitive, content thin and at best an example of a concept that one day could be a full game. At worst somewhere between boring and frustrating. 

For games that use music to create their play space you can do much much better.