tetroid 2012

However exotic my taste can be, when it comes down to it I'm not really all that different from other people my age. I like to watch movies, I like to game and I love to listen to music. These are not the kind of hobbies that turn heads.

And once in a while I find something that combines all three of these hobbies. Those who've heard of the game Rez know what I'm talking about. Leave it to the Entity label to top that experience. Enter Tetroid 2012.

Tetroid 2012 cover

Tetroid 2012 really is a truly unique project. In essence, it's a pretty simple Tetris remake with an Arkanoid twist thrown in for good measure. The gameplay is not mind-blowingly different from other Tetris version, though Tetroid adds a few cute touches to the mix.

When playing in Tetris mode for a while a meter on the right of the screen fills up. When it's completely filled, you can reverse the playing ground to destroy your Tetris blocks Arkanoid style (hence the name). A final twist comes when your screen has nearly filled up and a little bloke appears. This little guy can be manouvred to destroy some blocks and clear up the field. These additions do not really warrant a new Tetris version, but are nice to have anyway.

What makes this game unique are the visuals, the music and the whole idea behind the game. Tetroid 2012 is really an anniversary release for Entity. It is the 40th release in a series of online, quality music albums, all for free. With Tetroid 2012, Entity has packaged the music in a game. Talk about a cool marketing idea.

To make it stand out from other games, the visuals of the game are made to be insanely trippy. From time to time the screen fades to black, eliminating multiple lines causes flashes of static, the ever moving background is a nice distraction and things get really mental when the whole screen starts wobbling from side to side, creating a crazy too drunk to stand up effect.

screen cap from Tetroid 2012

On their website, Entity warns for epilepsy and they ain't kidding, the visuals really are that intense. While it's not always easy to keep track of things happening on screen, it adds an interesting difficulty curve to a known game that too many can play with their eyes closed. Tetroid 2012 gives you a good reason to open them again.

And of course there is also the music. It's nice having a game like this that is accompanied by a quality soundtrack. If there was one thing that could've improved Rez, it was just that. The tracks in the game are also provided as mp3s and function equally well within the game as stand-alone. Entity is back to their superb standard with many familiar names doing the soundtrack. A nice little detail are the sound effects that adapt themselves to the music that is being played in the game.

And for those that prefer either beat-driven or ambient music, there's even an option to select your preferred kind of soundtrack. Tetroid 2012 is not an option filled game with trillions of settings and infinite gameplay twists, it's really just a variation on Tetris, some insane visuals and killer music. But the fact that is a free gift that comes with a album filled with 20 grand music tracks makes this one of the coolest things I've seen in years.

So be sure to check it out, be it for the couple of hours of trippy gameplay, the mad visuals or simply the stellar tracks. The game (+ album) can be downloaded from free from the Entity website. Highly recommended.