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Electronauts lets players drop the bass on August 7th

by: Eric -
More On: Electronauts

Surrounded by a crowd of sweaty people, you stand, rapturously staring at the light show blazing down from the stage. A lone figure in sunglasses is huddled beneath the lights, a cigarette hanging from their mouth as they frantically flip switches and turn dials. The music pulses, and the crowd pulses with it, moving as one to the relentless beat. Somewhere off to your right, a fifteen-foot neon robot slides through the crowd, and people look up at it in joyous surprise. Glowing signs and lasers are everywhere; the people in the audience even seem to glow with brilliant neon luminescence. The music cranks louder and louder, moving towards some impossible crescendo, and the crowd pushes forward in anticipation. Louder and louder, higher and higher, up and up and up, until the beat can’t possibly sustain the levels it has reached, and still the DJ pushes it further. An electricity runs through thousands of people at once, because everyone know what is coming, but the DJ still teases the crowd, stretching it further, building impossible structures on a construct of sound that is barely holding together.

Suddenly, the sound drops out, the lights blaze blindingly to life like a supernova from the stage, and the bass drops, sending a shockwave through every person assembled. The crowd explodes, jumping up and down as one, arms in the air, screaming in unheard rapture.

The DJ takes a puff of their cigarette, pushes up their sunglasses on his nose, and starts building the next impossible construct.

Electronauts, a new VR experience by Survios, want to put you in the shoes of that DJ. On the Steam page, this short description is offered: “Electronauts is powered by Survios’s proprietary Music Reality Engine™, which transforms song elements into interactive components that sound epic no matter how you mix them.”

What this means in practical terms is that players are placed in a pulsing virtual envirionment, surrounded by a variety of tools and visualizations that represent different loops, audio effects, and studio tools. This allows them to bring different elements into an ongoing song; stretching breaks, distorting vocals, tossing in effects, even playing portions live and then looping those recorded portions. Check out this video to see what this is all about:

I’m hoping that Survios includes a in-game good tutorial to help teach players some of those tools, because it is clear that Electronauts runs deep. I would hate to see some of the more powerful abilities in the game going unused just because people were unaware of how to use them.

From the Steam page:

  • Top Artists: Mixmaster over 40 tracks from 50 artists across EDM, hip hop, trap, and countless other genres and make their music your own.
  • Music Reality Engine™: Electronauts’ proprietary technology always keeps your sounds bumpin’ on beat, no matter how much you mix, with nine unique instruments.
  • Experiment: Jam on eight digital instruments only possible in VR, from sampler orbs to sonic grenades, arrayed on a customizable deck.
  • Remix: Record loops and sequences, layer filters, mashup and arrange songs to your style as you make them your own.
  • Collaborate: Partner up with a friend or jump into a quick-match sesh to form the ultimate power duo.
  • Perform: Crush your set with surreal visuals, adaptable colors, and dynamic camera angles that make your performance fit your mood.

Electronic music is beyond exciting to see live (seriously, if you have never checked it out, the experience is worth a look, even for non-fans. People FREAK OUT). Electronauts seems to be bringing that experience home for players to create music on the fly and entertain their family and friends. I can absolutely envision people queued up to play this thing at a party, with the sound system cranked and people just kind of hanging out and watching.

With over 40 tracks lined up to release with the game from some of the biggest names in electronic music, this looks like a very meaty and fun release. Electronauts will probably help introduce a whole new audience to some of these awesome artists, while shining a light on a corner of the music industry that some with more mainstream tastes might not even be aware of.

To sum up: This game looks dope.

Electronauts releases on August 7th for PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, and Occulus Rift. For more information, check out the Steam page, or the official website