PAX West Spotlight: Soundfall

By: TheJewphin

Soundfall. What Even Is?

Soundfall is a rhythm-based twin stick shooter developed by Drastic Games. I had a chance to play the demo and chat about the game with the developers at PAX.

So I can imagine you asking: how do you make a rhythm-based twin stick shooter game? Well, that's a very broad question with a wide variety of answers. Soundfall's approach is to tie everything in the game to the music. Monsters spawn on beat, weapons deal more damage if swung on beat, and levels are even generated based on the music.

Soundfall. Why cool?

Soundfall manages to tie every elements of its gameplay into the music. Like rock band, guitar hero, and many of its rhythm-predecessors, Soundfall uses its gameplay as a different way to interact with the music. Unlike most rhythm based games, though, Soundfall is not about mimicking an instrument or dancing to a beat. It is a fun, skill-based action game that manages to make the music the focal point.

Additionally, the level generation idea is amazing. The levels are generated to flow with the given song. That means that a metal song might be faster paced with more enemies while a slow piano concerto may be more methodical. The developers did not tell me exactly how the levels were made, but they did mention that a level generated for a song would not change if you chose to go back and replay it.

Soundfall. When is?

The developers did not have a firm release date for Soundfall as the game is still in development. They hope to have a 2019 release date with a full set of playable tracks (it was not clear if more music could be added down the line).