Frequency is a game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and released by Sony Computer Entertainment for Playstation 2
The basis of the game is simple. You are a FreQ, a DJ soaring through musical cyberspace darting from one track to the next as you feverishly bring music to life note by note and instrument by instrument. FreQuency spins you into a world of musical creation, visual excitement, and intense competition. Jam with pulsing rhythms while weaving your own musical creations into the mix as you see and hear your music explode to life.
as taken from page 7 of the instruction manual
In other words, you travel down a tube-like structure, with different tracks that you can scroll through by pressing left or right on the control pad. Each of these tracks have notes that you are supposed to "hit" by pressing the corresponding button. L1 is for the left note, R1 is for the middle note, and R2 is for the right note. The object of the game is to be able to link these notes together by "hitting" them with the right rhythm. Notes that can be "hit" will have a glowing green string between them. To "hit" them, you have to wait until the note comes into the target area, which is located at the bottom of your screen. If you miss one note in a particular sequence, you have to start over again. Once you link an entire series of notes together on a track, the track dissapears and you can move to the next one. Tracks consist of drums, bass, guitar, synth, vocal, and F/X tracks. There may be more than one particular track depending on the song. It sounds simple, but the inclusion of a power bar increases the difficulty. You gain power by linking notes together, you lose power by failing to link notes together.
Powerups
There are two powerups that can be obtained. The first is an Auto-catcher. When an autocatcher is deployed, all free notes in the particular track will be caught automatically. The second powerup is a Multiplier, which doubles the score you recieve for the next 8 bars of music.
The Game
The game consists of three difficulty levels and five stages. The only stages available in the beginner difficulty level are 1-3. Stage 4 opens up in normal, and stage 5 is only available in expert. There are 4 songs readily available in each stage, with a fifth song available only after unlocking it (getting a certain score on the other four songs). Obviously the speed and number of notes increases as the difficulty rises.
The Artists
The following is a list each artist and song corresponding to the Stage number
Stage 1:
The Crystal Method: The winner
Akrobatik: Exterminator
No Doubt: Ex-Girlfriend (remix)
Orbit: XLR8R
BONUS SONG - Freezepop: Science Genius Girl
Stage 2:
Dub Pistols: Official Chemical
Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lofis in Ibiza
Fear Factory: Frequency
Paul Oakenfold: See It
BONUS SONG - Ethan Eves: Selecta
Stage 3:
Powerman 5000: Danger is Go
Orbital: Funny Break (Weekend Raver's Mix)
DJ Q-Bert: Cosmic Assasins
BT: Smartbomb
BONUS SONG - Curve: Worst Mistake
Stage 4:
Jungle Brothers: What's the Five O
Funkstar De Luxe: Ignition
Roni Size & Reprazent: Railing Pt. 2
Meat Beat Manifesto Dynamite Fresh
BONUS SONG - Juno Reactor: Higher Ground
Stage 5:
Toni Trippi: Motomatic
DJ HMX: Ibiza Dreamz
Symbion Project: Funny Dope Maneuver
Komputer Kontroller: Control Your Body
BONUS SONG - Symbion Project: FreQout
Verdict
FreQuency garned little more than a cult following (as do all music-based games), but it really stands out of its genre. It's fairly simple to pick up in the beginning, but becomes increasingly more challenging. The last five tracks are nearly impossible to finish even with quick fingers. The game takes a bit of practice to master, but it can be finished. With the inclusion of notable acts (No Doubt, BT, Powerman 5000 among others), makes it a worthy purchase. The price as of today 10/02/2002 is anywhere between 20-30 US dollars. There is also a head to head mode, as well as the ability to remix the songs contained in the game, so even after you finish the game it still will garner replay value.
If you'd like to know more, visit www.freq.com for more information, including screen shots, interviews with the bands, strategies, and cheats. You will probably need them.