Harmonix Plays A New Song With Chroma

Ben Sherry ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

The studio that brought the world Rock Band is taking off in a direction that few expected: First Person Shooters.

That’s right: Harmonix, known primarily for the Rock Band series as well as Dance Central, recently announced Chroma, a musical based FPS. Chroma is a free to play PC shooter that turns some well-worn concepts of the genre into something completely new. As the original score plays during any given level, the arena will change and morph to fit the song playing. As levels are played over and over, choruses and specific verses of songs are easily recognized and therefore allow players to prepare for the world to change around them.

In addition to musical stages, characters also have specific melodic features. For example, a character with light pistols will be more powerful if they fire along with the beat of a song, or a sniper can fire off an extra powerful shot during a downbeat. Anyone familiar with team based shooters like Team Fortress 2 should feel right at home with favorite classes like Engineers, Snipers and Heavies.

Players win the game in teams while they try to capture as many spaces as possible while keeping up with the soundtrack. Learning the minutiae of a level’s song will be an ally, as knowing when the chorus or downbeat is coming could save the match and the team of the player. Chroma has a tentative release date of later this year, but any PC gamer can register for the Alpha now here.