Chime Sharp Review

Chime Sharp, or Chime2 as it also likes to call itself in some menu’s is a game similar to Tetris where by you are given shapes to fit together to create what Chime Sharp likes to call Quads. Basically, when you reach a 3×3 grid shape you will gain points. These shapes also enable you to hear more parts of a song that is part of the background music. Unlike Tetris you have to imagine you are placing these shapes onto a grid rather than into a slider which would normally cause them to fall to the bottom. In Chime Sharp the shapes stay where you left them until your multiplier runs out and which will then reveal the shape spaces again to be filled by new shapes.

Chime Sharp to me would be more aptly named Musical Tetris Extreme. But although Chime is part of its name, the musical element plays more of a part of the adrenaline rather than the part of gameplay. Musical elements are added as you complete quad, but on a level that is so nonchalant that the layers of music might as well be added as the time passes rather than it being you that makes it happen. I never felt compelled to add more pieces to a certain area or to create a better multiplier to hear more of the songs.

Chime Sharp has several game modes, but the premise and gameplay is basically the same as the above described. These modes either take away or add a slight adjustment to make the gameplay harder or easier depending on how you feel about the standard play. The most diverse part of this game is its levels as these determine where you can place shapes, which song is playing and with this how fast the tempo is. This then determines how fast the audio scrubber will pass over your created multiplier quads.

Although Chime in itself’s should be a musical game, it’s the music itself that I found most annoying. I am partial to techno and dance music normally, but what is being heard in this game is more like that of the noise you hear at 3am on local radio. The music that no one pays any licenses for but the radio has to play something so they put on all the tracks students have sent in.

This is not the only part of the game which I felt was strangely off-peak. The graphics of this game are pretty, well presented and could be described as glossy (as far as flat blocks on a screen go) but the colours used would often clash with each other causing me to feel rather strange every time I looked away from the screen.

The game is controlled by using the left analogue stick to choose where to place your pieces, and the left and right triggers to rotate your piece into position 90 degrees at a time. Pressing A will then confirm a piece which once placed can’t be removed or undone. Often I would place a piece in the wrong spot by accident resulting in my carefully planned segment to be completely ruined. You can also use the D pad too which is easier in some respects as with its more binary control feels more like the block system that is used on-screen.

Like a lot of flat graphic games, this game is quite small in data size at around 1GB, and with this loads its levels quickly. New levels are unlocked quite frequently after you complete a level and there isn’t really a fail to complete on each of these. There is less of a target to meet and more of an own set personal goal to get to or complete.

The achievements on this game are mainly set out for those hardcore fans who are committed for the long run.
Most achievements have been completed by under 4% of people who have played this game. Some achievements only have 0.25% for its percentage of people that have unlocked it. At the extreme end there is one achievements where 0% of people have unlocked it, so that means no one has it! This shows how hard the achievements are. Only one easy achievement exists which basically requires you to play badly by not creating a quad with 20 pieces. This is easily done by placing your first 20 in random places not touching each other. This almost feels like a pity achievements for those who just want at least one for trying and to get something out of the money they spent on this game.

Chime Sharp for me feels like an overworked idea which should ideally live in another game as a mini game. Some will love it and I can see why, but for me and many others I can see why it wouldn’t be as diverse in its gameplay as it should be for a 2017 game to keep the player hooked for a return. The first 5 minutes of the game feeling like the next 3 hours but with different irritating music and colours. Even the addition of split screen or an online battle mode would spice this game if a future release were to be made. There are leader boards for friends and global players, but if no one wants to return to this game, who are you battling against?

Chime Sharp is a game that looks nice, plays well and works technically but isn’t interesting enough to keep you playing for any period of time. Its a game that would suit mobile gaming more than couch gaming and would be more suited as a game to play on the bus for 5 minutes.

Chime Sharp had great potential to be an Amplitude or Guitar Hero style musical track layered Tetris, but it failed at the music and basically became a big wide Tetris with 3am radio music and headache inducing colours.

REVIEW CODE: A FREE Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.