Pulse

The old adage “less is more” doesn’t hold much water with retail videogames these days, with developers throwing more bells and whistles into the mix than you can shake a Wiimote at, all in order to justify the price tag, entice players away from competitor products and put bullets on the back of the box. In the world of iOS development, where turnaround is faster and budgets more modest, the idea is king. One core mechanic, beautifully presented, is plenty enough. And Pulse is a shining example of the fantastic results that can be produced from such an approach.

It’s a rhythm-action game, played out on a screen of concentric circles, with the eponymous ‘pulse’ (a brighter, moving stroke) radiating out from the centre towards the farthest edge. These circles are staves upon which tiny white discs appear – the touchpoints which need to be tapped as the pulse moves over them in order to trigger notes to accompany the music. It sounds complicated in print, but could not be simpler or more intuitive in practice. The discs themselves could appear on any stave, at any point along its circumference, and whilst early ‘levels’ ease you in with predictable positions, the latter stages throw discs on either side of the screen with each successive circle, causing you to tap frantically all over the screen. You’ll want to keep your iPad on a table or your lap for Pulse too – as the difficulty cranks up, more and more of your fingers will need to be utilised in order to keep up with the play.

The game takes place over 8 levels, each comprising their own song. They typically range between 1 and 3 minutes in length, so each level is punchy enough to have just ‘one quick go’. The music is simply sumptious throughout, whether it’s the driving beats and infectious piano riffs of ‘Sakura’ (our personal favourite) or the eerie percussive cadence of ‘Porcelain Doll’. Never once does a track disappoint – clearly a lot of craft has gone into creating these bespoke soundscapes.

The music is matched by beautiful visuals too. The aesthetics are clean and minimal, with each song picked out in its own gradient of moody hues and comprising its own burst of symbols for each successful beat matched. All other irrelevant visuals have simply been left out to retain the purity of the gameplay – the only HUD is a small pause icon in the top-right corner, and a bar at the bottom of the screen which shows your percentage of notes hit, the only scoring element Pulse judges you on. Even the menus are simple, comprising of the name of the song, it’s length and your current top percentage for each. The Tutorial song does feature small pop-ups to indicate how closely you struck each disc in time with the music (Miss, Nice, Perfect etc.); useful feedback which is curiously abandoned for every other song. Instead, the only feedback you’ll receive is whether you miss a note, denoted by a quick screen flash and the desaturation of the colours.

Cosmic.

As so much is stripped out of the package, it enables the player to really focus on nailing the notes, making Pulse a pure example of an exercise in ‘flow’, a phenomenon that surely goes a long way to explaining the astonishing popularity of rhythm-action games before their inevitable fall. Such minimalism won’t be to everyone’s tastes though, and with a comparatively hefty price tag of £2.99 for just 8 songs, its easy forgive those gamers who might feel shortchanged by the package. Pulse is subtitled with ‘Volume One’, however, so it remains to be seen whether further expansions to the formula are in the form of free songs, or new stand-alone apps. Time will tell.

As a slice of pure sensory gaming, with the modern-day distractions of achievements, leaderboards and even traditional scores dispensed with, Pulse is unrivalled. Its a feast for both the eyes and the ears; gaming escapism at its most musical and minimalistic. Those who can see past its premium price tag and slight content are in for a aural and visual treat.

Pulse is available now for the iPad, priced at £2.99 ($4.99). Link opens iTunes.